Most sports league understand that the season should end with a single championship. They don’t crown a winner and then have them go on the road to play the same teams again for another month or two.
Most sports league understand that the season should end with a single championship. They don’t crown a winner and then have them go on the road to play the same teams again for another month or two.
Move the World Champs to the end of the season.
I agree but track and field athletes are poor and make most money after winning championships. they are not being paid 500k/week like an NBA/NFL/NHL player
There have been some great performances at Grand Prix meets that were held after the WCs. The athletes are still in peak form and the lack of rounds enables them to run fast. You rarely see world records in the distance events in meets with rounds but you might see them in Brussels, Berlin or other cities.
I agree - sick of these 100F days ruining WC races too
You can't predict the weather. It could be 75F or 100F in many of the cities that have hosted the meet.
Seville hosted the meet in 1999, it was over 100F for a few of the days even in the evening. It was uncomfortable sitting in the stands but I guess it was considered a dry heat.
How about the meets DURING the World Championships? Was it Sound Running that was putting one on? Just bad form.
It was only the first or second day of the World Championships when mostly just heats were being run. The Sound Running meet was for athletes who obviously hadn't qualified for the World Championships. No big deal. Those athletes need meets too.
he advised moving World Champs at the end of the season. During season you can do regular meets and earn cash.
My point is: they get paid more just after having a big exposure, like medaling in the Worlds/Olympics. I understand his ideia and in an ideal world it would be like that, but athletes need to get paid.
You get, let's say, 10k for your appearance 1 week after medaling. 6 months after it (next season) you're not going to get paid as much.
Most sports league understand that the season should end with a single championship. They don’t crown a winner and then have them go on the road to play the same teams again for another month or two.
Move the World Champs to the end of the season.
I agree and I think it adds to the confusion the average fan has with following the sport.
In every other sport and at every other level of this sport, the championship ends the season.
They might also be able to tie some participation in the world championships to performances in meets just to encourage some people to compete more.
Look at some of the athletes who are medalists- they rarely compete. OK, some have injuries but many just don't race.
Geez- in NY State you have to have a certain number of races (each in a different meet) (like 6 or something) just to compete in the state qualifying meet. The only way around it is a doctor saying that they treated the athlete from this date to that date making it impossible for them to have the required number of races.
It is one of the many dumb things track does that makes it hard for the average fan to understand. Other sports also don't have the number of disjoined meets. There should be a series with teams and individuals and the same people should run all of them. You don't see the NFL having entire weeks where the teams change and I'm not talking about byes. Each team will play 16 games, in track you have most athletes not contesting every Diamond League event.
There also needs to be one and only one main series. Like F1 you can have lower series but there should be a set calendar where you know everyone in the top league will be running barring injury.
he advised moving World Champs at the end of the season. During season you can do regular meets and earn cash.
My point is: they get paid more just after having a big exposure, like medaling in the Worlds/Olympics. I understand his ideia and in an ideal world it would be like that, but athletes need to get paid.
You get, let's say, 10k for your appearance 1 week after medaling. 6 months after it (next season) you're not going to get paid as much.
Maybe if track had a rational system for running meets, there would be more fans and more money for athletes.
One problem is there are only 9 lanes. You can't say every athlete should be at every meet when it simply isn't possible to fit every high quality athlete on the track. You would end up creating heats, which would dramatically increase the viewing time (2 hours is probably the right amount of time for a DL meet)
One problem is there are only 9 lanes. You can't say every athlete should be at every meet when it simply isn't possible to fit every high quality athlete on the track. You would end up creating heats, which would dramatically increase the viewing time (2 hours is probably the right amount of time for a DL meet)
This!! It’s very annoying reading from casual fans they expose their ignorance of the sport and their inability not to see track through the lens of NFL, NBA or NHL. Track is a unique individual sport with aim of making sure we get the best of human performance from PEAK athletes. It’s quality not quantity. LRC complain about heats but also want most athletes to compete in same series of meets with 9 lanes and 12 competitors in field events lol.
World champs are usually held in August, then the season ends with 2 DL meets included, 2 day finals in Zurich. This isn’t different from Tennis (another individual sport) the season doesn’t end with the last championship, it ends with their own version of the DL.
Although I agree that the season should end with the WCs, we should be looking at the other individual sports, e.g., tennis, golf. Trying to model T&F after the big team sports is a losing battle.