On screen: While sports enthusiasts were seen enjoying the games inside Kalinga Stadium and cheering the athletes, the scene was no different at places where the administration has put up giant screens to broadcast the meet live. The cheers at giant screen sites such as such as Master Canteen Square were no less loud than those inside the stadium.

Ad poser: The administration has tried their best to make Bhubaneswar look beautiful during the Asian Athletics Championship. However, unwanted advertisements and hoardings of various brands put up across the city posed a hurdle for the beautification drive — mainly those around the Kalinga Stadium. But the authorities did a quick fix by covering the hoardings with posters of the games.

Long queue: The inaugural session of the 22nd Asian Athletics Championship was a major hit with spectators. Many had thought that the crowd would be there only for the cultural events and there will be no one turning up to watch the athletes in action. However, the stereotype was broken on the first day of action with people turning up in good numbers.

T-shirt: A number of youngsters were seen donning T-shirts of Asian Athletics Championship and posing for pictures in front of the Kalinga Stadium. As they did not have passes, they had to satisfy themselves with pictures in front of the stadium.

Attire matters: A number of foreign athletes wore Indian attires today and were seen moving around the stadium. While some of them were wearing bindi, others wore embroidered dupattas.

India enter: Indian spirits were high on the opening day with national record-holder Muhammed Anas easing into the semi-finals of the men’s 400m in the morning session. He was a hit with the local crowd with a lot of people gathering in the stadium to watch him in action.