*whose
*whose
zxcvzxcv wrote:
In every other sport, you have championships every year. It would be ludicrous to have an NBA champion every two or three years. Track should have outdoor world championships or Olympics every year.
If you mean with "championships" World Championships, than this is just wrong. In swimming, for example, it's exactly like athletics. Same in alpine skiing. In football (soccer) the WCs are every 4 years. But I also wouldn't take these other examples as the role model.
To have the World Champs every two years was an financial decision, as most decisions in sport. I'm pretty sure that from the little bit older followers of athletics most can name much more world Champions from 1983, 1987 or 1991 then - for example - 2005 or even 2015.
WCs in the even years between the Olympics, for me that's the only reasonable solution.
The WC was originally meant to be a preview of the Olympics. That’s why it was held the year before.
Some good points made here, although I'm not sure whether the OP meant the World Champs should be every year or every four years. One point must be refuted, however. In order to keep track from vanishing altogether, we could never skip the Olympics. It's the only time a casual fan watches. No one makes time to watch the WCs. No one is aware they are going on, for the most part. Case in point, at some point this summer I tuned into NBCSN or the Olympic Channel or something and learned that the USA Swimming Champs was going on. I had no idea otherwise.
But, if the 'casual' fan tunes in to the Olympics, they start hearing about various sports, various personalities, and might just stick around to watch skinny people run around in circles once gymnastics is over.
Great post by zxcvzxcv.
Bad Wigins wrote:
You're dead wrong. The OG and the WC are the biggest obstacle to track ever becoming popular because they limit it to a 2 or 3 week season, with nothing else relevant except maybe national trials. The general public has no reason to care who does what at other meets and pays absolutely no attention at all.
Diamond League should eliminate the 3 week gap. It's actually 5 weeks because the endpoints are London and Birmingham, neither of which is a real DL meet. But the federations all probably insist on a break to get their elites to compete in their local championships and make money for them.
The olympics should be eliminated and the WC will follow. Every sport olympics dominates is marginalized, e.g. track, swimming, wrestling, gymnastics, figure skating. But sports that respect themselves and protect their independence are popular, even if they're big at the olympics too. Boxing, ice hockey, and basketball are a huge part of the show, but they know better than to let that be the top tier of their sports.
Track needs a long season of competition relevant enough for people to watch and get exposure for sponsors. Instead it's held prisoner by a few megasponsors who milk it for publicity every 4 years. Ban the olympics.
I agree with what you that the OG should be eliminated. It is nothing but a leech on all of the sports it features.
However, I disagree that WC should be eliminated. But I do think that WC should be a culmination of the diamond league. The WC should be the diamond league championship, but make it a larger meet where a combination of national spots, in combination with spots earned by previous performance in the DL, give you a berth into WC.
So basically every country (provided the athlete meet the performance standards) is allowed 1 spot in the initial elimination rounds of the WC event. And how a countries' athletes have performed in that season of the DL, will earn it more starting entry spots to the initial elimination rounds in WC. Also, individual athletes could get a "by" on the initial elimination rounds, by good placement in DL events (1 first place finish, or 2 seconds, or 3 thirds, etc. will earn an athlete a "rest" form the initial rounds of the WC).
This way the WC would truly represent the best in the world competing against each other, AND the culmination of the track season. Basically the playoffs for T&F.
At the very least, hold the World Relay Champs during the off years.
The idea came from Morton L. Parksen Jr.
Bad Wigins wrote:
You're dead wrong. The OG and the WC are the biggest obstacle to track ever becoming popular because they limit it to a 2 or 3 week season, with nothing else relevant except maybe national trials. The general public has no reason to care who does what at other meets and pays absolutely no attention at all.
Diamond League should eliminate the 3 week gap. It's actually 5 weeks because the endpoints are London and Birmingham, neither of which is a real DL meet. But the federations all probably insist on a break to get their elites to compete in their local championships and make money for them.
The olympics should be eliminated and the WC will follow. Every sport olympics dominates is marginalized, e.g. track, swimming, wrestling, gymnastics, figure skating. But sports that respect themselves and protect their independence are popular, even if they're big at the olympics too. Boxing, ice hockey, and basketball are a huge part of the show, but they know better than to let that be the top tier of their sports.
Track needs a long season of competition relevant enough for people to watch and get exposure for sponsors. Instead it's held prisoner by a few megasponsors who milk it for publicity every 4 years. Ban the olympics.
It seems to work out ok for football with a world cup every 4 years.
If you got rid of championships you lose even that gmfew weeks interest.
Athletics is not a team sport like American football, baseball or football so there is never going to be much public interest outside of people representing your country for global titles
Bad Wigins wrote:
The olympics should be eliminated and the WC will follow. Every sport olympics dominates is marginalized, e.g. track, swimming, wrestling, gymnastics, figure skating. But sports that respect themselves and protect their independence are popular, even if they're big at the olympics too. Boxing, ice hockey, and basketball are a huge part of the show, but they know better than to let that be the top tier of their sports.
Track needs a long season of competition relevant enough for people to watch and get exposure for sponsors. Instead it's held prisoner by a few megasponsors who milk it for publicity every 4 years. Ban the olympics.
Wow. I've never seen this argument before.
Then the Olympics would really suck. Imagine if the Olympics ended up just being a bunch of second teir soccer/tennis competitions.