Rojo, I think that most world class runners would rank world indoors down there with the Pan Am Games. Its just not an important event.
Indoor track is at its best when played as a travelling circus. Meet Directors and officials in tuxedos. Hand-picked matchups for fast times, record attempts, grudge matches. A huge party after the meet with lots of beer for everyone then onto the next town. Championship indoor track is meaningless outside the NCAA.
As a UK based supporter and runner, at this time of year pretty much all runners are looking at the finals of the cross country, be that Nationals at Parliament Hill or Inter County which is the pinnacle.
Our indoor season doesn't really exist due to facilities and traditionally being XC season. That Josh Kerr is based in the USA means he's not going be involved in the XC scene and Indoors probably isn't a priority.
I do however agree with LRC in that the sport needs to grow, and 4 majors a year seems like a good idea - but let's be honest, the money lies with the athletes sponsors not, the governing body.
As for medal count - Worlds, Commonwealth Euros from a UK view are the track highlights of the year. I have watched some of the indoors, but again, it's hardly a highlight of deep fields, variety and quality. Caveated that we have seen some good races mixed in.
When's the last time a Brit took xc seriously? I thought Seb Coe was pleading for them to take it seriously year after year. I wish Farah and Rupp had done it in their primes.
World indoors has never been, and never will be a major event. I really have never gotten why indoors in track and field is even a thing. Do you remember who won the last worlds 1500m? I don't but I could name all the 1500m Olympic champs going back decades. We should stop pretending indoors is something anyone should care about.
Oh the irony, WOW as I nearly fell off my chair as my god as i asked my friend and she agreed with me as I LOVE this story a LOT and a TON as them kids better get off my lawn as i might ask my good frend putin to send a Chicken hit squad after them as i am getting ready fro my hourly nap.
Nobody cares about indoor track here in the UK, it's all about the big outdoor champs. They are the only ones that are ever shown on the main bbc channels each year.
Indoors seems to be big in the US only. They run indoors in Europe but no one really cares that much. It's like the mile record.
Jakob just set the indoor WR and they went nuts.
JI, Kerr, and Wightman run indoors every season, near their peak PRs. ....Seems they know something.
US pros don't run tha many indoor meets so its not really a "Big thing" in the US only.
NCAA runs a lot of indoors however, and once you get past the mediocrity of US distance athletes, you will see that NCAA sprinters, jumpers, and throwers are all World leading marks. ....With the exception of the 60 (Coleman) and PV (Mondo).
In other words, Indoors matters to actual athletes.
So on Wed and Thursday nights, I'm in charge of the homepage so I spend a couple of hours surfing the Internet, checking my RSS reader, looking for stuff to put on the front page.
I just came across an article where the RSS Headline is:
'It's all about the medal count this year' - Kerr wants World Championships gold BBC 13:21
This is gross and pathetic. So you crawl the internet looking for any contradiction or misspeak an athlete might make so you can get some clicks. That's sad. Rule of thumb: Before you post, ask yourself, does this improve the sport or is it dumb clickbait?
Rojo, I think that most world class runners would rank world indoors down there with the Pan Am Games. Its just not an important event.
My point is, it should be viewed as more important. I disagree. For collegians, NCAA indoors and conference indoors are almost as big as outdoors.
Track does better as a spectator sport indoors as a small crowd looks big.
If World Athletics was smart, they'd host World Indoors on different USA indoor tracks for each edition. Indoors is quite healthy in the US and you could fill 5-10,000 seats pretty easily. You have great facilities in the huge cities --> NYC Armory, The New Balance facility coming in Boston, Chicago has one, you could keep going. Place it the week after NCAAs, and honestly the US/UK/Australia would be better served going with a discretionary pick to allow NCAA champs to compete or athletes stationed abroad. Doubtful that Josh Kerr, Cole Hocker, Oli Hoare wouldn't participate then.
Indoors seems to be big in the US only. They run indoors in Europe but no one really cares that much. It's like the mile record.
Jakob just set the indoor WR and they went nuts.
JI, Kerr, and Wightman run indoors every season, near their peak PRs. ....Seems they know something.
US pros don't run tha many indoor meets so its not really a "Big thing" in the US only.
NCAA runs a lot of indoors however, and once you get past the mediocrity of US distance athletes, you will see that NCAA sprinters, jumpers, and throwers are all World leading marks. ....With the exception of the 60 (Coleman) and PV (Mondo).
In other words, Indoors matters to actual athletes.
"Mediocrity" Cooper and Cole were in that system running 3:50s a year ago
The true irony about this is that he roasted hoare for running 3:50 in January the proceeded to talk about medals. It’s almost like when you lose you have to remind people you’re an Olympic bronze medalist or something.
Presumably he means medals at World Championships, European Championships, and Commonwealth Games. That's 3 medal opportunities right there.
I'd rather be a world champion than a European champion or a commonwealth champion. But to each their own.
I like when athletes have the outlook of "I'm the best. Whether it's January, March, June, or September. I'm the best. I'll be at all of the world championships to prove it." But that's just the fan in me lol. I got to respect those are out there doing the grind and going for their dreams.
On a side note, Belgium won the 4x400m relay at indoors with a 3:06.5. There are 16 different NCAA teams that ran faster this year. Would Belgium have even made NCAA finals?
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