Athletics thread

[LeSoupeKitchen]

no idea it had started.

Unless i've missed it there has been nothing on tv to promote it

Really has been nothing - very weird.

I only realised it was on as I follow University of Oregon social media

 

[Delboy75]

So weird had absolutely no idea this had started. I spend a lot of time on Twitter and watch a lot of sky sports news and seen nothing not a thing very odd.

 

[JCRD]

Yeah its not been as prominent, I guess because of the golf, the women Euros etc not to mention it is at times at silly o'clock

Ive been watching a fair bit. Im also not gonna lie, I love the shotput and hammer.

 

[LSUY]

Problem is athletics has no one who is marketable. How many people can name who was in the men's 100m final at Tokyo?

The other problem (at least in the UK) is the lack of British success. The Olympics is the entryway into athletics for many so the lack of golds at Rio and Tokyo has hurt the sport. The only current British track and field athlete that's a household name is Mo Farah and he's at the end of his career.

Unless Team GB unearths an Olympic gold-winning star or a character like Bolt emerges I can see athletics continuing to decline to the point we only see it on TV whenever the Olympics and Commonwealth Games are on.

 

[Viking78]

Problem is athletics has no one who is marketable. How many people can name who was in the men's 100m final at Tokyo?

The other problem (at least in the UK) is the lack of British success. The Olympics is the entryway into athletics for many so the lack of golds at Rio and Tokyo has hurt the sport. The only current British track and field athlete that's a household name is Mo Farah and he's at the end of his career.

Unless Team GB unearths an Olympic gold-winning star or a character like Bolt emerges I can see athletics continuing to decline to the point we only see it on TV whenever the Olympics and Commonwealth Games are on.

There aren't any huge stars in the men's 100m, but still some real stars in other events. Karsten Warholm is immense and the battle for the flat 400m should be good. The women's 100m final may be a more star studded event and Dina Asher-Smith will hopefully be involved for GB.
Promotion of the Championships has been poor.
I'm also amazed to see how empty the stadium is at times. Even for the 100m final there appeared to be spare seats. I'm not sure athletics is that popular in US despite them having some real talent.

 

[cookiemonster]

I like Keely Hodgkinson & Jessie Knight