IAAF Misses the Obvious

[tafnut]

excerpts from a home-page link:

Stuttgart becomes third IAAF World Athletics City

Stuttgart, Germany – At the IAAF Dinner on the eve of the fourth edition of the IAAF World Athletics Final, Stuttgart, Germany (9 – 10 September 2006), the host city was awarded with the title, IAAF World Athletics City.

the IAAF had already recognised the cities of Helsinki (1983 and 2005) and Gothenburg (1995), Stuttgart, which held the fourth edition of the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in 1993, has now also been honoured.

If you're gonna have ANY credibility, you'd have to start with Eugene - EVERYONE knows that! (I'm also thinking maybe little burgs like Paris, Rome, London, ZURICH!, etc., would have alreasy been so honored.

And don't given me any guff about 'their criteria'! If you're gonna name it a 'World Athletics (sic) City", ya start with the Bigguns.

[nevetsllim]

Re: IAAF Misses the Obvious

I have to admit, I thought they said the WAF would be a sell-out on the IAAF page, but I was wrong obviously.

[gh]

Back in the '70s a group of fans had t-shirts made up which read, "Eugene, Track Capital of Lane County."

End of story.

[beildiz]

Eugene's nickname is Track Town USA. Track I think is the most important thinfg in that city.

PS: I did the year abroad to Eugene/OR

[cands1]

Track I think is the most important thinfg in that city.

If from the above you mean "Track I think, is the most important thing in that city." Then I completely agree.

But if you meant instead, "Track, I think, is the most important thing in that city." I'm afraid college football and college basketball (snooze) are hugely more popular for the average sports fan here, like elsewhere in the U.S., than track at any level. Still, it's pretty cool to be in a place where you can overhear people talking about track in the check out line at the grocery store and the local paper covers it on equal footing with the "big" three sports.

[Jon]

Re: IAAF Misses the Obvious

If you're gonna have ANY credibility, you'd have to start with Eugene

And which major championships (either global or, at the very least, continental) has Eugene ever staged?

I don't disagree that it should eventually become an IAAF World Athletics City, but ahead of cities which have held numerous major athletics events in countries where athletics is one of the major sports? Er, no.

[tafnut]

Re: IAAF Misses the Obvious

If you're gonna have ANY credibility, you'd have to start with Eugene

And which major championships (either global or, at the very least, continental) has Eugene ever staged?

I don't disagree that it should eventually become an IAAF World Athletics City, but ahead of cities which have held numerous major athletics events in countries where athletics is one of the major sports? Er, no.

The Eugene part was tongue-in-cheek, but the London-Rome-Paris-Zurich part wasn't.

[eldrick]

if eugene ever stages a world champs ( ? mooted a while back ), then that's a 1st step

a coupla world records may help - invite defar or diby for a 5k next year