{"id":480,"date":"2011-05-06T05:48:00","date_gmt":"2011-05-06T12:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=480"},"modified":"2011-05-06T05:48:00","modified_gmt":"2011-05-06T12:48:00","slug":"diack-says-head-to-heads-diminish-value-of-world-championships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=480","title":{"rendered":"Diack Says Head to Heads Diminish Value of World Championships"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Yes, you read the headline correctly. The head of the IAAF, the global governing body for track and field provided the following quote during an interview which can be read here<\/a>. The quote made while discussing head to head meetings:<\/p>\n

\u201c”It will be more difficult this year,” Diack said, adding that it would not be realistic, for instance, to foresee to see three or four meetings between Gay and Bolt. “Don’t expect that,” he added. “That could diminish the value of the World Championships. Maybe they will meet just once before then. We will see.”\u201d<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n

I\u2019m sorry, but I\u2019m not following the logic here.The World Championships is the biggest meet of the year \u2013 regardless of what happens in any other meet during the season. The fields contain the crem de la crem of the sport \u2013 the ONLY time you will get them all together in one venue \u2013 plus the tension of competitors trying to work their way through the rounds. It\u2019s THE meet that everyone strives to peak for. After all it is the meet where if you win you are crowned the CHAMPION of your event \u2013 because you\u2019ve met and defeated the best there is. <\/p>\n

There is absolutely NOTHING that can take place during the rest of the season that would diminish the value of the World Championships! That\u2019s like saying the Super Bowl has no meaning if two undefeated teams meet during the season. Or the NBA finals is meaningless because the Lakers and Heat play four games prior. I find it almost insulting that the head of the sport would make such a comment \u2013 it\u2019s not what you want to hear coming from leadership. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s either like the Fox and the Grapes \u2013 I can\u2019t get them to run head to head so I don\u2019t care about head to heads and didn\u2019t want them to anyway. Or, he really believes that somehow great competition during the season diminishes the World Championships. Either way, both positions are ridiculous. <\/p>\n

For starters, as I\u2019ve said so many times now I\u2019m nearly blue in the face, great match ups DRAW people to the meets and to the sport! That\u2019s what people WANT to see. And in the words of the O\u2019Jays, you\u2019ve got to give the people what they want! <\/p>\n

Besides, we got lots of head to heads in the 60\u2019s, 70\u2019s, 80\u2019s, even the 90\u2019s and guess what? The sport was infinitely MORE popular than it is NOW! We had more meets, and filled stands \u2013 and the Olympics and World Championships were as anticipated if not more so than today! Why? Because head to head competition during the season only increases the anticipation of what is going to happen once they face off again in the Major! <\/p>\n

For example, adding an even number of head to heads during the season would provide the potential for Worlds to be the ultimate tiebreaker. Not just a tiebreaker, but a tiebreaker with at title on the line! That would diminish Worlds? Even in the event that the season series was uneven (say 3 to 1) Worlds now becomes the ultimate \u201credemption\u201d race. The race of the year, with the season\u2019s strongest field, with a title on the line, and the chance for \u201cwinner take all\u201d glory! There are so many ways you can play the scenarios from a marketing standpoint \u2013 marketing opportunities that we are now lacking! <\/p>\n

Not in the history of the sport has a Major championship race NOT held the throne as the ultimate race of the year. From Jesse Owens v Ralph Metcalf, to Jim Hines v Charlie Greene, to Carl Lewis v  Ben Johnson, to Mo Greene v Tim Montgomery, time and time again great sprinters have met during the season only to meet in the Major with the question looming \u2013 ok, can you do it with the lights on! And when an underdog comes back and wins, oooo \u201cHow ya like me now\u201d! <\/p>\n

After all, there is nothing like settling a good rivalry on the ultimate battle field with all the world watching with anticipation. Rivalries enhance a championship. And in order to have a rivalry, well you have to compete against each other. Individual time trials during the season by the sport\u2019s best \u2013 each dominating the competition \u2013 with a one race season finale between the best, only leaves everyone wanting MORE. <\/p>\n

This is why the sport is dying a slow agonizing death \u2013 and apparently it starts at the top! Perhaps next we\u2019ll be advocating for no meets during the season at all \u2013 just a World Championships. After all, if we see them compete before Worlds it just may diminish the World Championships!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yes, you read the headline correctly. The head of the IAAF, the global governing body for track and field provided the following quote during an interview which can be read here. The quote made while discussing head to head meetings: \u201c”It will be more difficult this year,” Diack said, adding that it would not be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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-480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa3DCY-7K","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480","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=480"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/480\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}