How about a WC in its place if OG are cancelled?

[aaronk]

aaronk does have a point. There are two great challenges to holding an annual Athletics Championships (even if you skip the Olympic year). The first is the cost associated with this. I am not sure how many cities would be vying to host them. It would probably end up being an event rotated between a handful of venues. The second challenge would be the impact on the annual schedule for existing meets.

I would like to see this idea grow legs, but I fear it will not.

As to KevinR's point about the impact on existing meets---
Except for 10K, Mar, Multi's, 20K & 50K Walk athletes, elite T&F athletes can compete in 10-25 (more??) meets from January to September--INdoors & OUTdoors!
True elites pick and choose, and don't always run the same meets every year (OK, Jenny ran Drake many times, etc etc)!
If they choose to vie for the WC EVERY year, they can arrange the rest of their schedule according to the dates of the WC!
As for qualifying for the WC, use the USATF meet as THE qualifying meet for USA athletes, just as we now do with the Olympic Trials--just call it the USATF/WC Q meet!

Not every athlete is able to try for the OG/WC.
Pregnancy, injury, drug bans all take some athletes out of the game---think Valerie Adams in recent years!
And with an ANNUAL WC, no athlete would have to wait FOUR YEARS for another chance!!

Sell the Annual WC as baseball does its annual World Series, as the NFL sells its annual Super Bowl!
That they occur every year takes nothing away from each and every World Series or Super Bowl!

Sure, a brand new mindset would have to take place.
But T&F is an ever-evolving rotation of star athletes--they'd all get their chance---without having to wait another 4 years!!!

[Conor Dary]

I think swimming and many of the winter sports have World Champs every 2 years.

Right....

And comparing a world championships with multiple nations and individuals competing, with team sports in one country is absurd.... track doesn't need a WC every year...but the NFL having a season without a Super Bowl or a championship would be ridiculous...

[Conor Dary]

but with 200+ federations that demand to be part of things, that will never happen, as wondrous as it might be

Indeed...too bad though...2 rounds in every event with finals only in the distances and walks.... it would be really cool....and not be such an albatross on the rest of the season...

[Atticus]

An annual WCs would be workable if was just the elites and a 5 day affair at the end of the season.

Keep the fields large enough to accommodate the lil'uns, but it could easily be cut to 6 days, Tues-Sun.

[tandfman]

I've always been in favor of annual WC's (at least in non-Olympic years).

[Atticus]

I've always been in favor of annual WC's (at least in non-Olympic years).

I know we've gone over it before, but there's way more upside than downside - keeping T&F in the public eye, for one thing, as It all but disappears in non-championship years.

[Halfmiler2]

We could also have an OG in Tokyo only with Athletics. Wasn’t it that way in 1896? But that was before television among other things.

[Conor Dary]

We could also have an OG in Tokyo only with Athletics. Wasn’t it that way in 1896? But that was before television among other things.

As discussed before zero chance the Japanese want anything like that if the Olympics don't happen.

[gh]

We could also have an OG in Tokyo only with Athletics. Wasn’t it that way in 1896? ....

not remotely, as I'm sure bam can quote you chapter and verse.

quick google yields this

<<The inaugural Games of the modern Olympics were attended by as many as 280 athletes, all male, coming from 12 countries. The athletes competed in 43 events covering athletics (track and field), cycling, swimming, gymnastics, weightlifting, wrestling, fencing, shooting, and tennis.>>