Diamond League cutting steeple, 200, discus, and triple jump from 2020 Diamond League and adding 3000

The IAAF is going from 16 events to 12 on the Diamond League circuit next year and the 200, steeple, discus, and triple jump all got the axe.

The IAAF says that the steeple and 200 will each be contested at 10 DL events next year (5 men, 5 women), and the discus and TJ will be at 2 (1 men, 1 women), but none of them will be held at the DL finals.

"Representative online research carried out in China, France, South Africa and the USA; post event surveys in Belgium, Great Britain and Switzerland and click-throughs on Diamond League social media videos during 2019 helped guide the Diamond League General Assembly, made up of all Meeting Directors, to decide which disciplines will be part of 2020 season. (See below)

"As a result of the research, and the decision taken earlier in the year that only 24 disciplines (12 male / 12 female) will form the core disciplines at all meetings, eight disciplines (4 male and 4 female) will not be contested during the 2020 Diamond League season. These disciplines are the discus throw, triple jump and 3000m steeplechase --three events that currently sit towards the bottom of the research conducted-- and the 200m which DL organisers felt would be too congested alongside the 100m, particularly in an Olympic Games’ year."

More details here:

https://www.iaaf.org/news/press-release/diamond-league-disciplines-2020

the long jump is the 2nd most popular? you can't even see what's happening without super slow motion

Correction: I forgot that there will still be a flat 3000 on the circuit to replace the 5000.

no way this is correct wrote:

the long jump is the 2nd most popular? you can't even see what's happening without super slow motion

Funny - based on the broadcasts, they spend more time on the hurdles or 200m more than they do for any of the field events.

This is what you get when you get self-described "smartest people in the room"-type bureaucrats/ businessmen type morons running things in any organization or business.

no way this is correct wrote:

the long jump is the 2nd most popular? you can't even see what's happening without super slow motion

I wonder if they think it's really popular since the main time it is broadcasted is when it is inserted concurrently into broadcasts of track races, e.g. the cutaways to the long jump competition during lap 5 of the 5k, etc. This isn't to say there aren't fans of the long jump, but those are the only times I notice it getting consistent coverage

Glad they cut the th out. After the crap that C taylor pulled at the usatf meet glad it got dropped.

I still think it's nuts they're going to have a 3,000m. It's not a Worlds or Olympic event.

Also, found it strange they cut the 200 which was listed as one of the most popular and has the most popular US male athlete - Noah Lyles.

Thats just dumb!

I love the steeplechase and the 200, the cut to the 200 is really surprising to me. Maybe they just dont have the money to pay out for so many events?

C/M Runner wrote:

no way this is correct wrote:

the long jump is the 2nd most popular? you can't even see what's happening without super slow motion

Funny - based on the broadcasts, they spend more time on the hurdles or 200m more than they do for any of the field events.

Certainly. They alway spent an inordinate amount of time on the short sprints compared to the duration of them. The presentation, preparation and starting takes forever, sometimes there will be a false start, then we get about two slomo versions the race or more.

The field events are usually presented badly and this becomes a vicious circle because they get boring if one can see only summaries or the best attempts. That said, I think the vertical jumps are far more attractive than the other field events. But to improve the popularity of track one should not cut the field events back but do a better job presenting them.

Finally, I think it was very stupid to drop 5k in favor of 3k. (Actually in Doha all four 5k/10k races were quite exciting and living proof how great these events are.) As they usually skip to field events anyway during races, this works much better in a 5k. Although we should get to see complete races with split screen, this is not a magic new tech.

All the events cut make sense. From a viewer's perspective 200m has significant redundancies with the 100m, discus with shot put, and triple jump with long jump.

Steeplechase from a viewer's perspective makes no sense. No one without either experience with or moderate knowledge of T&F will comprehend why runners are deviating off the track and splashing through a short water pit. May as well toss a tough mudder in there if you're going to have the steeple.

This perfectly fits Jager's race schedule.

The number of events isn’t ruining track and field, what’s ruining it is people trying to dumb it down

It’s a niche sport and we should EMBRACE that

When I’ve watched track with non track people they’re more interested when I’m explaining the nuances to them and not just offering tepid commentary.

The idea that people who don’t watch track are too dumb to understand the events, so let’s cater to them is beyond idiotic

*stipe wrote:

This perfectly fits Jager's race schedule.

POD

Flo’da boy wrote:

The number of events isn’t ruining track and field, what’s ruining it is people trying to dumb it down

It’s a niche sport and we should EMBRACE that

When I’ve watched track with non track people they’re more interested when I’m explaining the nuances to them and not just offering tepid commentary.

The idea that people who don’t watch track are too dumb to understand the events, so let’s cater to them is beyond idiotic

You nailed it.

Dumbing down the sport is stupid.

I already devised a proposal where you keep all of the events but you just run the less often. We don't need 6 5000s particularly when 2 of them are run within the span of 5 days of eachother. Just give us 4.

And don't insult my intelligence with 5 3000s? I don't ever want to watch a 3000, let alone a bunch of them. The 10k was already gone so we need the 5000, not 3000. If they are worried about the extra 5 minutes it takes to run a 5000, then start the 5000 5 minutes before the tv window and start every broadcast with the finish of the race.

If you are going to get rid of events, you need to have the guts to axe them permanently like say they are no longer part of track and field instead of keeping them buy saying they are too boring/expensive to run at most events.

Does anyone know if the steeples or 200s will have prize money?

*stipe wrote:

This perfectly fits Jager's race schedule.

noice

Flo’da boy wrote:

*stipe wrote:

This perfectly fits Jager's race schedule.

POD

+1

Note to the OP. The event line-up in the Diamond League changes every year. Nothing new here.

Secondly, no need for a 5 or 10 in the Diamond League during an Olympic year.

Cutting the steeple?! Brilliant move. Why would anyone be interested in watching a race that has a danger factor and often features a non-Kenyan winner?

The 3000 should be great for TV. Nothing better than watching a time trial with 8 Kenyans, 3 Ethiopians, and 3 Ugandans all clad in the same ugly Nike uniforms. Maybe they will let an Ingebretsen brother or two rabbit to add much needed variety?