OP said "Michael Johnson had the right idea." Must have missed the fact that GST was complete failure. The beauty of a well run track meet is there is always something different happening.
Totally different and complimentary. Field events are a chess match, virtuoso performance punctuated by periods of silence, and allow the viewers total focus on a single athlete and what they can do, every aspect of prep and technique. The sense of competition is defined by the position of the bar or mark which represents the leader, except in Mondo's case where there hasn't been any such competition for years and he operates a purely exhibition event. But Milty, Tara etc don't get to do that.
Running is moving drama in which the tension is created by constant relative movement between athletes, sometimes screening the viewers in distance races, and rarely, mostly in JIngy's or Keely's cases now, a duel with the clock but still against the ghosts of Komen, Kratch etc.
The Pre meet particularly thrives on this juxtaposition and differential absorption. Despite the aura and centering of distance running, the Pre crowd certainly knows their field marks and is totally into e.g. Crouser and Kovacs or Taylor and Claye.
Holy Spit! Do you realize where you are posting this??? There is no way 5 syllable eloquence will be tolerated here! Bravo!
Watching Kovacs break WR in warmup only to be beaten, again, by Crouser is plenty of drama. Throwing heavy things far is an art. I love the drama of the hj as well. I think personalities, routines and quirky habits that are unique add to the drama. Lasitskene vs McDermott(Olyslagers) vs Mahuchuk.
Watching Duplantis stomp the field for years and slowly Karalis is gaining. It wont be long now. Just have to appreciate how great AD is as he pushes the envelope and shows others the way.
I am dissapointed in the mens horizontal jumps and the women's hj in USA, no doubt. Where the heck are the 29 footers? Or even the 28 footers? There's no woman in USA that can clear 6-7 or better??? Regularly???? Louise Ritter is all we have? Give me Sophie Cunningham for a few months and Ill get her over 6-8.
Not to dis Kovacs. His late round put in the rain in Paris to take the silver was brilliance. His emotion after that throw was as intense as it gets. I was so happy for him!!!
OP said "Michael Johnson had the right idea." Must have missed the fact that GST was complete failure. The beauty of a well run track meet is there is always something different happening.
The sport has been a complete failure for a long time. None of it makes money. The only difference between GST and the Olympics is nobody minds losing money on the Olympics. Otherwise it would have gone bankrupt long ago.
Regarding the throws, all but javelin are ridiculous. Shot and discus are nonsensical as hand-thrown projectiles. Hammer does have some good history to it, but it is so dangerous nobody can watch in person. Javelin is a real basic throwing object, the others should be a baseball, a boomerang, and knives.
I can throw boomerangs very well, and make them too.
If I could control the events I would eliminate the Hammer, PV, Triple Jump, Jav, Discus, 10k, and all race-walking. I'd replace the 400m hurdles with the 300m hurdles, I'd add a XC 10k for worlds, and I'd add a 4x800. I'd repace the mixed 4x400 with a mixed 2x2x400 or a mixed SMR/DMR.
I don't want to hear the "just ignore it argument". I should never ever ever have to worry about a large metal object being thrown near me ever. These events are a waste of space, energy, and time.
OP said "Michael Johnson had the right idea." Must have missed the fact that GST was complete failure. The beauty of a well run track meet is there is always something different happening.
If nothing else... Field events give you something to watch between races on the track.
It also gives dudes who are too big to be runners and jumpers to be able to participate in the sport.
If you go to a diamond league event and ask every single fan in the stands what event they are most excited to see - guarantee NO ONE will say hammer throw
Well, you are accidentally correct because hammer throw is not part of the Diamond League. It is not a sanctioned discipline. However, a few Diamond League meets per year typically hold a hammer throw competition outside the television window.
Canadians might pick the hammer throw as their favorite event. Canada has the best male and female hammer thrower right now. And given their ages that might hold true for quite a while.
As an athlete I liked 100 mile weeks with two interval workouts.
After coaching for 10 years I got a new coaching position and rarely saw a distance runner for 20 years. I spent a lot of time learning all the field events.
The psychology is much different. Everything is preprogramed. Visualization is made for the shot put and is much more difficult for distance runners.
The thrower may throw dozens of times in practice but gets 3 throws in meets to qualify for 3 more.
I taught a kid to throw her farthest on her last throw. Just like a distance runner kicking.
There is a popular bumper sticker 0:00 This identifies how much running is necessary to throw far. Cardio is setting up a few cones 10 meters apart and doing dynamic warm ups for a minute.
Throws are very technical. It is easy to tell the high school kids that get no coaching.
TV could make throws more interesting by having lines (like first down in football) where the leader is.
They could show finals and speed up the process such as 30 seconds to throw instead 60.
Show stats such as personal best. Use feet instead of meters such as 60 feet rather than 18.288 meters.
Use slow motion and show technical points during broadcast.
field events were invented by old-school prep school types in England and France. They are the kind of contest only an unathletic nerd could make up.
The long jump arguably is a basic form of athleticism. Pole vault, triple jump, and high jump under its current rules, are not basic forms of athleticism. Jumping 3 times is something you will literally never have to do in any situation.
Hurdles is equally ridiculous. Running with things in your way and jumping over them is not important. An event where you run around obstacles would be about basic athleticism. Sort of a slalom sprint
They threw the javelin and discus as part of the pentathlon in the Ancient Greek Olympics.
Yes there are definitely different body types for the javelin where flexibility is important. The shot put is brute strength. The discuss it helps to have long arms and big hands.
I am dissapointed in the mens horizontal jumps and the women's hj in USA, no doubt. Where the heck are the 29 footers? Or even the 28 footers? There's no woman in USA that can clear 6-7 or better??? Regularly???? Louise Ritter is all we have? Give me Sophie Cunningham for a few months and Ill get her over 6-8.
You can turn a basketball player into a 6-8 jumper in a few months?
Can you also turn Vashti Cunningham into a WNBA player in a few months?
field events were invented by old-school prep school types in England and France. They are the kind of contest only an unathletic nerd could make up.
The long jump arguably is a basic form of athleticism. Pole vault, triple jump, and high jump under its current rules, are not basic forms of athleticism. Jumping 3 times is something you will literally never have to do in any situation.
Hurdles is equally ridiculous. Running with things in your way and jumping over them is not important. An event where you run around obstacles would be about basic athleticism. Sort of a slalom sprint
They threw the javelin and discus as part of the pentathlon in the Ancient Greek Olympics.
And they did it all butt naked, and no females allowed. There's a non-PC word for that kind of nonsense.
A heavy disc makes no sense to throw, Greeks or not.