It is 60 years since Switzerland staged its one and only European Athletics Championships in Berne and now, starting on Tuesday, Zurich will bridge that gap as it aims to go beyond just the dramatic action set for the Letzigrund Stadium.
On Monday, in the City Hall, a glorious venue by the banks of the Limmat River, the leading dignitaries of the event spoke of the excitement which lies ahead.European Athletics President Hansjörg Wirz summed it up perfectly.'The Letzigrund Stadium is known nearly as the Mecca of athletics,' said Wirz, of an arena which stages the annual Weltklasse Grand Prix. 'But now, for the first time, we create champions in the stadium. Up to now there has been a famous meeting which showed champions - but here, now, we make them.'
Champions indeed await from the 1439 athletes entered - 788 men and 651 women - and Zurich is embracing every element of this sporting occasion.Sitting alongside Wirz, Patrick Magyar, the CEO of Zurich 2014, explained how the the city is embracing the championships.
At a stadium which was redeveloped primarily for athletics but staged matches in football's European Championships in 2008, the track is one of the most sophisticated in the world. It has been raised by eight millimetres to 22 millimetres, giving athletes the best possible opportunity of running faster than ever.
Away from the Letzigrund, Zurich is ready.
Magyar said: 'Zurich once went to the world by saying it is a little, big city. That is actually the case. It is not a big city, but it has a big heart, and this big heart is probably best explained to say we are proud to be a European Championship city - not just a city with a European Championship.
'If you look along the shores of the river, Zurich has tried to make itself beautiful for the event. We will have the walk races by the river, and the marathon throughout the city and we have tried to involve other emotional elements, like culture, music and art.'
It is why, at the end of the action every day, there will be a special closing ceremony featuring a series of leading stars.
The first of those on Tuesday is one of the biggest - Peter Rene Cipiriano Baumann, better known to the people of Switzerland as singer, songwriter and dancer DJ BoBo who has sold 14 million records across the world.
One of the faces of the championships, Cooly, will attempt to break the pole vault world record for a mascot while the city has a festival of sport with youngsters able to take part in events being staged.
And there is the legacy of the two warm-up tracks - Utogrund and Sihlholzi - which have been developed for use afterwards by athletes.
But is the chase for medals which will be at its fiercest and as Wirz said: 'It is not easy to be a European champion. We have a lot of Olympic and World champions who did not make it. It means the value of this competition is very high.'
Urs Schmidig, Zurich's director for the department of sport, also stressed the importance of the European Athletics Championships being in the city.
He said: 'For a country like Switzerland, hosting the continental Championships of one of the core sports is significant. The whole city will welcome the event. The dream becomes the reality.'
Christian Milz, the director general of European Athletics, revealed how the championships will be watched across the world, with 370 million television spectators expected.
'We have 39 broadcasters all over Europe, and in addition we have Eurosport with its 59 territories which is covering all the whole of Europe,' said Milz. 'In addition, outside of Europe, we have coverage in Asia, in South Africa, in central America, in Brazil and in Dublin.
'You can see how attractive the European Athletics Championships is.'
Let the party begin.