August 18, 2023
Sean Ingle reported yesterday in The Guardian about Lord Coe's current views on Athletics and what the future will hopefully bring. Here is that article and then we will comment.
The World Athletics president, Seb Coe, has warned that it would be the definition of insanity to keep doing things in the usual way as he promised radical changes in the next few years.
Speaking after being re-elected for a third and final time as president, Coe told delegates that track and field was in “a race against time” to stay relevant to young people. “It was Einstein who defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and getting the same results,” he said. “It’s time to take a deep and objective look at ourselves, our organisations and activities, and assess our own levels of insanity.”
Coe said that tracking data carried out by Nielsen at the end of 2022 showed that athletics was now ranked fourth in sports interest globally, compared to eighth or ninth in 2015, but added that more needed to be done to stay relevant.
“We are in a race,” he said. “And it is a race we cannot lose. It is a race against time, and it’s a race to continue to capture the imagination of young people. It’s not a race against other sports. It’s a race against all those outside influences that take up their time and, quite frankly, in some cases are more exciting and relevant to their lives.”
Coe also announced that World Athletics was conducting a deep data review to see which events are the most popular. Asked if it could lead to some being scrapped or others added, he replied: “The table is full.”
The World Athletics president insisted that the foundations were in place for the sport to grow, with stars such as Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Noah Lyles and others having the talent and personality to have huge crossover appeal.
He said he expected a new six-part Netflix documentary, out next year before the Paris Olympics, would also help – as would a new three-day global event featuring “the best of the best”, which would launch in 2026.
It is also likely that cross-country running will return for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, while World Athletics also intends to tap more into the growing sports of trail and mountain running.
“The first four years of my mandate was making sure the ship didn’t sink,” Coe said. “We were in a very, very serious position. We restructured the sport and put safeguards in place that we should have had.
“The next four years were really about dealing with all the issues that have been in the in-tray for far too long, such as the ongoing issues of Russia and protecting the female category. I really want the next four years to focus on what is the product? What is it that is going to future-proof the sport for the next 30 or 40 years?”
History was also made on Thursday with half of the 26 World Athletics elected council members being women – the first time that has happened in a major sport.
“I cannot begin to tell you how proud I am to be leading this sport in an era where we now have gender equity in our World Athletics council,” said Coe.
Coe may not complete his final term as there is growing support for him to stand to replace Thomas Bach as International Olympic Committee president when his term ends in 2025. However when asked about standing, Coe replied: “I genuinely haven’t ruled it in and I haven’t ruled it out.”
Our thoughts based on information above.
If Track and Field is "now ranked fourth in sports interest globally" , why is is not very lucrative to be world champion? I looked up the payout for a win place and show down to eighth place
Gold = $70,000 4th = $16,000 7th = $6,000
Silver= $35,000 5th = $11,000 8th = $5,000
Bronze=$22,000 6th = $7,000
Relays (Split 4 Ways)
Gold = $80,000 4th = $16,000 7th = $6,000
Silver = $40,000 5th = $12,000 8th = $4,000
Bronze = $20,000 6th = $8,000
I haven't found the Nielsen research that says what the most popular sports ahead of Track and Field are, but I'm sure Soccer/Football is number one in the world. Some reports not necessarily Nielsen, put cricket way up there which tells you the influence of British colonialism on the world of sport. I guess the Brits invented and exported soccer, but it seems it was very contagious even beyond the empire.
Question remains why is track and field so far behind in ability to pay it's champions compared to Baseball, US football, Golf, Tennis, and on and on. That should be high on the list of goals for any boss of World Athletics who wants to prove himself worthy of being the Pres. of the International Olympic Committee. Coe mentions putting cross country back into the Olympics. Wow that's great, but who ever paid to go to a cross country meet or watch it on TV? Has he talked to Saudi Arabia? Maybe he could interest them in sponsoring man vs. camel racing. We did something like that with Jesse Owens vs. a race horse when Jesse flipped off the American powers that were and went pro.
Now on to the World Championships
The US had a great opening day, The Netherlands has the worst imaginable.
Start with the US. Ryan Crouser, now carrying a couple of blood clots in his calf (think Eliqus, Ryan, the ad money could be fantastic) still wins the shot put by being 1.27 meters better than second place Leonardo Fabbri of Italy who surprised the heck out of himself with a 22.34 (73' 3 1/4")throw, and the ever steady and reliable Joe Kovacs of the US came through with a 22.12 (72' 6") meter throw for $22,000 for third place while a second string NFL running back earned that for lacing up his shoes all by by himself. Oh, yes, Crouser's throw was 77' 1" and some change.
