LRC note: Our interview with Grant will be here. Read an unbiased interview - not one from someone likely paid to cover the meet.
LRC note: Our interview with Grant will be here. Read an unbiased interview - not one from someone likely paid to cover the meet.
Original post.
I really like Grant’s interviews, he’s really insightful and articulate with his responses and has gotten better and better overtime.
Flo’da boy wrote:
I really like Grant’s interviews, he’s really insightful and articulate with his responses and has gotten better and better overtime.
Now that ending was a Grand Slam or was it a Grant Slam.
Love it
Europeans get this format. They’re used to doing math for 3 weeks straight during the Tour de France.
JG’s exchange with MJ was very interesting too. You can see they’re still feeling out the format a bit. It will be interesting to see how things evolve.
The discussion about whether this could overtake the World Championships in popularity or prestige seemed kind of odd. Grant seems really bought into this format, but that seems a bit overenthusiastic. The benefit of the world championship name is that it is legible to marginal fans. Even if you don't know anything about the sport you'll understand that being a world champion is a big deal. Grand Slam is more opaque and who knows if it will even be around in a couple years.
The other thing he's missing is that at the World Champs people rep their countries, but at Grand Slam people are just repping their sponsors. That is a huge because patriotic sentiment will cause people to cheer for athletes even if they didn't already know them. This also results in the absence of relays which are some of the most popular events and great for national rivalries.
Third point is that at the World Championships it builds to a final race where everything is on the line. This is a proven format in most sports because it builds tension and desperation.
Geometry Vibes wrote:
LRC note: Our interview with Grant will be here. Read an unbiased interview - not one from someone likely paid to cover the meet.
Original post.
I really like Grant’s interviews, he’s really insightful and articulate with his responses and has gotten better and better overtime.
I think the Grand Slam Track could become a very notable event if it continues to maintain investment and development. However, compared to traditional tournaments such as the World Championships, it will take many years for this event to build prestige and global recognition. It is important that this event maintains its quality, creating dramatic matches calculate, and maintain attractive compensation levels to attract talented athletes and fans.
It takes some time to build up to that level. If we look at their inspiration, Wimbledon was first held in 1877, Roland-garros in 1891. Somehow I don’t know if the GST owners have that long of a perspective on this.
Insightful? He pretends as if the Diamond League doesn't exist which is basically what Grand Slam is trying to emulate in the US but on a grander and more sustainable manner. For people not familiar with T&F, this is a terrible interview because he speaks as if T&F only has World Champs and Olympics which is not true at all--not even speaking of all the Gold or Silver level competitions in- and outdoors.
say what?! wrote:
Insightful? He pretends as if the Diamond League doesn't exist which is basically what Grand Slam is trying to emulate in the US but on a grander and more sustainable manner. For people not familiar with T&F, this is a terrible interview because he speaks as if T&F only has World Champs and Olympics which is not true at all--not even speaking of all the Gold or Silver level competitions in- and outdoors.
The WC or Olympics define success for any year. Grand Slam will never have all of the athletes and many of them will not be at maximum fitness and other than some cash, from a prestige perspective there is nothing to win. Wanyonyi’s win was exciting but it was less competitive than a WC or Olympic semi.
Those types of interviews from the tent are not watched by people unfamiliar with T&F.