What events to eliminate or add?

[bekeselassie]

With conversations taking place about which sports should or should not be in the Olympics, I got to thinking. Let's look specifically at Track & Field. If you had to pick one event to eliminate, what would it be? This does NOT mean you don't like, but it's just a hypothetical "if you HAD to".

Also, if you had to create a new event what would it be?

As one who loves the track events I first thought I'd eliminate a throw or something. But to be honest (I think I surprised myself!) I'd probably lose the steeplechase. It'd force guys like Shaheen to run the 5K maybe, and I don't think that would be a bad thing.

To add one - and I'm going out on a creative limb here, so cut me some slack - I'd install a hardcore cross-country course. Maybe 3K to replace the steeple? I'm talking serious XC, with nasty mud pits, brush in the way, lots of hills, etc.

[lumar]

any racewalking event

[bekeselassie]

I'm editing this post in light of EPelle's helpful post. Thanks, EPelle. :wink:

I checked out that other thread and it's obvious some folks have some very strong opinions in defense of racewalking. While I won't back down and will still proclaim that I don't care for racewalking, I certainly don't want to offend those who do. I'm all for light-hearted debate in sport, but I don't want to belittle people who disagree with me.

That said, I agree with what tafnut says below (About making racewalking separate from T&F, not about eliminating the 10K - he's just mad that he's about to lose about 5,000 posts :x ).

[EPelle]

You guys are going to get fried for that one...

Refer to this thread.

[tafnut]

The only one I'd eliminate would be the 10K, cuz I think the 5K and Marathon would cover anyone whose talents lay in distance running. Even the 200 is not anything like the 100 or 400; and TJ is not anything like LJ, and the steeple adds a very different element, so there really are no other events that COULD be cut.

N.B. I don't want the Walks cut, per se, just moved out of T&F, into their own sport, like triathlon, f'rinstance. It really has nothing in common with the other events, IMO, but to each his own, it can flourish elsewhere.

[MJR]

N.B. I don't want the Walks cut, per se, just moved out of T&F, into their own sport, like triathlon, f'rinstance. It really has nothing in common with the other events, IMO, but to each his own, it can flourish elsewhere.

Just as people walk before they run, walking races were the precursor to all of the foot races that are now contested as part of the t&f program we have today. A little knowledge of the history of our sport goes a long way to dispelling misinformation and ignorance.

[guru]

A little knowledge of the history of our sport goes a long way to dispelling misinformation and ignorance.

Indeed.


As I'm sure MJR knows, being a historian of the sport, Athletics originated as a contest of military-based skills. Every event on the current program can trace it's roots to that original concept, whether it be sprints, distance running, throws, or jumps. Every event that is, except racewalking.

So, going by this criteria, racewalknig would have to go.


From Encarta:

The first organized track-and-field meets, called the Olympic Games, began in 776 bc in Greece. The first Olympic champion was Coroebus, who won the first sprint competition. For many years the main Olympic competition was the pentathlon, which consisted of the discus, the javelin, foot racing, long jumping, and wrestling. Other contests, including foot races for men clad in full armor, later joined the games. The Romans conquered Greece in 146 BC and continued to hold the Olympic contests for more than 500 years. Roman emperor Theodosius I, who was a Christian, abolished the games in ad 393 because he viewed them as a pagan activity. For eight centuries thereafter, no organized track-and-field competitions occurred.


From the North American Race Walking Foundation:

Competitive walking of man against man appeared sometime late in the 16th century or early in the 17th. It became the custom in that period for members of the English aristocracy to employ 'footmen' to accompany them during their travels across country by coach. These were in effect servants whose duties included the carrying of messages and documents, hastening ahead of the family coach to make arrangements at inns for an evening's food, drink, and sleep, or advising the country house staff of the imminence of the family's arrival

[abinferno]

N.B. I don't want the Walks cut, per se, just moved out of T&F, into their own sport, like triathlon, f'rinstance. It really has nothing in common with the other events, IMO, but to each his own, it can flourish elsewhere.

