week <\/a>met with the head of FIFA to lobby on behalf of the US effort to host another World Cup. So it is conceivable that his aid could be enlisted in putting together a bid to host the World Championships of Track and Field.<\/p>\nWe’re long overdue. Our athletes are showcased all over the world, its time to showcase them right here at home. And in spite of our placings in meets all over the world including the Olympics and Worlds, I do not believe that the rest of the world takes us seriously as the “leader” in the sport. Hosting a Worlds would go a long way towards overcoming some of the negativity that has come our way over the past decade and assuming a leadership position internationally. It’s time to step up and make that move.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With two weeks until Worlds and no other meets to look forward to, my mind is now fixated on the World Championships and Berlin. The World Championships have been a staple in Europe since its’ inception in 1983. So far eleven renditions of the meet have been held and all but three of those have been on the European continent – the other three were held in Japan (twice) and Canada. The thing that I find most interesting is that not once has the event been hosted by the United States. In the twenty six years that the World Championships have been in existence the US has hosted two Olympic Games (Los Angeles, 1983 and Atlanta, 1996) and is currently a finalist in the bids for the 2016 Games. But we have yet to play host to the World Championships. Rather ironic when one takes into consideration that we are routinely at the top of the medal charts come Worlds. We lead the way on the track, its time we stepped up to lead the way off the track. Hosting the World Championships is one way to take a step towards that lead position – not to mention the benefits it would have for the sport here in the US. Hosting the Worlds would bring the sport’s top track and field athletes to the United States. Not just one or two at a time, but an entire week of the best in the world competing right here at home. And with New York and Eugene becoming members of the new Diamond League and these meets moving to the summer, we could see a huge bump in the number of top level athletes participating in these meets as well! The end result would be three VERY high class track competitions taking place on US soil. The level of which is typically only seen in Europe. There is no greater way to bring the sport to life here in the United States. Soccer experienced a huge rise in popularity in the US during the mid to late 90’s – due in large part to the FIFA World Cup being hosted by the United States for the first time in 1994. Since then we have hosted the Women’s World Cup in 1999 and 2003 – further strengthening soccer’s image in this country and maintaining the fervor that the sport enjoys here. Hosting the World Championships in Track and Field could pay the same sort of dividends in terms of popularity and awareness of the sport in this country. And now would be a most opportune time to place such a bid. President Obama is a big sports fan and just last week met with the head of FIFA to lobby on behalf of the US effort to host another World Cup. So it is conceivable that his aid could be enlisted in putting together a bid to host the World Championships of Track and Field. We’re long overdue. Our athletes are showcased all over the world, its time to showcase them right here at home. And in spite of our placings in meets all over the world including the Olympics and Worlds, I do not believe that the rest of the world takes us seriously as the “leader” in the sport. Hosting a Worlds would go a long way towards overcoming some of the negativity that has come our way over the past decade and assuming a leadership position internationally. It’s time to step up and make that move.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa3DCY-3q","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":611,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=611","url_meta":{"origin":212,"position":0},"title":"Is London 2017 a Game Changer?","author":"CHill","date":"November 15, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"This week the IAAF announcedthat London will be host to the 2017 edition of the World Track and Field Championships. Interestingly enough, they will follow Beijing who will host in 2015, just as they follow Beijing as host of the Olympic Games (2008). So the question I\u2019m asking myself today\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"London\"","block_context":{"text":"London","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?tag=london"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":258,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=258","url_meta":{"origin":212,"position":1},"title":"Time to Tweak the World Championships","author":"CHill","date":"December 30, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I remember looking forward to the first World Championships back in 1983. We had boycotted the 1980 Olympics, so the last time the US had participated in a global championships had been the Games of 1976! So it had been an eternity for track fans salivating for a global event.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"Track and Field: 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.picapp.com\/ftp\/Images\/5\/8\/3\/2\/Track_and_Field_3c02.JPG?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":535,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=535","url_meta":{"origin":212,"position":2},"title":"U.S Track\u2019s Revitalization Could Start in Cali","author":"CHill","date":"July 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"As we approach another World Championships I am once again struck by the fact that it will not be in the United States. Nor are we among the nations that are preparing bids to host any of the upcoming editions of the world\u2019s biggest track and field event. Once again\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 1 comment","block_context":{"text":"With 1 comment","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=535#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"image","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lh5.ggpht.com\/-OmGQCPUaUw4\/TigqaJdAo2I\/AAAAAAAAASQ\/9E2_vgyk2K4\/image_thumb.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":401,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=401","url_meta":{"origin":212,"position":3},"title":"Why Are The Commonwealth Games, and Other \u201cGames\u201d Being Held?","author":"CHill","date":"September 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"All year long there have been questions raised about the staging of the upcoming Commonwealth Games. Everything from questions regarding whether or not the facilities would be ready in time, to complaints this week from England, Scotland, Wales, New Zealand, Australia and Canada over the condition of the team accommodations\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=401#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"NEW DELHI, INDIA - SEPTEMBER 22: An Indian labourers work outside of the main stadium for the approaching 19th Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on September 22, 2010 in New Delhi, India. Pieces of a false roof inside of the weightlifting complex collapsed today following yesterday's collapse of a footbridge under construction that injured 27 workers at the main stadium for the upcoming Commonwealth Games. (Photo by Daniel Berehulak\/Getty Images)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view1.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/9831349\/incident-weightlifting\/incident-weightlifting.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":406,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=406","url_meta":{"origin":212,"position":4},"title":"My Vision For the World Championships","author":"CHill","date":"October 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Yes, I know it\u2019s October and we just had the opening ceremonies for the Commonwealth Games.\u00a0 But with the majority of top line athletes missing from the Commonwealth, my mind can\u2019t help but fast forward to the next gathering of the world\u2019s best athletes \u2013 the World Championships in Daegu.\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 5 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 5 comments","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=406#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"BERLIN - AUGUST 23: South Korean dancers perform during the Closing Ceremony during day nine of the 12th IAAF World Athletics Championships at the Olympic Stadium on August 23, 2009 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Martin Rose\/Bongarts\/Getty Images)","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/view1.picapp.com\/pictures.photo\/image\/6136639\/12th-iaaf-world-athletics\/12th-iaaf-world-athletics.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":125,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=125","url_meta":{"origin":212,"position":5},"title":"Track Shorts","author":"CHill","date":"March 24, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"A very low key weekend with few sterling results. On the track, Texas A&M ran collegiate leaders in both the men's and women's relays with efforts of 39.32 and 43.67 respectively at the Trojan Invitational in Southern California. On the field, defending collegiate champion Rashaud Scott of Kentucky, became the\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}