I have faith ... wrote:
I have faith IAAF will run Diamond League as IAAF runs Continental Cup. At Continental Cup, there is 3000mSC for men and women and 3000m for both men and women.
Long ago, officially or unofficially Kenyans decided their best runners 5000m and longer would skip 5000m and 10000m and focus on Marathon. Ethiopians will do well in 3000m and will Kenyans.
Coe, competitively he was a better 1500m runner than 800m knows that some aging 1500m runners would love to see 3000m as an official event. If Coe does not at least add a 3000m, Coe will have to answer for a lot of things. I am sure there is hidden dirt on Coe which would be exposed if he does not at least add 3000m.
If there was hidden dirt on Coe then it would have come out by now, not least from the Russians.
This IAAF decision is one made by the council of the IAAF, not one person, based on the findings of in depth research and analysis of what the public wants to see, by a working group of ex athletes and members of the IAAF. To make out that it was the personal choice of one person, Seb Coe, to drop the 5000m from the Diamond League schedule is ludicrous and unfounded.
Coe is someone who has long championed X country running and has been a supporter of wanting to bring X country back into the Olympics. He is not an enemy of distance running. I’m sure there are many things that the IAAF have adopted over the years, for example, the playing of loud music throughout events, that he personally doesn’t like or approve of. However, he is in a position where he is not able to steam roll through changes that only he wants. The recommendations of dropping the 5000m would have come from a working task group, headed by Jon Ridgeon, whose remit was to ascertain what can be done to make the sport more popular and dynamic going forward.
I don’t think dropping the 5k from the Diamond League is the right decision, and I would imagine many fans of the sport of a certain age don’t like it either, but unfortunately the sport is not big or strong enough to stay as it was in the 80's or 90's, if it wants to maintain its dwindling popularity, let alone regain its once prominent position. The IAAF cannot ignore what the public want to see and have to consider big business sponsorship and contracts for its survival. That is the way of the world today! Blaming everything on one individual is unfair and not going to help the issue.
People also seem to think that athletics is all about the Diamond League. I’m sure there will still be 5 and 10k races at other big international/ invitational meets across Europe, and perhaps they (the IAAF) intend to have/promote specialised meets for distance runners, like they already have in some countries. Also, where does it state that they will not hold any 5000m events at the likes of Zurch, Brussels, Oslo, etc? All they have said is that the Diamond League events will only go up to 3000m. There have been many instances of top races being held over a range of distances that have occurred at Diamond League venues, but outside of the DL competition.[/quote]
I think people need to voice their concerns, give constructive criticism and opinions, but as usual, most on here just want to start a witch hunt based on information that doesn't yet give a broad picture of what international T&F will look like in the years to come.