Just as people walk before they run, walking races were the precursor to all of the foot races that are now contested as part of the t&f program we have today. A little knowledge of the history of our sport goes a long way to dispelling misinformation and ignorance.

Thanks for that. Good laugh in the morning. That's the first thing I suggested when I raced my friends back in elementary school. "OK, guys, lets race walk, not run, to that tree over there." :roll:

[Powell]

IOC should include 3 times as many T&F events in the Olympics by adding a 'beach' and 'synchronized' version of each event.

[BCBaroo]

The Solution for our sport

Seriously, who didn't enjoy the Superstars Obstacle Course. And didn't Edwin Moses and Nehemiah kick all kinds of butt at it? Even Dwight Stones maybe? Not sure...

Yep. I think they should add one to indoor meets...it'd be an instant fan favorite. Anyone who disagrees with that doesn't understand the true nature of sports marketing: Entertaining "butts in seats".

[SQUACKEE]

The only one I'd eliminate would be the 10K, cuz I think the 5K and Marathon would cover anyone whose talents lay in distance running. Even the 200 is not anything like the 100 or 400; and TJ is not anything like LJ, and the steeple adds a very different element, so there really are no other events that COULD be cut.

N.B. I don't want the Walks cut, per se, just moved out of T&F, into their own sport, like triathlon, f'rinstance. It really has nothing in common with the other events, IMO, but to each his own, it can flourish elsewhere.

Im gonna tell Billy Mills that Tafnut wished he never won in Toyko, :shock: then you'll be sorry! :x :arrow: :twisted:

[kuha]

N.B. I don't want the Walks cut, per se, just moved out of T&F, into their own sport, like triathlon, f'rinstance. It really has nothing in common with the other events, IMO, but to each his own, it can flourish elsewhere.

Just as people walk before they run, walking races were the precursor to all of the foot races that are now contested as part of the t&f program we have today. A little knowledge of the history of our sport goes a long way to dispelling misinformation and ignorance.

I do not want to get into a "The Walks Suck/The Walks are Great" debate. We've done it all before. However, the above "history" isn't quite as watertight as one might want. The "walking races" referred to here were actually basically "go as you please" races--walking, running, jogging, etc. in order to cover as much ground (usually a lot of it) in as few days or hours as possible. These bore NO real relationship to the precisely codified "walking" events we now have (with their rules about constant foot contact, etc.)

Yes, there were walking events held in track meets of the 1870s and 1880s.......and they were taken just as seriously as the two-handed shot put, the standing high jump, and so on, which--I don't think I need to remind us all--are long gone into the dustbin of history.

[MJR]

For many years the main Olympic competition was the pentathlon, which consisted of the discus, the javelin, foot racing ...

The error here is to equate foot racing with running only. You are also taking 2 separate areas and combining them into one. The modern sport of athletics was developed from the English pedestrian events of the the 16th and 17th centuries. These races were walking races and rules were setup to govern them. The creation of the modern Olympics was modeled after the Greek sports meetings and as foot races were a part of them, and contested in the modern sport too, they were included.

[daydreamer]

I would like to see 4 more hurdles added to the stepplechase. Also, put in the 3000m (men and women) but make it a straight final. Invite, based on a series of 3k races on the GP circuit, the 12 fastest in the world. Only one runner per any one country.
Do not get rid of any events.

A little off the subject; I would still like to see the 200m at the world indoor. Make it an individual time trial. From lane 3 the time starts when the runner does. Who is the fastest over one lap in identical conditions? What do you think?

[guru]

For many years the main Olympic competition was the pentathlon, which consisted of the discus, the javelin, foot racing ...

The error here is to equate foot racing with running only. You are also taking 2 separate areas and combining them into one. The modern sport of athletics was developed from the English pedestrian events of the the 16th and 17th centuries. These races were walking races and rules were setup to govern them. The creation of the modern Olympics was modeled after the Greek sports meetings and as foot races were a part of them, and contested in the modern sport too, they were included.

Parse words however you like, but I'm quite confident those early "foot races" were running. Walking as a sport, and a seperate discipline(the key words), had no place in the ancient sport and it's events.