BREAKING: IAAF announces that from 2020 onwards, longest race in Diamond League will be 3000m

well,, wrote:

Star wrote:

Phasing out the steeple and 10,000 makes sense.

For the steeplechase, it complicates building a new track anywhere.

You have to design that pit inside or outside for a single event that most people never try to run or follow.

Then get those barriers.

Get rid of the track 10,000 and put in a 12K Cross country event.

Keep the 5,000 and run it at these DL meets, though.

If you´re going to have XC in the Olympics then it has to something that resembles obstacle racing. There is no way they will have something like the WC race courses - well manicured golf courses or horse race tracks. Otherwise you will just replce something that people think is unwatchable (10000) with something equally unwatchable.

I take it you haven't been paying attention to the World XC course this year.

I'm so confused on why they can't just PIP the longer races so that nerds like us can see the coverage of the 5k/10k on a different track while they show the shorter events. It would be great if they had a two-track setup at the same venue where spectators could watch one or the other and simultaneously run the other events on the other track, but in the meantime hold the 5k/10k at a different location with a different filming crew. It would be better than completely scrapping it.

I thought the 10,000m wasn't currently a Diamond League event but it is still run at the Diamond League meets.

How much do athletes depend on prize money at 5,000m and 10,000m level ?

It this intended to deprive Africans from showing their dominance at 5,000m and 10,000m ? Does this move reinforce imperial/colonial economic structures and dynamics going against the idea of this and the Diamond League as a global sport ?

Semenya ?

Wil the Diamond League include para events in 2020 ? What would be the arguement for excluding the 5,000m and 10,000 against including more para events ?

Why didn't Seb Coe bring this forward when Mo Farah was competing ?

Why didn't they get rid of the discus ?

Nobody wants to see people running around a 400M track much more than 8 times. It is frightfully dull and boring.

Next on the IAAF to do list should be to banish all traces of race walking entirely from the sport.

TIA

3283823 wrote:

The Livestream is currently ongoing on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/Eev03qJig5U

Not a fan of this decision, although I do get that longer distances aren't geared towards public interest, but then when has running long distance ever been about the publicity...?

https://www.iaaf.org/news/press-release/diamond-league-2020-concept

Pretty stupid decision.

Nobody wants to see people running around a 400M track much more than 8 times. It is frightfully dull and boring.

If treated that way by NBC, then yes, yes it is. Time for a montage of sob stories while the race is underway!

Imagine how boring you could make baseball and golf with that approach.

milermb wrote:

"I thought that the 10000 had already been put on the list of next to be removed events from the Olympics. It should be, regardless. It's boring as all get out. Replace it with XC on a visually interesting course."

It should be an interesting XC course, with some hard challenges. Maybe a few narrow sections where first runners through don't have to slow down, and runner who chose to sit lose a few seconds. Maybe some tight turns. Some muddy sections. Some water crossings--ankle deep, or more challenging, mid leg deep. And some logs to hurdle over, or jump on and over. People who don't care about running would even tune in

This is the future, with European Athletics full on board

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knapAmrT9qI

wejo wrote:

...

So no we'll have 800/1500/3000/steeple ? Or are they going to drop the steeple?

No guarantee that they'll keep both the 8 and the 15. They're cutting down from 32 to 24 disciplines. They're f***in' idiots.

I'm confused, they aren't adding the 3,000 to the Olympic games so why run it at DL meets? Currently not all the DL have 5 and 10 races . Also, does this mean that regardless of country unless you have run 27:30 or 2:29 the athlete can not compete. Hence, no token women from Greece who have a best of 2:40 getting in and calling themselves an Olympian. Some countries will have no entrants?

Star wrote:

Phasing out the steeple and 10,000 makes sense.

For the steeplechase, it complicates building a new track anywhere.

You have to design that pit inside or outside for a single event that most people never try to run or follow.

Then get those barriers.

Get rid of the track 10,000 and put in a 12K Cross country event.

I like the idea of a XC / Steeple mixed race. That would give the Steeple and XC runners more of a challenge, and both specialist would have to work on skills for both types of events.

Yep... these are just some incredibly stupid people. “Hey, I have a great idea! Let’s remove the only event that millions of adults actually run every year and can relate to and replace it with the 3000 which has always been an obscure side event when Daniel Komen isn’t involved. This should save as many as 10 minutes in some cases!”

I really hope the IAAF rots.

On the bright side, elite road racing could explode. This would help fuel the homoerotic fantasies of the typical letsrun male who is obsessed with weathered “blue collar” runners with beards grimacing in the hot sun.

I bet if Mo Farah hasn’t retired from the track this wouldn’t have happened. Conspiracy theory: the iaaf is doing this because they don’t want Jakob Ingebrigtsen to go sub 13. On a side note, I’m excited to see a bunch of negative reactions from athletes (hopefully some protests even). The iaaf clearly respects some athletes more than they respect others and will be taken less seriously for years to come.

Maybe they are just trying to free up time for ultras since those are so popular.

Instead of moaning about all of this, think about the opportunities that this opens up:

Sponsors step up to put on "distance carnival" meets that feature high level steeple, 5,000 and 10,000 racing. How about some American pluck here - make the US the home of world class 5/10 racing with big prize pools, betting, party atmosphere, beer garden next to the track, live music, prime money for leaders at each kilometer, million dollar prize for a WR, etc. Hold such meets on weekends in places like NYC, Eugene, Stanford, LA, Philadelphia, and the like where distance geeks would love to see high level racing instead of sneaking a look at balky live streams during the workday.

Create a Diamond League like circuit of 5K and 10K road events - races run in major cities, tourist meccas, exotic locales, etc. This could bring back road racing's golden era of the 1980's when the best distance runners fought it out on the roads for cash. For many athletes, this could be far more lucrative than the Euro track circuit. Again, put it in North America if the races are too long for Euro fans to wrap their heads around.

As others mentioned, re-prioritize cross country as the preferred sport for long distance types and bring it back to the Olympics.

This isn't doom and gloom. This is an opportunity for someone to step up and make the sport better for fans and more lucrative for the athletes.

Hshhd wrote:

calpa wrote:

I'll invite all the pros to run the 5000 and 10,000 at my high school track

This creates starved market for 5k & 10k.

Therefore, it creates a market opportunity to have a few high profile 5000s and 10000s put on by some other sponsor.

Maybe (?)

My thought excactly.

Wait a second, are you telling me you expect us to race more than twice a year?

PrZ wrote:

Conspiracy theory: the iaaf is doing this because they don’t want Jakob Ingebrigtsen to go sub 13.

Most conspiracy theories at least have a semblance of sense/logic, unlike this statement.

A better example of a conspiracy theory would be that Seb sucked at the 5000m+ and now wants to punish those that don't and kill off those events.