I;d keep the classic events and get rid of most of the hurdles and all of the relays. Hurdlers can race over 400m as can steeplechasers. I'd get rid of the 5000m in favour of the 3000m, as a 5000m is too much of a long distance event, similar to the 10000m and often being won by the same athlete. The short sprints and middle distance events are so competitive that they need to be there.
100m, 200m, 400m, 400m Hurdles, 800m, 1500m, 3000m, 10000m, high jump, long jump, javelin and discus.
5km, 10km, 4x2km, 3km Steeplechase, courses don't need to be certified, just close to the same length. Winners from tour meets get free entry into World Champs. (Same system as Road Racing, see below)
Indoor Track:
60m (all out sprint)
200m (More sustained sprint)
600m (Mix of 800m and 400m athletes)
2000m (Mix of 1500m and 5000m athletes, a very tactical race)
SMR (800-400-200-200)
4x200m (Ideal relay for a 200m track)
Pole Vault, High Jump, Long Jump, Triple Jump Can be done indoors without interference from the wind.
60m Hurdles (all out sprint with hurdles)
Pentathlon as the multi(60m, 600m, High Jump, Long Jump, 60m H)
Outdoor Track:
100m (who's the fastest?)
400m (exciting, sustained sprint)
800m (Quick, tactical race)
1500m (The ideal tactical race)
110m HH (Quick sprint with hurdles)
4x100m (fast paced relay)
Long Jump (Farthest Jump)
Pole Vault (Personal Favorite and a big crowd pleaser)
Shot Put (Least ideal throwing implement -> test of strength)
Road Racing Circuit: (Combined with Marathon Majors)
5km (100 athletes)
10km (100 athletes)
Half and full marathons (200 athletes each)
Qualify for a season based on a performance standard (13:30/28:00/60/2:08 or the like) or by winning a race at a lower tier. Score points based on placement over a season. Additional points awarded for fast times. Bottom half by points without a time standard are relegated out of the circuit.
I personally think scrapping the 1500 and 5000 in favor of the 3000 would be good because it's still short and fast enough to be exciting and there's already a lot of overlap between the 1500 and 5000 fields
Start with the original 12 events from the 1896 Olympic Games... 100m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 110h, Marathon, LJ, HJ, TJ, PV, SP, D. Then replace the marathon with a fully drone-covered Cross Country 10k around the stadium grounds for logistics and broadcast reasons. And replace the 1500m with the mile to grab the American TV audience, because the average American sitting on a couch watching TV has no idea how far 1500m is, but recognizes a mile. Then, as/if it begins "catching on" with the broadcast audience, introduce other events to fill in the gaps later. Worked out pretty well for the Olympic "brand" for the past 127 years.
I like the idea of getting rid of the obvious doubles like the 100/200 or the 400/800 or 800/1500 so I could see getting rid of the 800 as well.
To be fair, 400/800 is probably the most difficult double to do of any adjacent pair of distances. I can't remember anyone doing it at a major championship since the days of Kratochvilova?
1976 Olympics in Montreal - Alberto Juantorena from Cuba. Nicknamed 'El Cabello' (the horse).
Can I ask what region that is? I would love to know more. We are seriously trying to make track better, and I think the "every other week" system of alternate events is the best and most realistic option.
As an indoor track & field fan, I like this idea. Use a standardized banked 200m track and place it inside MLS stadiums since their capacities are much smaller than most (all?) NFL stadiums.
Is this supposed to be as part of a championship? Because the marathon is part of the track and field program. If so, my program of events would look like this:
What you jag offs don't understand/take for granted is volunteer officials. College tennis only needs two. Volleyball two, with two volunteer line judge.
Officials (lack of) is wot killing HS sports across all sports.
Eliminate race walking altogether. Chris Paul (PHX Suns) is making a mockery of that mockery every time his Progressive Insurance commercial airs. Quentin Rew is a bloody embarrassment.
Eliminate Hop, Step, and Jump. It is NOT a triple jump. It is the Ministry of Silly Walks of Track & Field.
Pole Vault belongs in X Games.
Steeplechase is too much trouble.
Eliminate all throws except Shot. Hammer belongs in Scottish Highland Games along with caber toss.
To be fair, 400/800 is probably the most difficult double to do of any adjacent pair of distances. I can't remember anyone doing it at a major championship since the days of Kratochvilova?
1976 Olympics in Montreal - Alberto Juantorena from Cuba. Nicknamed 'El Cabello' (the horse).
1976 Olympics in Montreal - Alberto Juantorena from Cuba. Nicknamed 'El Cabello' (the horse).
Apparently you are not aware that Kratchvilova’s 400/800 double was in 1983, seven years after Juantorena.
2 other points:
It makes no sense whatsoever to have the decathlon if you do not also contest each of the events individually.
Not a much love for the triple jump, even though distance runners and sprinters alike swear by our bounding drills when you want to improve grace, mechanics and speed. We’re Gazelles prancing, silly boys, and if you don’t think spectators would rather watch us than a pack of skinny midgets running 25 laps around the track I would just say this: I would compare our girlfriends to yours any day.
I would not use the 110 hurdles. I find it to be an incredibly boring event, since the distance between barriers forces everyone into the same step pattern.
It's only interesting when someone crashes, and that's another reason I would not keep it. Given the height of those carriers and basically touching each other with athletes inches away in an adjacent lane, we are long overdue for a high profile calamity that will stain the sport.
It nearly happened to the Spaniard at European indoors
6 for men, 6 for women. Done in one day, 2 or 3 hours at most.
The Long High Jump, which I invented and described about a month ago on some other thread, combines a long jump runway with a ramp to convert your horizontal speed to vertical and fling you over amazing heights. Jump height = bar height - ramp height.
This post was edited 7 minutes after it was posted.
Reason provided:
jumping for distance off a ramp would be interesting too. It could be a biathlon event with points for place in each phase.
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