At the very core of it, Track&Field is a predominantly African American sport. More black youth participate at USATF junior, highschool, and collegiate levels than any other race. It stands to figure that hosting these events way out in rural, predominantly white pacific northwest does not make sense to me. At all.
Atlanta, Charlotte, DC, and so on are prime regions for getting butts in the stands despite the logic saying it's too hot to host meets in those locations. You need African American track fans to come out in large numbers.
North Carolina has a 21% black population
Georgia has 31%
Alabama has 26%
Maryland has 29%
etc...
Oregon has 2%. WhyTF are we hosting meets in Oregon??? Most of the athlete that won medals at Eugene were black.
Case in point: The USATF Master Nationals participation record was set in 2000 in Eugene. This year, it will be beaten by almost 200 more participants in North Carolina after years of abysmal participation because they'd host it in random places like Iowa.
The heart and soul of track&field is in the southeast. I'd even go as far as to say it has to be hosted in Atlanta or Charlotte. Atlanta is a double whammy as it's a huge running city and has the largest black populations relative to other races.
People in Oregon can't relate to Athing Mu despite their political affiliations. They're not going to flock to the stands to watch her. They flocked to the stands to watch Prefontaine because he was white and a local boy. Let's be honest about that. You put stars like Athing Mu in ameet in Atlanta or Charlotte, you'll get a ton of new fans coming because black fans can relate to black athletes.
