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

they don't need to cut the number of events, only cut the bad events and bad meets.

TJ and steeple are bad events and deserve to be cut. Discus has mystique as the ancient greek frisbee but is also stupid. 200 is borderline. 3000 was always stupid - let them go 3200 and then it will be interesting to see who goes sub 8.

There was never any reason they couldn't show a full 5000 as engagingly as any other event, especially if they could wrap their primitive minds around picture-in-picture technology. Recreate the three-ring-circus effect of being there in person, lots of things going on at once.

Britain needs two DL meets because they are both terrible. Two halfass meets = one big turd. Axe Lausanne and Rabat too.

How can pro distance runners complain about this? They very rarely race, and even less so in Olympic years. Hard to complain about the 5k and steeple getting cut when you would only run it once or not at all. Although it sucks as a distance fan, this makes sense to try in an Olympic year.

One of the best 10,000 meter races this year took place at a non-DL meet in Hengelo, Netherlands. This unfortunate decision is an opportunity for non-DL meets to step up to the plate and shine.

wambulance wrote:

How can pro distance runners complain about this? They very rarely race, and even less so in Olympic years. Hard to complain about the 5k and steeple getting cut when you would only run it once or not at all. Although it sucks as a distance fan, this makes sense to try in an Olympic year.

Uhhh Bowerman =/= all pro racers. Everyone else races plenty.

Yeah it makes total sense to cut Olympic events from the premier elite track circuit.

Do you even know this sport?

agip wrote:

sucks to be emma coburn here. She's out of the diamond league now? Seriously? She's not really competitive at any other event.

There will be a bunch of steeplechase races at DL meeting but they won't be DL events. As most steeplechasers are hardly competitive in the flat events, these races will still have good fields, I expect.

Personally I say replace the 100 with the 200.

Anyway I think the public will vote with their wallets. There are other meets who can invite these athletes if people really want to see them.

I think I made this exact suggestion the first time this possibility was posted. Those four events are stupid, as are the javelin, hammer, and arguably the 800. PV is pretty lame, too. Any event where you can "pass" is no event in my mind.

100, 300, 1500, 5000 would have made more sense.

DL needs to be tight and fast, or it dies.

wejo wrote:

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.

Two-hundred metres athletes are usually near full stride the first 100m of 200m dash. Too often there are DQs for lane violation. I hope there is a plan to do away with 200m with first 1/2 on curve and go to 200m straightaway. They'll have to re-do the tracks a bit. Two-twenty yard dash on straightaway was a popular event in U.S. high schools and colleges.

Only Track events should be 100yds, 440yds and Mile. Field events HJ and LJ, Shot and Jav. The Jav should require accuracy as well, like lawn darts on a bigger scale.

If the diamond league is so concerned with viewership then why don't they make football or soccer an event? They are already taking away the things that make track and field...track and field, why not just add a whole new sport while they're at it.

What an f-ing load of idiots. Good lord.

There is no need to drop triple jump. Ex-middle distance runners tend to be the wealthiest former T&F athletes. Middle distance men are built like men so ex-middle distance men tend to enjoy upward mobility. Men want to be them; women want to be with them. Middle distance men are not running three hours a day on the roads. Running three hours a day on the roads may tend to make distance runners a bit "Off." Middle distance runners have the respect of sprinters. Ex-middle distance runners have a lot of influence in T&F. Events middle distance runners do not do such as triple jump, ex-middle distance runners in aggregate tend not to respect. Many ex-middle distance runners did race 400m on relays as a teenager, not as many ex-middle distance runners raced 200m metres on relays. Former ex-middle distance runners need to be aware of how large of a stick ex-middle distance runners swing in T&F. Ex-middle distance runners need to be careful of personal biases. Since many spectators have shorter attention span, getting rid of any field event and getting rid of any sprinting event is not wise. I would love for 200m to no longer be on curve. I would love for 200m to be on straightaway. Those on here who have competed in 200m in a real track meet know 200m is slightly paced. If one sprints 200m as one sprints 60m, deacceleration over last 50m would be significant. If 200m were on straightaway, it would be more difficult to pace, this would make 200m more exciting as some gals/guys would it a wall the final 25m. Adding 200m low hurdles on straightaway would also be exciting. I would not mind dropping 3000m SC if 8K & 15K XC were added. Real XC with bales of hay. Not this golf course racing which is a thing in U.S. high school XC & college XC. I am in favor of 3000m for an Olympic & W.C. event. It would be interesting to see aged out 1500m guys in 3000m. I am in favor of dropping 5K & 10K on track. If 8K & 15K XC are added ... .

Jo72 wrote:

agip wrote:

sucks to be emma coburn here. She's out of the diamond league now? Seriously? She's not really competitive at any other event.

There will be a bunch of steeplechase races at DL meeting but they won't be DL events. As most steeplechasers are hardly competitive in the flat events, these races will still have good fields, I expect.

well ok but they won't be dl events so probably prize money will be less and tv coverage will be less. And shoe contracts will be less.

One silver lining. The mile appears to have been wiped out for good.

Market research, consumer surveys and clicks on social media have been used to help choose which events will be part of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Diamond League, it was revealed today.

The top three most popular disciplines in the Diamond League are the 100 metres, long jump and high jump, followed by pole vault, the 200m and 400m, according to the latest research.

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1086742/public-help-choose-diamond-league-events

It really wouldn't matter if there were an audience for T&F in the US. Then there would be more meets on a national level, and a wider variety of events would be supportable. But the world championship qualifiers plus (perhaps) Payton Jordan and the Drake, Penn and Texas relays are the pinnacle of domestic competition outdoors, and basically draw on a par with Div II college football. Diamond League in isolation is not enough to fully support the sport and that's the reason it can't present a full track meet.

As for the distance events, the DL competitions basically feature only two countries (and natives of those countries representing other countries). This competitive imbalance would be tolerable if track as a whole had a compelling appeal to a wider audience, but that's just not the case.

The 1500 is stupid. A mile should be run.

The 400 should be run with a first turn cut in.

The Steeple is interesting but they cut it because people are tired of seeing Kenyans.

The research has to be flawed. Long jump as the second most popular event? Impossible. Sprinters don’t even care about long jump. There are large dedicated communities that care about middle and distance running. No one cares about long jump in large numbers.

I think when you get a result you have to actually think about if it makes sense.

agip wrote:

sucks to be emma coburn here. She's out of the diamond league now? Seriously? She's not really competitive at any other event.

They will STILL HAVE the Steeplechase in the Olympics and World Championships, as long as you get the World's best together 5-8 times wether or not it is Diamond League everything will be fine, EXAMPLE Dubai is not part of the World Marathon Majors but it always has fast times.