Joshua Cheptegei is one of the few athletes in the world that doesn ’ t have to chase every payday
Now much has been made of the new shoes the top athletes are running in , with carbon fibre plates that provide more spring , and let ’ s not beat around the bush , the shoes have most definitely made a difference . But is that all there is to it ? I don ’ t think so . And it starts largely with the COVID-19 pandemic calling an abrupt halt to the athletics programme .
Competitive Cycle
Traditionally , athletics is built around a four-year competition cycle , starting and ending with the Olympic Games . In between you have two World Track Championships ( which include the World Marathon Championships ), two World Half Marathon Championships , two World Cross Country Championships , the Commonwealth Games , Continental Championships and literally every weekend a race of significance .
With such a plethora of events , athletes are also under pressure from sponsors , organisers and broadcasters to perform continuously , sometimes weekly , and unless you are an Eliud Kipchoge or a Joshua Cheptegei , you literally have to toe the line almost every second week to earn an income and keep sponsors happy . Such a busy racing schedule can have a profound effect on an athlete ’ s body , which begs the question , how fresh are athletes really , and do they ever really recover between events ? And is there perhaps too much of a good thing in that congested calendar ?
Precious Mashele ( left ) and Mbuleli Mathanga have been burning up the track in recent weeks !
However , with that said , pre-COVID we may have had a very busy running calendar – some might even say overly congested – but the pandemic saw race after race , meet after meet being first postponed , then cancelled . All of a sudden , races were few and far between . That has left us fans of athletics salivating at the prospect of seeing top class competition again , and every time an event is successfully held , we are glued to our TV ’ s or computers for a stream of the event . Even a poor quality stream will do … because we are starved of top class competition . And so are the athletes .
Ask any athlete right now , and every one , without fail , will tell you they are hungry ... Hungry to race . Hungry for competition . Hungry to do what they love , and are good at . And they are raring to go . You may think they would have become a bit stale , both mentally and physically , going from a demanding athletics competition schedule to the enforced COVID-19 break , but one of the things I have picked up when chatting to athletes recently is that they are fresh . Their bodies have reached a level of fitness , thanks to a focus on training and recovery , that they have either not experienced in years , or never experienced . And that is good for the sport , and what I think is the main contributing factor for the recent fast times .
Change of Structure ?
So , this makes me think it is perhaps time to relook at the structure of the sport . There 1385 events on the World Athletics calendar in track and field alone , including the 12 Diamond League meets each year , plus 338 indoor meets and 1616 road events . Now in order to be listed on the World Athletics calendar , events need to have a certain standard and fulfil certain criteria . So that means there are a whole host more events around the world that do not make the grade , so to speak .
That is a lot of competition , and begs the question whether the amount of competition has perhaps devalued the sport ? And burned out the athletes ? Take the Diamond League as an example . It is currently made up of 12 events . Not too long ago it was six , and before that just four events – and those four events took on almost World Championship-level stature . Speaking of which , the World Championships used to be every four years , too , until they changed to every two years in 1991 . Too much of a good thing ? For both athletes and fans ?
I believe if we have less events , they increase in value to sponsors , the fans are more hungry to see the next big event , and most importantly , the athletes will be fresher . Granted , they will need to be compensated better , but is that not what we want ultimately ? Furthermore , the pandemic has perhaps given us the ideal opportunity to reassess the sport completely , and make those changes in order to keep our athletes fresher and hungrier – meaning a consistent supply of better performances .
About the Author
Manfred Seidler is a freelance sport journalist who has been in the industry since 1994 , in both print media and broadcasting , covering four Olympic Games for SABC Radio , and producing various athletics shows for the SABC . Follow him on Twitter : @ sportmansa ; Facebook : Sport Man SA ; Instagram : sportman _ sa .
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