Skipping Becomes Official Track and Field – Diamond League, World Championship and Olympic Event

by Tim Silva
April 1, 2022

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe yesterday announced that skipping would be the newest event added to the calendar of international athletics competitions.

The announcement came as a great surprise. Many runners and national federation officials around the world had been focused keenly on the possibility of adding cross-country to the Olympics, the objective of a longtime grassroots campaign. In a brief press conference following his announcement, Lord Coe explained the rationale for the decision.

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“Let me skip—pun intended, ha ha—to the main point. Everyone seems to have been thinking cross-country should be elevated to Olympic status, the primary rational being that if Olympic cyclists have three types of competitions (on the track, on the roads and off-road), then Olympic runners should also have an off-road competition, on grass and dirt. But this comparison was not the most compelling one. We looked instead at swimming, where the athletes compete using four different strokes, or means of movement. Why should our athletes be limited to running and walking? We have a third means of movement: skipping. It’s something we all do as children. So, let’s add that to the mix.”

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Skipping is the Perfect Event for Street Meets

Asked where and over what distances skipping races would be held, Lord Coe explained that to remain true to its roots, skipping would be held on sidewalks, with the athletes circumnavigating one or more city blocks, the distance of which could range from 1 to 3 kilometers. “This is another way we can get our sport out into the community, to engage with the locals wherever meets are held.”

“Also, the Olympics is just one event every four years,” Lord Coe went on. “Skipping, in contrast, will now be contested at multiple competitions every year—across the international track and field circuit, at athletics world championships every two years, and at the Olympics every four years. This will provide many more opportunities to maximize our corporate sponsorship revenues. I’m looking at you, Skippy Peanut Butter.”

The elevation of skipping to international competitions will have far-reaching impacts across the athletics world.

Can triple jumpers extend their careers with skipping?

High school track and field teams will be adding skipping races as soon as this spring, likely around the perimeter of their school grounds. College scouts will soon be offering scholarships to attract the most promising skippers. Agents from shoe and apparel companies will be aiming to sign the best skippers to lucrative professional contracts. And second-tier skippers will be angling to skip as pacesetters in prestigious meets.

Organizers of the World Athletics Outdoor Championships, to be held this summer in Eugene, Oregon, say they plan to lay out a course that begins and ends on Agate Street, behind Hayward Field’s east grandstand, and goes clockwise around part of the University of Oregon campus.

Shoe Companies Scramble

Major shoe companies will scramble to develop cutting-edge skipping footwear that will give the wearer the maximum forward propulsion from the front of the foot rather than the heel, which is the focus of the latest high-tech running shoes. 

“The physiology of skipping, the kinetic activity involved, poses interesting scientific challenges for equipment developers,” said one Nike senior designer, who asked to remain anonymous. “But we fully expect to file patents within a matter of weeks, then sue everyone who follows us, as we give our future skipping athletes a competitive advantage.”

Athletics fans should also expect gummonger and YouTube wannabe celebrity Nick Symmonds soon to post a video of himself attempting skip around a block, likely being defeated by half of the local athletes he invites to join him in the activity.

The ever-astute Brojos have already reserved the domain name LetsSkip.com and expect to have a site up and running–er, skipping–within a month.

Finally, the decision to elevate this activity to the international stage will give new meaning to the phrase “skipping workouts.”

Tim Silva, lives in Washington, DC, and has been a LetsRun.com reader since the beginning. Turns out he used to live across from the street from the Brojos before LetsRun.com started.

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