Field events going the way of the dinosaur?

[Half Miler]

What happened to Track and Field?

Today's Reebok meet staged only 5 total field events (with exactly ONE men's event: javelin), while making room for 30 running events.

Perhaps I'm imagining things, but it seems this disparity is increasing every year (eg., the GP circuit).

:evil:

[Jamaican Sensation]

only US coverage is suffering........Eurosport loves its field events

[Half Miler]

Not speaking about tv coverage, (although that's equally lamentable), but rather actually staging the events at the meets themselves.

[trig]

Watch Pre for field.

[nbonaddio]

Re: Field events going the way of the dinosaur?

What happened to Track and Field?

Today's Reebok meet staged only 5 total field events (with exactly ONE men's event: javelin), while making room for 30 running events.

Perhaps I'm imagining things, but it seems this disparity is increasing every year (eg., the GP circuit).

:evil:

Well, considering that the paying attendance was at least 40% Jamaican and thus was likely most interested in the events that Jamaican athletes typically do well in, perhaps the focus on the running events was simply a business decision. In the stands today, the most common bathroom/food time was right after a sprint race and during the first few laps of a distance race.

If I'm going to be 100% honest myself, as a sprinter I really can't get all that jazzed up about watching Women's Shot Put, for example. I'm not trying to take anything away from the event or the athletes themselves, but IMO it's not friendly to either the spectator or the (American) TV audience, so it sometimes get the shrift.

[gh]

Hey, if the IAAF didn't mandate field events on the GP Circuit...

[tandfman]

Next year, the Diamond League will fix that.

[gh]

My point being that if the IAAF didn't mandate field events, there would be even fewer staged. Promoters go with what sells, and unfortuately, most of my beloved jumps and throws don't.

[mike renfro]

My point being that if the IAAF didn't mandate field events, there would be even fewer staged. Promoters go with what sells, and unfortuately, most of my beloved jumps and throws don't.

Sad, but true. Dammit :evil: Except maybe WPV.

[lonewolf]

Admittedly, I am semi-partial to (some) field events and would like to see more even handed treatment and coverage of field events but I have to admit that a three hour horizontal jump competion strains the attention span of spectators, officials and athletes.
Actually, it is a five hour event for officials and a four hour event for athletes. Do the arithmatic for a 30 athlete, three flight and 9 to finals competition: with the one hour reporting/warm up period, 60 second allowable per jump, mandated 15 minutes between flights = 152 minutes, not matter how efficient the venue and officials. Additional minutes are lost when meet management mandates escorting of flights on and off when not competing.
Not to mention that the average age of officials is probably 60+ and few are equipped with four/five hour kidneys/bladders.
Rarely does anyone from an honestly seeded first and second flights make the finals unless one of the big guns screws up in the third flight prelim. There is the occasional Cinderella story or one off performance that upsets the form chart but I would like to see championship meets limited to two flights.
That said, it does get exciting in the fifth and sixth rounds when you have two or three studs/studettes swapping the lead but unless you have a knowledgeable announcer and adequate display system, most of the fans, after a three hour wait, will not be aware of the drama.
My rant for the day.

[Dave]

My point being that if the IAAF didn't mandate field events, there would be even fewer staged. Promoters go with what sells, and unfortuately, most of my beloved jumps and throws don't.

I don't understand why. I have taken people to Pre who were absolutely fascinated by the PV, TJ, and SP (it was easier since were were seated right in front of the PV pit) who had no prior interest in T&F at all before the meet.

[gh]

Important to note that i said most of.

In the wiggle room I left you can take to the bank that both the vertical jumps are easy sells, because there's always instant gratification for the fans on whether it's a make or a miss.

The shot sells well at Pre because it's focused in the middle of the field, typically has the 3-4 farthest throwers in the field at that point (including oversized personalities like Nelson, Hoffa & Cantwell) and is set up to get plenty of attention from the announcing crew.

If you were at Hayward Field for the Pac-10, doubt you can remember much/any love for either of the shot competitions.

[Dietmar239]

With the high jump, it's a bit of a double-edged sword. Everyone knows there has been a bit of a slump since Sotomayor. That has obviously affected popularity to some extent and so now it is not included as much in the big meets as in years past. On the other end of the spectrum, how do you get an event to improve if it is not held at the big meets as much? I would imagine that would affect a high jumpers motivation.

[Daisy]

In reality what is the maximum number of field events that could be staged in the time and space available?

[Dave]

Important to note that i said most of.

In the wiggle room I left you can take to the bank that both the vertical jumps are easy sells, because there's always instant gratification for the fans on whether it's a make or a miss.

The shot sells well at Pre because it's focused in the middle of the field, typically has the 3-4 farthest throwers in the field at that point (including oversized personalities like Nelson, Hoffa & Cantwell) and is set up to get plenty of attention from the announcing crew.

If you were at Hayward Field for the Pac-10, doubt you can remember much/any love for either of the shot competitions.

Albeit with a small sample of newbies, there is another thing about the jumps(vertical and horizontal) is that it is a building process. There is time for people to get interested in the competition and watch it unfold. They tend to find it interesting to watch someone run down the runway and launch themselves into the air.

Unfortunately, TV is incapable or unwilling to do them justice. heck, a single vault takes as much time as the whole 200m race.