***BREAKING***100k Ultra for men & women to be included in 2020 Olympics -Tokyo organisers insistent it will happen.

I'd rather watch grass grow. wrote:

Due to the huge interest in distance running in Japan the Tokyo organisers are insistent a 100km Ultra for men and women will definitely happen. They believe it will add substantial local advertising revenue to help pay for the games.

Apparently they've been trying to keep it quiet as:

"Discussions on the event programme in the existing 28 Olympic sports for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 are ongoing, and will be finalised by the IOC Executive Board in mid-2017."

so other sports don't try to undermine them by applying for events in their sports to be added.

I think it'd be awesome. You're thinking about it like it'd be the current athletes who do ultras that would be competing...it wouldn't. If this was made official top Africans who aren't top 3 in their event would take up ultras immediately and the current ultra runners would be elimated as it would get more legit runners doing ultras. Ultras would become legit as opposed to a bunch of sloggers who do it to brag to people who don't know by "running" they mean walking fast.

Nice. It'd be great if it's on trails, there are some nice trails to the west of Tokyo.

Can a 100k truly be a draw of viewership? What is the popularity of this distance in Japan relative to the marathon? Seriously asking here.

Die hard trail runner here but I would want to see this Olympic Ultra on the road. East Africans, Japanese, Spanish, US, Europe, Canada I suspect would show a good race. It could really go to any of them. There would also be a lot more drama than the marathon but would still be more exciting than a racewalk.

I think trail or off road running in the Olympics would be best suited for Cross Country running.

Let's think.... wrote:

If this was made official top Africans who aren't top 3 in their event would take up ultras immediately and the current ultra runners would be elimated as it would get more legit runners doing ultras. Ultras would become legit as opposed to a bunch of sloggers who do it to brag to people who don't know by "running" they mean walking fast.

They got beat for 50K already and that's before the real energy bonk.

How effective is micro dosing EPO for a 100k?, that could decide who is up in the medals or not.

Paging Sage Canaday!; Sir, your Olympic Dream may actually come true!

And maybe K. Goucher is lacing them up as we speak, for her forthcoming book:

"UltraMarathon Woman: Female Confessions Of An All-Night Runner".

Yeah, OP, we know you love to watch the bore-fest that is the sit & kick 10k. A rarely run event. Ultras are run more often that the bore-fest 10k, also know as the snooze-fest 10k.

You're lying, but I do think the host country should be able to include a unique event that is special to their culture.

As long as it's not American football.

Take out the sports with guns, horses, land gravity assist (skiing)

Fake news

he said, she said wrote:

Paging Sage Canaday!; Sir, your Olympic Dream may actually come true!

no offense to sage but I think even he'd agree that there are some other americans who are much more suited to a road 100k than he is.

zach bitter (if it's flat) and max king (100k world champ) come to mind, and probably walmsley as well.

nice troll, a few bought it hook, line and sinker. I thought the additional event would be an ekiden or origami, but that folded.

The 100k Ultra (run-jog-walk) is just another boring racewalk event.

The Japanese think that they can do finally do well if they can just make the 26.2 mile marathon distance a little longer at 62.1 miles.

The Japanese plan will not work.

There is no need or desire for any of these events at the Olympics.

The 50k and 20k racewalk events should also be eliminated from the Olympics.

I would think Yuki Kawauchi could excel at this, the way he has run fast marathons so close together and so frequently.

There is already 50 km walk, why add 100 as well?

One can only hope that they show the race in it's entirety with no commercial interruptions. I will be on the edge of my seat with anticipation.

party san wrote:

nice troll, a few bought it hook, line and sinker. I thought the additional event would be an ekiden or origami, but that folded.

Not true, it's being worked on in the background for the reasons I mentioned. Tokyo already has added events for the youth market, this is for the oldies, there's a lot of them, and they are the ones with the high disposable incomes that the advertising will target. They will be more than happy to sit in their armchairs for a few hours and lap it up just like they do marathons. Have you any idea of the ratings figures for running events in Japan, it's off the scale.

"IOC President Thomas Bach said, “We want to take sport to the youth. With the many options that young people have, we cannot expect any more that they will come automatically to us. We have to go to them. Tokyo 2020’s balanced proposal fulfils all of the goals of the Olympic Agenda 2020 recommendation that allowed it. Taken together, the five sports are an innovative combination of established and emerging, youth-focused events that are popular in Japan and will add to the legacy of the Tokyo Games."