Noah Lyles has ambassador potential.
Noah Lyles has ambassador potential.
Jakob.
/thread
What notable ‘ambassadors’ (stupid term) has track ever had? Who would the majority of a random sample of people recognize? Not Felix or Kipchoge. You’d get Bolt and Jesse Owens. Maybe Carl Lewis. So if you’re talking about any kind of real ‘ambassador’ who can become part of the general public’s newsfeed, you mean a Bolt/Owens/Lewis-level athlete, and I’m telling you there isn’t one.
But though popularity may depend on multiple factors, success is certainly the most important of those. Personable, philanthropic champions are actually really common. They aren’t a big enough deal to grab the public’s interest unless they’re truly exceptional like Bolt or dominant in an actual major sport like soccer.
So basically three vacancies in a row? Because none will ever be well-known outside the sport.
aksjhgd wrote:
#metoo wrote:
Perhaps it would be a woman as the current face of T&F.
Shalane Flanagan?
The despised-by-LRC Kara Goucher?
Allyson Felix is still around.
Dafne Schipoers?
Back to men, can't forget Gatlin.
I'd probably put Jenny Simpson above them. Perhaps this is a NYC centric view, but Jenny is all over doing a ton of charity/promotional work with NYRR. She is very good for the sport
Perhaps Sydney McLaughlin will be the face of the sport in a few years?
The runners I know are all hobby joggers, some pretty competitive and others not at all. These people seem to know more women than men. Molly Huddle, Shalane, Kara, Jorgensen, Desi. I. e. the marathon and road runners more than Simpson and the strong contingent that there is on the track.
For the men it's STILL Meb and to a much lesser extent Rupp. It seems a lot of these people were mesmerized by the freak show that the Sub-2 attempt was, but they didn't come out of it as Kipchoge fans.
You can whine and moan about how unpopular the sport's biggest stars are, but that is unlikely to change and wasn't the question. The question was, "Who is the sport's biggest ambassador". So there has to be someone, as small as they may be on the global level compared to higher profile sports.
For me, yes, Kipchoge is the biggest ambassador right now. He's been around a long time, with a recognizable face and running style, but personality-wise he does not seem to be an extrovert. On the upside, that means he is still something of a blank canvas on which people can paint their preferred monk-like qualities...
I think one of the things he has going for him is that marathon, along with 100m, is one of the two most widely recognizable events. "The best ever marathon runner " is not quite on the same level as "world's fastest man", but it's certainly more than "world's best 400 meter hurdler".
Nobodies wrote:
HahaRiiiiiiight wrote:
Sydney will be running the 400/200 eventually, and I'm not even going to go into marketability. There's a reason she'll be signing (or maybe already has) one of the biggest contracts in the history of T&F.
So you’re saying a 0-time world/DL (and IIRC even national) champion in the 400H is gonna move into the 200/400 and achieve Bolt-like dominance.
Ever heard of Miller-Uibo?
You clearly don't understand how marketing works. Sydney is the future, that's been established.
Also Noah Lyles and maybe Christian Coleman. Once again, SPRINTERS - people who actually run fast! Ya I love distance running as much as the rest of you clowns, but outside of this site nobody gives a f*ck!!!! The general public has no idea who Mo, Kipchoge, Bekele, Galen, Centro even are. Get out of the LRC bubble!!!!!
Without exaggeration, none of the people named here are even 5 percent as well-known as Bolt was. The average person who was at least paying attention knew who Bolt was. That same person now doesn't know any elite runners.
Good point, I completely agree. None of the three sprinters mentioned above will ever be as popular as Bolt - which is why I never said they would.
Hey Whatever wrote:
Without exaggeration, none of the people named here are even 5 percent as well-known as Bolt was. The average person who was at least paying attention knew who Bolt was. That same person now doesn't know any elite runners.
Thanks Captain Obvious. That doesn't answer his question.
Alexi Pappas
Eliud is awesome, but he suffers from "Kalenjin Whisper-speak" in heavily accented English. I have to constantly re-listen to segments of interviews to understand him. Rudisha the same, but not as accented.
He also seems to have zero drama in his life, which is a real media buzzkill nowadays. Not entertaining to the world at large. Even the Dalai Lama says something controversial now and then.
Sprinters don’t have a viable candidate. Usain’s shoes are too big to fill.
Distance running has Eliud. Jacob has potential but he’ll need to win GOLD at either the Olympics or WC. Yuki has some potential just given the prolific nature of his appearances.
Too many of the responses on this thread are US centric. The sport is waaaaay more important to the Europeans, the Japanese and the Africans.
Kipchoge should be. He reminds me a lot of Paul Tergat (minus about 8 inches). Very philosophical and always had a great quote at press conferences and in interviews. But Eliud's brand is not what sells in the global athletics market.
Wayde van Niekerk is a pretty interesting guy, but he has almost no show biz about him. He also had to skip 2018 track season due to a freak accident/injury.
Noah Lyles is an exciting talent, but he will have a lot of work to do to come out from Bolt's shadow.
Mo is huge in the UK. But that is just because people in the UK are very insecure about sports and go nuts over anyone who makes it big. Outside of the UK, Mo is not known. He said that he really liked training in Portland because he would never get recognized on the street.
So, there really isn't a singular biggest ambassador for T&F right now. We are in a bit of a transition.
I'd say no since nobody really know who Eliud is compared to bolt, but there isn't anyone else I can think of so I think it has to be him due to nike's promotion of the 4%
Subway Surfers wrote:
Agreed, athletics has no ambassador because the sport is so dirty that regular folks don't take it seriously, just like cycling.
^
Sad but true, imo.
sky wrote:
Subway Surfers wrote:
Agreed, athletics has no ambassador because the sport is so dirty that regular folks don't take it seriously, just like cycling.
^
Sad but true, imo.
Hahaha oh you are so naive.
Athletics is going through a transition phase.
Mo Farah is the current king and most recognisable no questions about it.
In three years it will be
Noah Lyles
Sydney McLaughlin (my gf said she looks like a model not a runner)
Jakob Ingebrigtsen
Laura Muir
Kenya has exactly the same internet reach as every other country in the world.
For a celebrity, Mo's 1.5 million twitter followers is pathetic. But Eliud's 84k--simply a joke. Those aren't even good numbers for a nobody who tweets political rants from his basement.
I love track, but I wouldn't recognize Eliud if I shared an elevator with him.
To get back to the original question, there is nothing like a track ambassador now, but I have to agree that the sport's best hope is someone breathtakingly beautiful, like Sydney, because sex sells, but no one cares about all our esoteric numbers. We're almost forced to pull for her, just to keep the sport from dying.
All of my friends could probably only name Meb