There's a six-piece band playing live music in the corner of the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, but no one is paying attention on Saturday night. When home favorite Josh Kerr starts his final sprint on his way to the world title in the 3,000 meters, five thousand people stand up from their seats and produce clearly more decibels with their cheering than a few musical instruments with their amplifiers. It's so loud that it makes American triple jumper Donald Scott laugh in the center court.
The atmosphere in the stadium remains cheerful for the rest of the evening. Femke Bol wins gold in the 400 meters in a world record: loud cheering. Swiss Angelica Moser taking a run-up to her pole vault over 4.75 meters, a personal record: a wave of sound. Even the athletes who have completed a lap of the 3,000 meters are applauded loudly during each of their last meters towards the finish.
It will have led to satisfaction at World Athletics, the global athletics association. There they see an important role for indoor athletics in the transformation of athletics into a future-proof sport. “These tournaments get good viewing figures, they are exciting for a young audience, I think they can provide a great introduction to our sport,” said chairman Sebastian Coe at the opening of the tournament.
2024 is an important year for athletics. The Olympic Games are scheduled for August, and the mother of all sports can imagine itself as the center of the world. But beyond that, athletics has had a hard time selling itself to (television) audiences and sponsors for years. Global championships in Doha (Qatar, 2019) and Eugene (US, 2021) attracted few spectators, and viewing figures were also disappointing. Last year's World Championships in Budapest were a success, but that was the exception rather than the rule.
Also read
a report from Glasgow about Femke Bol's gold medal in the 400 meters, in – again – a world record
150 years old
“We are standing at a very important crossroads for the sport,” chairman Coe emphasized the situation again last week. The British former athlete wants to do everything he can to keep athletics relevant.
In Coe's view, the sport must change for this to happen. “Our sport is 150 years old and some aspects of it deserve to be protected. But there are also things that leave people cold.” The chairman was referring to the field disciplines, such as high and long jump, shot put and discus throw. “We see that many people drop out during these disciplines,” said Coe. In the battle for the attention of young viewers – the holy grail for any sport – athletics therefore “has a responsibility to modernize”, the Briton said last week.
Coe receives support from athletes. “I was listening to a Scottish radio station this afternoon when they were talking about this tournament. They thought it was something for their grandmother, that is not okay,” said American Noah Lyles, probably the most famous athlete in the world, after winning silver in the 60 meters on Saturday. Lisanne de Witte, the 400-meter runner who has been on the WA athletes' committee for a year and a half, sees a lot of room for growth. “If you see how big the sport is now and how much potential there is still, it would be great if it were fulfilled.”
The World Athletics Federation has recently launched several ideas to do this. From 2025 onwards, every season must end with a world championship, as the ultimate climax of the year. There was also a proposal to use a 'take-off zone' for the long jump instead of a line that requires a take-off to avoid situations such as during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, where a third of all attempts in the final were a fault jump.
There are also initiatives outside the world athletics association. Last week there was news that Michael Johnson, the former four-time Olympic champion, wants to establish a new, commercially attractive athletics competition together with the sports management and sponsorship agency Winners Alliance. “Athletes deserve more attention and opportunities to showcase their talents and create value for themselves,” he said at the launch of the plan.
Adopted child
And then there is the belief that indoor athletics can help transform the sport. That is striking, because it has always been the neglected child in sports, with fewer events, less prize money and fewer appealing athletes participating. “There are two types of athletes who compete indoors: specialists and athletes who want to stay in shape during the winter. I belonged to the latter category,” former athlete Coe himself admitted last week.
Still, he and athletes would like to see more indoor events. According to Lyles, who always enjoys interacting with spectators, indoor athletics is the best way to practice his sport in a stadium. “The audience sits closer than outside, their cheering is preserved under the roof, there is much more energy in an indoor stadium.”
That energy was palpable on Friday evening as Lyles and his competitors prepared for the 60-meter final to loud cheers. At the same time you heard the metal balls of the shot put crash against the nets and you saw women floating over a bar almost two meters high. The entire stadium fell silent for a moment when the fastest men in the world were shot away, then the machinations of top sport started moving again in all corners of the oval track.
The sport's great drive for innovation came too early for this tournament; the changes were in small details in Glasgow. For example, no longer was a referee with a white and red flag watching whether long and triple jumpers crossed the line, instead there was a camera with a red or green light.
These World Cups were smaller in all aspects than those in Budapest last summer. There were 49 events on the program in nine days, now there were 26 in three. There was also a difference in prize money: the world champions of the past few days each received 40,000 dollars (approximately 37,000 euros). In Budapest, 70,000 dollars (64,500 euros) was available for each winner. If they ran a world record there, they got a hundred thousand bonus. In Glasgow half.
In short, a lot still needs to be done before indoor athletics can play a significant role in the growth of the sport, says De Witte. “You have to take it to the same level as outdoor athletics, in terms of prize money and status. Otherwise it won't be attractive, everything revolves around the outside.” That applied to many athletes, as it turned out this weekend. Lyles and Bol, among others, admitted that they had not trained specifically for this tournament. In an Olympic year, these World Cups were just a good training incentive towards Paris.
Nice show
Technical director Vincent Kortbeek of the Athletics Union does not see that changing any time soon. “It's easier to turn indoor athletics into a great show, that's the big advantage. But an indoor season lasts two months and outdoors the rest of the year. So that will always be an advantage.”
In fact, the sport is too big and there are too many athletes with different interests, says De Witte: “That makes it difficult to implement something new.” Even the always enthusiastic Lyles shows skepticism, for example, when asked about Johnson's plans. “I want to see it get out of the idea phase first. But then I am certainly willing to think along.”
Kortbeek has often seen plans for innovation pass by, only to see them die a silent death. “I find it difficult, because it is often about commerce. Such plans do not always benefit the athletes.”
For example, the plan for a drop-off zone, which according to De Witte had been leaked prematurely, led to a lot of resistance among long jumpers. They were not informed in advance and see making a good sale as part of the technique that you must master. Some of them said they would quit their sport at the World Cup if the plan went ahead.
The question is whether World Athletics will shy away from this. Under Coe's leadership, the athletics association seems to be determined to innovate. “There are a number of interesting ideas that border on the controversial,” the chairman responded laconically to the long jumpers' criticism. “In any case, people are now talking about our sport.”
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