ransolo wrote:
The issue is not what the general public cares about. In reality, you could say they only care about the 100m final at the Olympics. But no sport survives on what the general public wants, unless the general public and the fans of the sport are almost synonyms (e.g., soccer).
You can check all those grainy old videos from races in the 1960s and 1970s and you'll see massive amounts of public even in indoor races. Today, you only see that in a few select meets in Europe, and is on the wane. People like the competition side of it, the head-to-head between the big names, racing as opposed to time trialing. And, much as I hate to acknowledge this, the general public in Europe or the US is not interested in 10 Kenyans and 10 Ethiopians running around a track for 12 or 25 laps chasing a world record (don't get me wrong: I am sure Ethiopians and Kenyans didn't give a damm about a bunch of white guys doing that in the 1950s or 1960s). That is why the Olympics and WCs are a little more interesting: self-identification with competitors and true competition. The NCAA is better at that than the pros. Unless we bring that in some way to T&F at the top level, other than once every 2 or 4 years, the sport is doomed.
Yeah, I can't really disagree with any of that.
I'll add again though, this is how it's always been for as long as I've followed and participated in the sport. I started running in '83 as a kid and track and field has only been important in the US during the Olympic years (at risk of stating the obvious).
It's always saddened me that that's the case, but that's just kind of how it's always been. The Olympics of course came to LA in '84 and it was a massive deal, and then after that no one really cared other than us track people.
Anyway, I'm also a little bummed that Athing Mu isn't running at Millrose because I'm a big fan and wanted to see her run. But she probably doesn't care about indoors, and Nike apparently aren't making her run -- and when she ran last year she of course did that weird mile thing; and Nike let her do that too. So I guess everyone is dropping the ball here.
When she doesn't run major outdoor events, then that's an issue. Indoor events though I don't think many people care.
One thing about the Ethiopians and Kenyans: I agree with you on that.
Going off the track and onto the roads, when Shalane Flanagan won the New York City Marathon back in 2017 it was a pretty big deal here in the US. The person who came in second that year, Mary Keitany, "Queen Mary"... she won New York the year before Shalane, and the year after, and I believe five times in total. And won London twice, I believe.
Of course, she's Kenyan so no one really cared in this country. So yeah.
Had she been American though (and white), it would have been absolutely massive.
Or if Shalane Flanagan had won five New York City Marathons it would have been freaking huge.
So yeah, I agree with you on that. People like to see people who look like them win.
But yep, on the whole track has a problem getting people to care outside of the Olympics.
Will it kill the sport? I don't know. Do people care about swimming, gymnastics or figure skating outside of the Olympics? I don't really think they do, do they?
So track is just one of those kind of sports. It's an Olympic sport. And only us hardcore people care about the in-between years.