Buffalo Orange wrote:
bladerunner wrote:It's not like these guys make millions. If the USATF can't put up enough prize money to make athletes compete, then what does it say about the financial health of the sport?
Exactly. Christian Taylor isn't responsible for growing the sport in the United States- USATF is. If they think it's important for the top athletes to participate in an event, they should pay them to participate. It's called capitalism. As it is, US nationals was just an obstacle to getting to Worlds for Taylor, so he did the minimum to clear the obstacle.
I think the athletes have to play a role in growing the sport. USATF can do more, but at the end of the day sore losers ignoring the media is not helping.
As for Taylor, I think that the folks with byes should not have to even show up at nationals. Better not to show than to jog or foul intentionally. Of course they could put enough money in the prize purse to make it worthwhile.