Qwero wrote:
Disagree with her. If any thing, there should be even less of an emphasis on team culture. Specifically, less fuss about Olympic and World Championship teams. The most successful individual sports, like golf and tennis, have zero team element and, more importantly, are free from the Olympic crutch. The have independent majors that are way bigger than the Olympics. Track needs to have a system of 3-5 majors, where no athlete who has a chance to go would ever choose to skip them. Track is really held back by the fact that only one meet per year even matters-and in years like 2018, not even one meet.
Right On!
"Track" hitching its wagon to the Olympics is what killed any opportunity for financial gain to its athletes. Look how much companies like Coke are pouring into Olympic sponsorship, NBCs expensive television rights, not to mention people traveling far and paying big addmissions, governments subsidizing stadiums and venues. There is literally billions in money out there to be had for track athletes but the 10th or 15th best Sprinter or distance runner (the backbone of the games) can't even make a long term living. The money is stolen from track athletes for the benefit of adminstrators, bureaucrats, and other sports.
Compare to American football players who almost all are able to individually and directly gain the benefits of government funded stadiums, corporate sponsorshios, television deals and addmissions. With all that dough people look up to them and in turn increase there earning power even more through sponsorships, shoe deals, ect.. There pay isn't tied to the team winning, they create lots of t.v. and interview content, and get rewarded for it. The literally need to play just a year or two and are set for life.
Running is certainly saddled with the fact that only one meet matters every four years with very little t.v. content, interviews or other hype created. We even entirely give up control over the revenues from the one big event - pure craziness. You could literally run a bunch 100m and 1500m a year, exchange the world title multiple times, similar to a Major in golf and tennis, or perhaps like the world belts in boxing, -- tons of interest is generated as runners travel to unique locations with the hype of wanting to take over the current title (no waiting 4 years any more to crown the worlds fastest, it's a rolling title). Right now the diamond league races are seen as no more than a practice with the real meet 2 or 3 years away.
I look at athletes like Cragg, and cant help thinking, she should be a millionaire, but when she came down to a Houston Lukes locker a few years back for a promotion, literally nobody showed up. This despite the fact that there are 10,000s of rich corporate women in the city with massive spending power and run everyday and would absolutely adore her - if they new her story. I would bet a similar story would apply if Coleman showed up at Houston promotion, despite 1000's of top HS sprinters in the city that could relate to him. Once in 4 years just doesn't work, especially when even people in let's run discount any and all other accomplishments to the exclusivity of the Olympics. (but then even that accomplishment gets diluted by lesser sports giving out dozens of Olympic medals).
The 100m and 1500m are what give the Olympics credibility but have been dumped on for years. It's time for the major track events to leave the diluted games, and develop there own series.