Which Nation(s) Best Hype Track & Field?

[mike renfro]

Whole expression is a West Coast thing... ask Pela2

That west coast would be Goteborg, right?

Damn, never an umlaut around when you need one :-(

Actually, to the question, nations which have a daily sports newspaper do a pretty good job of spreading the faith. I am thinking of L'equipe (France) and Gazetta de la Sport (Italy). Although both organs are mostly football, they do cover athletics pretty well. There are probably others, but I found no dailies in either UK or Germany, which covered athletics. Sweden?

[bekeselassie]

I assume then that you mean by "hype" the idea of promotion or publicity given to upcoming events or media coverage of events?

I was wondering because some countries don't hype T&F in that sense but still value it perhaps more than those who carry massive media coverage. An obvious example that comes to mind would be that an Olympic champ, World champ, or WR holder in Ethiopia immediately gains vast notoriety and becomes a living legend. And the Kenyas don't do anything more than running except maybe playing soccer (of course I'm talking about general pasttimes).

Did Sweden ever have a turnout of a million to greet a homecoming Olympic champion?

[javkat]

Pound for Pound:which counrty produces the best sprinters?

????

[piaba]

Maybe. Should I rewrite this thread to ask: Which nations better hype the sport more than Sweden?

the principality of monaco

[EPelle]

Maybe. Should I rewrite this thread to ask: Which nations better hype the sport more than Sweden?

Agree with tandfman Epelle, not entirely sure what you mean.

Zero experience of Dutch and Spanish coverage, but your nation's media - and public, I think - like to big up your girls and boys. Is that what you're getting at?

[bekeselassie]

La_Spigola_Loca and gh are both talking religion!

Though I much prefer gh's post in this case. :roll:

How do we define "hype"? Sorry for being relevant. :P

[EPelle]

USA Today des well w/track discussion

[gh]

Yeah, heaven forbid that we actually discuss track.

[tandfman]

I'm not sure many of us have much basis to judge.

I'm not even sure I understand the question. Do you mean which nation(s) government(s)? Media? National federation(s)? Or maybe something else?

(Or did you know that this thread would quickly turn into a Swedish lesson?) :-)

[EPelle]

Whole expression is a West Coast thing... ask Pela2

[La_Spigola_Loca]

Goddamn I'm breaking my head trying to figure out what 'va' means :evil:
I've chequered athletics, have run and so therefore ?????

[EPelle]

Exactly... "Älskar" means that tafnut does not care one way or the other what happens to SD, so long as he is at the top of the fan club list when tickets to her year-end bash are handed out! :-)

[tafnut]

Tafnut älskar Stacy Dragila. No translation needed there!

'älskar' being the Swedish anagram for 'slacker'? i.e., "tafnut is a slacker for SD"

[EPelle]

Aha, I see you have made your way to our national organisation:s page.

Hint: if you read a word with an Å Ä Ö, it means that something really important is being said - or being described.

For instance: Vern är cool. Vern IS REALLY cool.

Tafnut älskar Stacy Dragila. No translation needed there!

Jag har tävlat friidrott, har sprungit och så då va... means that I like Snickers and chocolate at 8am, and that Stefan Holm will jump 2.42m this summer. No problem, tafnut. You know German, and can learn Swedish in zero time flat. Just apply yourself ä little bit.