One things you guys are missing about Eugene x Birmingham x Munich comparison

Horrible argument. By this logic, attendance at the Olympics should be atrocious. Too much competition!

That’s not how it works.

Eugene’s attendance was fine. Do you guys ever flip on a Diamond League meet? They have a two hour TV window and they aren’t selling out.

Americans are more interested in college t&f and olympic trial than the World C. and DL. Laughable in the rest of the world.

Eugene was a joke, when you see pics from Munich thats how it should look, like big time.

Just imagine the athletes who trained and looked forward too the WC and then beeing served Eugene. Embarrasing.

The way I look at it, the Americans trained and looked forward to the meet as well. Then proceeded to pick up more medals than any other country in the history of the meet with a few close calls to boot.

Im pretty sure they werent embarrased and were served a pretty nice home crowd support.

I GUARANTEE that anyone from Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, Oceana... that won a WC medal would not trade that experience for a regional meet regardless of how full stadiums were.

I realize that many of the people you are talking about were more tourist than competitors but the fans arent really cheering for mon advancing or play in athletes as much as you would like to think. But hey, you can still enjoy your 2nd rate meets on the tele just the same.

I also thought the US were breaking some sort of medal count record until somebody pointed out that many current events weren't contested at the 1987 WCs -- wPV, wSteeple, wHT, wTJ, mixed relay, longer women's racewalk. East Germany's record of 31 from Rome 1987 is still the more impressive. There should be a fairly large asterisk next to the US medal count from last month.

The abysmal differences between Eugene and Birmingham+Munich are not just in the size of the crowds, but in their connection to the action. Look at the fans’ support for the CG Sunday morning marathon, and especially look at last night’s Munich crowd (Olympic Stadium very nearly full), loudly cheering, chanting, rhythmic clapping, flag waving, for the decathlon javalin throw. And not just for Germany’s Kaul, but for all the competitors--like a Madrid-Barça Clásico.

Did you see and hear the enormous crowd reaction to the one gold for Germany in the 100m? Incredible scenes. The stadium bursting into singing and chanting. I guess what you are saying that you don't appreciate winning as much and grt a but jaded? Thats a shame, so much fun to hear the crowds teaction and the athletes reaction to their one gold.

Of course athletes would prefer a WC gold to winning a smaller meet. What does that have to do with comparing the abysmal attendance in Eugene vs Munich?

I don't think we'll ever have a meet that can ever achieve what LA84 did. They had 500,000 fans at the L.A. Coliseum for track and field each day. 90,000 in the stands and 400,000 outside watching Color Cathode Ray Tube TV and listening to the announcer inside the stadium.

Agree. Still, without the East Block, its a bit onesided. Would have been nice to see how things would have shook out. American drug scene was on the move, especially on the womens side. They were ready to play Ze Germans at their own game by 88.

That being said, to the fellow that said American medal haul should have an asterisk because of the E German 87 haul. You dont understand simple math. Winning more medals in more events is simply a better performance overall. Damned public education!

Also, to the chap that refers to the celebration of a country that wins a rare gold. Great for them. They should definitely celebrate, sing, chant, wave flags etc... If Americans did what you want, the rest of the world would just give up even more. You see, exceptionalism is a hard concept for many and unfortunately there are a lot of USA haters inside our own borders as well. In this case, winning is expected and mildly celebrated before directing attention onto the next challenge. As the leadership here is in serious decline, there is still a core belief that we can do and expect better. The meet in Eugene was a total experiment by UA/IAAF. They definitely should have picked a better market but track and field is just a niche sport here and the Olympics is the ONLY stage for that sport in this market that will get what you are asking for. Football is supreme here. That doesnt stop me from attending big track meets hosted here rather than whining about what I see somewhere else though.

Why stop at 1987, go to 1980, the E Germans won 1.5 medals per event, more than double their 1987 total.

the muzik in Munich is awesome, Beach Volleyball, T&F, Sport Climbing, etc

Not "their one gold".

Bir and Mun has had stellar attendance. Eug was a failure.

Eugene was pretty depressing. Not having finals at night time with floodlights always feels off.

USA should be let to play alone in their own, isolated sand pit. I believe there is no real public interest in freaks and freak shows.

Ha ha ha ha...what a bunch of losers on here. If you ran as fast as your lips, you'd all be world record holders. You guys cant back up the big talk no matter where the meet is. Ever! Keep poking the bear dumba$$es. It just wont work out for you. You couldn't compete in most Olympic or pro sports with Americans. How do you explain that? The only thing you have is more leople in attendance at meets that most Americans dont care that much about and I can assure you they absolutely dont care about CG or EC. Try again at the next WC and OG and maybe youll get your chance to prove otherwise, but I highly doubt it. I know in your hearts you know the truth and are just trying to warp reality to meet your fantasies.