jofl wrote:
Lose the 200m based on the same logic as 5K/10K, same athletes dominate.
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What's wrong with having the same athletes dominate? The IOC loves stars. Michael Johnson, Carl Lewis, Phelps. They were stars as they won more than once.
The 10,000 should be an xc race. The 100 and 200 aren't the same event. I think it's way harder to win both of those than it is to win the 5000 and 10,000 given their are no heats of 10k any more and the races are often jog fests nowadays.
It's not like every meet is required to hold all these events each time. Keep them for the annual championship, but pick and choose for the invitationals.
Dick...............................Pound...............................oh, my!
Why does track and field need to get rid of an event? The sport is filled with amazing athletes and we need to continue to showcase them.
We should be adding stuff. 4x8 or DMR or Ekiden.
Cross Country in the winter.
I'd be all for dumping the hammer, TJ and at least one of the walks. Discus only slips in because of that famous sculpture, really. I mean, the discus isn't even a real thing - was it ever a weapon? But that sculpture validates it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discobolus
I would drop the 10000 if we got an xc race instead. A gorgeous XC course that highlighted the natural beauty of a city would be a highlight of the games. The flags, the uniforms...
I don't think track should have any fewer events. But I wouldn't mind replacing the track 10,000 with xc or even adding just xc and keeping the 10,000. XC is really fun and usually isn't as tactical as track. It could be really fun to watch and get people interested in serious running.
I agree with the sentiment of keeping all of the events.
But it comes across as just too much and waters it down a bit.
Comparable athletes can avoid each other.
It becomes a way to get more people medals that aren't good enough to medal in other events.
It's like all of the weight divisions in boxing.
It's really fine the way it is.
It's just worth discussing, though.
I made a suggestion but if I had the final say I really wouldn't get rid of the events I suggested.
jofl wrote:
Listen, you have to get rid of events that guys can double (the 10K and 5K are the same athletes for 80% of the field). The IOC loves targeting "African dominated disciplines," so the Steeple must go (plus, it has no defining Olympic moment). We keep Discus, Shot, and Javelin. Lose the 200m based on the same logic as 5K/10K, same athletes dominate.
Based on your logic and what we see in in track and field today wouldn't it make sense to have the track events be 100, 400, 800, 1500, Steeple, 10,000?
If they want to trim some obvious redundancies, start with swimming, or start making the case for 'Backwards 100m dash' on the track.Don't even get me started on BMX
rojo wrote:
It's interesting that Coe, who has insinuated in recent months that track needs to work on its presentation was very vocal in his defense of both the triple jump and race-walking.
Dick Pound said:Canadian IOC member Dick Pound, a former Olympic swimmer, was quick to throw out some suggestions.
When asked what sports the Olympics could live without, he told Reuters "Synchronised swimming... and maybe triple jump.
"Everybody has to share the load for the good of the Olympics."
but Seb Coe responded:
Seb Coe said:
I'll let Dick make observations about his own sport and I will make them about mine, and triple jump is a sacrosanct sport in track and field," Coe said.
But Coe, who last week launched his campaign to become president of world athletics' governing body, the IAAF, said he was not surprised track and field was already being mentioned.
"We have 47 different disciplines so it is inevitable," he told reporters....
Coe also leapt to the defence of race walking which has been questioned in the past.
"Race walking is a sport that is covered in China, Russia, large parts of Central America, Southeast Asia, Italy and Spain. It is a very important part of our sport," he said.
I'd sort of just assumed his recent comments meant we should get rid of some track events.
It's interesting to see how track is viewed by others. I always think all of the ridiculous swimming events are out of control (how many relays do they have?) but then they probably view the 47 aspects of track as absurd in similar fashion.
I feel as though most events that can be won by the same individual are by definition redundant. The one exception I might make is for something like 100m and long jump. Otherwise it's silly that Michael Phelps can win so many swimming events. That says to me they aren't different enough. Likewise, Mo Farah winning the 5k/10k double says to me those events are too similar. A sprinter doing the 100m and 200m plus relays seems silly. I appreciate that the additional events give us plenty of air time to watch, but Michael Phelps is the most decorated Olympian because of how similar all the events are. There could be a curler out there with more skill than any other human in the history of sporting, but he doesn't have enough similar events to ever be thought of like a Phelps.
How can anyone take someone named Dick Pound seriously? Guy should be a porn actor.