That 20KM race walk by the guys was won by Alvaro Martin of Spain 1 hr 17 min 32 sec., 2nd place Perseus Karlstrom Sweden 1 hr 17 min 39 sec, 3rd place Caio Bonfim of Brazil in 1 hr 17 min 47 sec. Not to be outdone by the rest of this world class field, Evan Dunfee of British Columbia got fourth in 1 hr 18 min and 3 sec. Evan won't be training in BC when he comes back down to earth as the smoke from forest fires is horrific all over the province and much of the Pacific Northwest. Keep us in your thoughts. Thirty thousand people are under evacuation orders and many more under the slightly less worrisome category of evacuation alert.
The hopes of the Dutch nation were high and resting on the shoulders of Siffan Hassan and Femke Bol. The day started okay for Siffan, former 1500 meters women's world record holder and a 2 hr 18 min marathoner to boot until Faith Kipyegon got herself in gear and set WR's in the 1500, mile, and 5000 meters. Hassan qualified easily in the morning and advanced to the 1500 semis. Then with 7 hours rest she entered the next to last event of the day, the 10,000 meters and on the final stretch she was going neck and neck with Gudaf Tsegay from Ethiopia looking like she might hang on for the win but with about 30 meters to go Hassan appeared to be starting to lunge toward the tape way too soon and stumbled and fell. She then decided to walk across the line while another 9 runners passed her. Really unfortunate for the Dutch team. But that was only the beginning. Ethiopians took first three places, Tsegay 31:27.18, Letesenbet Gidey 31:28.16, and Ejguyehu Taye 31:28.31. Hassan took 26 seconds to walk that last thirty meters finishing 11th in 31:53.35. And afterwards she did not look all that upset. She may still have been in shock.
Up comes the final event of the day and a chance for the Dutch to redeem themselves in the relatively new event called the mixed 4x400. Two men , two women on each team and paying $80,000 to win. Obviously to be divided equally or maybe the runners' agents also get a cut. Anyway, the Netherlands is possibly a slight favorite coming in with Hemke Bol, the second best 400IH runner in the world anchoring them. She is given a lead on the final hand off and holds it coming down the stretch, but the American , Alexis Holmes, is coming on hard and they are going to the line neck and neck but only three meters out again a poorly timed lunge, a fatigue induced foot misstep, a possible touch by the American(?) and Bol goes straight into a faceplant on the track losing the baton even before she hits the track, probably trying to protect herself with that hand. Wait she's up and crosses the line in third, but the baton is gone and the Dutch are again left out in the cold. It is a bad day in the Hague, Amsterdam and Rotterdam and the suburbs. Heinekins will be flowing but not to celebrate. The Americans win in the world record time of 3:08.80, (Holmes' anchor is around 48.9). Great Britain is second in 3:11.06 (NR) and Czech Republic is third in 3:11.98 (NR). Bol's stumble cost her and her teammates $80,000 plus a World Record $100,000. The only thing I'm not sure of is if the relay runners would get first place money and the WR bonus for that win. I'm sure the IRS would like to know. Dutch fans, you are just going to have to wait til the next Formula One race and see if Max Verstappen will raise your spirits.
One last and undoubtedly boring thing before going to bed. I watched the events on CBC television today. A bit watered down. We saw the first 4 laps of the 10,000 meters and the last two laps. The announcers who are not track people described the early stages several times a 'pedestrian' which they were, so I was curious how the race evolved. Unfortunately CBC chose to go elsewhere. Did the Kenyans or Ethiopians do any tactical running? Were they throwing in hard laps occasionally? So looking at splits I got the answer. It was every woman for herself. After the first three laps which were indeed 'pedestrian' they picked it up a bit and ran very steady up to 9600 meters. Gidey carried the pace on the slightly faster laps, and then the race began with Tsegay of Ethiopia staying on her feet all the way to the finish with a 59 second last lap and watching Hassan bite the rubber track. I calculated the lap times for you which I'm sure you will all memorize. It will be a take home test tomorrow.
1:23, 1:30, 1:28, now they picked up 1:17, 1:14, 1:15, 1:15, 1:16, 1:17, 1:17, 1:17, 1:18, 1:17, 1:17, now another little uptick by the Ethiopians 1:14, 1:12, 1:12, 1:14, 1:14, 1:13, 1:12, 1:14, 1:13, 1:11, 0:59. Okay those 1:12's count as an uptick in pace. But I didn't really see those laps, because the CBC chose not to share them.
