build your own brand wrote:
How about building your own brand instead of being dependent on the Olympics? Why can't the IAAF create relevant championship events outside of the Olympic structure?
Tennis has its own majors and nobody in the sport GAF about the Olympics. Same with golf. But somehow Seb can't create a relevant event without riding the coattails of the Olympics.
A once in every four year event is NOT a modern solution to anything about the sport of trail running itself.
This move basically only proves how powerless Seb Coe has become under the thumb of Nike. The IAAF is asking the IOC not to fix the sport, but for a Nike marketing opportunity during those two weeks every four years when young kids in front of screens might see and decide to take up other sports where Nike shoes and clothes don't have market dominance.
IMHO Trail Running should have a champion belt thingy that needs to be defended at least once every six months, with an invite for at least the 25 most qualified challengers.