Usain Bolt Has Destroyed Market Value of Track Athletes

[jpaule]

Has Usain hurt market value of athletes in 1100m and 200m as well as athletes in other events as well. For example, who is going to pay Asafa huge money when he is no longer a threat to break WR (especially after him dogging it in many of the meets this year. Since Bolt will have to be payed a huge amount of money just to appear at a meet, will that cause a reduction in other athletes appearance fees?

[gh]

Bolt is the subject of the column I wrote for the magazine just before the issue, and in it I make (or attempt to!) the case that like Carl Lewis before him (or like Tiger in golf) he may be bad for the sport overall. At least in the sense of trying to put a meet on: he's bigger than the sport now. He IS the sport, so if you don't have him, you got bupkis.

[rabalac]

like Carl Lewis before him (or like Tiger in golf) he may be bad for the sport overall. At least in the sense of trying to put a meet on: he's bigger than the sport now. He IS the sport, so if you don't have him, you got bupkis.

Gay and Asafa will still make a decent living from the sport, as they are the only viable canditates that can make a "race" (against Bolt) interesting. The rest of the pack may have to take a pay-cut

At the end of the day, you still need 8 runners to fill up all the lanes.

[croflash]

It's almost gotten to the point where the first criteria for a great meet is not how many stars you were able to hire, but whether Bolt is among those, making him the entire cake instead of the icing. A cake with only one ingridient, as tasty as it might be, is not the one you want to eat.

[JRM]

This is similar to a thought I posted in another thread. Bolt (and Flo-Jo before him) has taken away a significant element from the sprints -- the possibility of a WR being set by someone else. For many (not all, mind you), this will decrease interest in those events.

[3]

A cake with only one ingridient, as tasty as it might be, is not the one you want to eat.

Mr. "croflash", this is why Mr. Bolt's multi-dimensional personality gives that 1 ingredient so much flavour.

[jpaule]

Bolt is the subject of the column I wrote for the magazine just before the issue, and in it I make (or attempt to!) the case that like Carl Lewis before him (or like Tiger in golf) he may be bad for the sport overall. At least in the sense of trying to put a meet on: he's bigger than the sport now. He IS the sport, so if you don't have him, you got bupkis.

There is truth in what you say.

[Marlow]

TFor many (not all, mind you), this will decrease interest in those events.

For Marks Snobs like myself, this is indeed a problem. I have had to recalibrate my 'acceptable marks' criteria for the 100 and 200. I used to think that 9.9x and 19.9x were where the true excitement began, but now . . . :?:

[ATK]

This is similar to a thought I posted in another thread. Bolt (and Flo-Jo before him) has taken away a significant element from the sprints -- the possibility of a WR being set by someone else. For many (not all, mind you), this will decrease interest in those events.

Its kind of unfair to the athlete though. You basicly saying, we want you to run fast, but only so fast that others can compete with you and make it more entertaining.

[Taliban]

Yes He Has!

[Speedfirst]

Yes He Has!

Co-sign

[TrackDaddy]

For the men, but not the women.

[gm]

I thought it was all about the competition... :lol:

[Speedfirst]

I thought it was all about the competition... :lol:

It is, Bolt competing to see how much richer he can get.

[JRM]

This is similar to a thought I posted in another thread. Bolt (and Flo-Jo before him) has taken away a significant element from the sprints -- the possibility of a WR being set by someone else. For many (not all, mind you), this will decrease interest in those events.

Its kind of unfair to the athlete though. You basicly saying, we want you to run fast, but only so fast that others can compete with you and make it more entertaining.

I don't see how I said that -- I was imposing no restrictions on who can run what. The fact of the matter is that the 100m and 200m WRs are now out of reach for quite some time. A big part of the thrill of the 100m (and 200m, to a lesser extent -- MJ saw to that) over the last 20+ years has been seeing who can step up to the plate and challenge those times. That's unlikely to happen now for a long, long time (particularly if Bolt continues to lower them before he's done).