Here's how to end the stupidity of identical singlets in DL/pro races

Let the runners wear what they want.

And stop limiting logos to one sponsor.

Just get Nike etc. to make 3-4 different coloured singlets and then the athletes can choose which one to race in.

Hublot wrote:

Easy to solve this...Nike needs to put their last name on the singlet like a soccer jersey.

Nice idea!

Should have been done years ago.

KBXC wrote:

I like the idea, but what would happen with runners who overlap in some of your categories? For example, let's say Kiprop theoretically gets the WR in the 1500 and is the Diamond League leader. Now he is a WR holder, Diamond League leader, and the reigning World Champ. How would that work? Would you give him a black singlet with gold and yellow accents? Just curious about the logistics of this plan.

Good questions. I guess they could work out a hierarchy like n the TdF. A crazy mixed singlet seems pretty wild and hard to know when it might be needed. Maybe black jersey with a yellow number etc?

That's a good point, and what I meant wasn't the official team kit so much as something with a flag design or the right colors so you could tell Kenya from Uganda and US from Canada without much trouble.

KBXC wrote:

I like the idea, but what would happen with runners who overlap in some of your categories? For example, let's say Kiprop theoretically gets the WR in the 1500 and is the Diamond League leader. Now he is a WR holder, Diamond League leader, and the reigning World Champ. How would that work? Would you give him a black singlet with gold and yellow accents? Just curious about the logistics of this plan.

In cycling they wear the most prestigious jersey. So if someone won the world and national championships, they'll wear the world championship jersey. If they have the yellow jersey in the Tour de France and the polka dot (for best climber), they'll wear yellow, and the second place guy in the polka dot competition will wear the polka dot jersey. The jersey in your current competition will also take precedence over world/national championships, so if for example the world champ is leading the tour de france, he'll wear yellow.

You could also add accents to the sleeves or elsewhere on the singlet to signify multiple attributes. Stripes for instance. That's pretty common in cycling.

formerD1 wrote:

This isn't the freaking tour de france. Yeah let's all care about what people are wearing as opposed to what they're achieving on the track and field.

Next thing you know we're going to start analyzing what shoes they are wearing and jewelry choices.

Another useless post from the message board jackass

Red/white/blue/black/brown/yellow/orange/pink/purple/green/ and mixtures of these colors.

ANYTHING is probably better than what they are doing now!

People will hate this proposal but why not let them run for a company/corporation such as Coca Cola, Pepsi, Dell, etc.? Put some money into the sport as the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, NASCAR, etc. But NOOOOO!

That would make too much sense!

Didn't the WMM have different color codings for WMM leaders, previous champions etc. Perhaps within the last 10 yrs? Not sure why they stopped.

Pro cycling, as well as the triathlon circuit seem to have figured out how to reconcile competing advertising on kits, not sure why T&F can't. Those governing bodies are just as corrupt as USATF.

Too easy wrote:

Anyone ever caught doping or on peds should wear a color too.

I think they already do this. Isn't that what those jerseys with the skull and wings on the front mean?

National kits should not be worn at DL events. The athletes have not been selected to represent their country at the meet.

This is an awesome idea. Good job OP.

[quote]formerD1 wrote:

In cycling you can instantly spot the major protagonists in a TV shot. Can you do that in distance track? No.

I disagree about this cycling reference.

Unless you follow the specific race/tour, and know who is in what position (leader/KOM/Points/young rider) or know the body type of the protagonist, it is really hard to tell one road biker from another.

Sure you can figure out what team an individual rider is on, but there are many riders on a team.

Most road cyclists are wearing helmets, sunglasses, etc, so its hard to distinguish their faces.

Even worse in football, with helmets on.

Agreed that something else needs to be done in running to help casual fans ID individuals.

Some of the bigger meets/races print runner names on bibs instead of numbers. That helps.

Do pro runners not want their personal names on their uniforms? Is there a rule that prohibits that?

At the meet hotel, you have a pile of jerseys for the men's 1500, for example, and there is a priority list for selecting, and you can't pick up your jersey until all of the people above you on the list have picked their jersey. The jerseys are all different. So Kiprop, or whoever is pick number one, gets to pick out of 15 jerseys, and so on, until the last sucker on the list has only one jersey left to pick from (maybe it's the neon pink one).

I'm not sure how to make the priority list. Maybe by PR? Maybe by most recent medal won?

Also, each meet would thus have it's own 'brand' of jersey, since the meet director isn't going to ask for the jerseys back at the end of the meet.

If Nike can have all their top athletes in different outfits each week on the PGA Tour then surely they can do it in track. The sport is hard enough to sell without making everyone look the same. I think at very least the names on singlets and ideally different colors for the top athletes (that are then given to the media beforehand and displayed on the screen to easily identify the athletes in the race)

I like your idea! Compare it to a horse a race, you have a jockeys with colored silks along with a number. So if you're watching a race you could easily differentiate the East African runners!

Very simple........if you are a foreigner you run with a shirt that states your courntry of and if you are an American you do the same or a shirt that designates your home state.......Hey, golf, one very successful sport does it, if

you saw the masters you saw the leaderboard stating what country the players were from..... the final day came down to players from England, Japan, Australia, the USA, and Northeast Ireland. Yes, the fans dig the country as team aspect.....

A race with too many Kenyan front-runners? Well, then enforce the drug rules as most of them are frauds.....just sayin

Boom.

EricMellow wrote:

Too easy wrote:

Anyone ever caught doping or on peds should wear a color too.

I think they already do this. Isn't that what those jerseys with the skull and wings on the front mean?

Daaaaaaaaamn