Mark my words, between the Hammer, TJ, RW, SC and 10K, one or two of those events won't make it to 2020. As well as the prelim for sprints. Btw, the Olympics as added and subtracted events many times. A lot of this has to do with tv time and money.
If you want to make the Olympics more interesting, then first, you drop the lame events/sports like racewalking and fencing. Second, you get a better mascot, preferably some sort of racy phallic symbol who's not afraid to get cheap, sophomoric laughs. Third, you recognize that the Summer Olympics is a guys Olympics, just like Winter Olympics are for chicks, and you do something that appeals to dudes like import a bunch of hot b*tches to do mud or whipcream wrestling. Fourth, get more officials with names like Dick Pound ... maybe Harry Balls, Biggus Dickus, Seymour Butts, etc. ... and do lots of announcements with their names going out over the intercom, preferably in sentences like "we're looking for Harry Balls, if anyone sees Harry Balls, please contact us immediately."
Bring Back the 880 wrote:
Looking for cuts, the 10,000 is the low hanging fruit. Too similar to 5000 and dilutes marathon comp to boot.
Similar to 5000m and marathon... so why is Jeilan (WCh 2011) so crappy at both? You could argue that it's not the best spectator event, but these are all different beasts.
I don't really much justification for keeping the walks, which are almost impossible to judge fairly anyway. Plus being silly.
Seriously If ever there's a sport with too many events, it is swimming. All you have too do is look at the likes of Phelps and past swimmer medal counts to know the disciplines are too similar and not taxing enough. Speed skating too.
getting rid of prelims for sprints actually an interesting idea although I'm guessing never happen. Sprints get a ridiculous amount of tv time just watching them getting into the blocks for a 10 second event when you rarely see an entire 5000 in prime coverage. I'm assuming because sprints get the best ratings.
I'm not sold the solution is cutting events from sports. People will watch NASCAR drive 100's of laps for hours, they'll watch an all day golf event, espn will report news on football players that is arguably just gossip. Quality and quantity are valuable.
I wanna see an analysis of what will really be gained from cutting events from the sport in connection to why people aren't watching the Olympics. Cause I don't think anything would be gained.
If someone doesn't watch the Olympics before, why would they know or care if we get rid of 5 events, that everything was already going to be put in a 2 hour block. Track already sucks because so much time is wasted between events, now there would be even less events, and more TV chatter.
My theory of what will make track good, build up support outside of the Olympics, so it isn't something relevant only every 4 years. The governing body of usatf needs to do more, individual people create meets, how crazy is that. Track is like the wild wild west, anyone can make a track meet and professional athletes will show up if there is prize money. We need a league, with teams, where the team pays the athlete, not the shoe company. Ironically even shoe companies see the value in teams, Nike Oregon project, bowermen, OTC.
If it was 8 teams around the US, 4 athletes an event. Could have duel meets where all 8 lanes filed. And a USATF championship with 32 athletes. Athletes could actually describe what they're training for outside of the Olympics. People Could actually regularly go to track meets that aren't college. It would create value for good professional athletes that aren't top 3. Even if someone can't make the Olympics, the 10th athlete can still shine by scoring points in duel meets even if he wouldn't make a usatf final. that adds depth to the sport. It's embarrassing the prize money for winning nationals is 7000. There should be at least 2 more zeros to that number.
There could be a draft, college athletes can temporarily wear pro teams jerseys for USA's. This will give the sport personality, fans something locally and regionally to support, and actually create a purpose. Include gambling and alcohol at the events, it can be 4 hours long. Maybe 7 duel meets diamond league style where all the events don't get ran every week. Track won't be such a stray dog with only 1 purpose every four years. People could begin to understand and cheer sport. But people need to be given something to cheer.
It amazes me that the steeplechase is not a more popular event, at least as far as tv coverage goes. I understand why 5ks aren't shown in their entirety on broadcasts, because the nuances of a distance race are usually not appreciated by the general audience and having Ato Boldon try and explain what's going on in a 5k makes distance fans want to slam their dick in a drawer.
But the steeple has so much going on, especially in the prelims when it's more likely to be packed up, it should be the easiest thing in the world to get people to want to watch it. Show a couple crashes, show pretty americans like Jager and Coburn doing well, and do a good job explaining that the barriers weigh 1000lbs and don't fall over like hurdle and you'd think the ratings would be good.
I wish they would have a 100 m speed walk.