Michael Johnson Shares Ideas To Improve Track & Field
It’s a conversation that has been bubbling away for some time in various places across the internet. According to many in the sport, track and field is being failed by organisations with poor coverage, minimal investment and a reliance on the athletes themselves to bring attention.
So when 4 time Olympic gold medalist, Michael Johnson, starts taking it upon himself to look for solutions, is it time organisations started listening? Answer, yes. In a recent spate of tweets, Johnson asked which other sports offer a successful example of what track and field has the potential of being. In a thread he then went on to detail some of his responses to comments left on the original tweet.
Michael Johnson raises some great points. Perhaps the two biggest issues right now are 1) the confusing schedule, and 2) the underutilisation of the incredible and diverse personalities in the sport.
On the former, the athletics calendar is chocked full of different meets with an unclear hierarchy outside of the World Championships and Olympics. There’s the Diamond League, Continental Tour, Continental Cup and then fringe events like the Trials of Miles, or Night of the 10,000 PBs. And attendance to these can often depend on how useful your agent is as opposed to previous results or world ranking.
Here is where track and field could take a leaf out of golf or tennis’ book. Where world ranking holds greater importance (and notoriety) and attendance to tournaments are based on this, or invitations given from previous year results at the specific tournaments. (For example, any Masters victor will be invited back every year). The whole thing needs simplifying and then communicating to the viewer so they’re aware of what results could mean for each athlete.
On point 2, both World Athletics and each nation’s respective governing bodies should do more to spotlight the amazing characters that the sport boasts. A responsibility that the athletes are currently shouldering. Think Drew Hunter, Sam Parsons and the Tinman Elite crew, Morgan McDonald and his YouTube channel and podcast or Spencer Brown, The Athlete Special. Whilst it is down to individuals to elevate their profile on social media should they wish to, there is a huge opportunity for broader storytelling. Athletics is a soap opera with intriguing rivalries and wild characters.
This is why F1’s Drive to Survive is often highlighted as an A* example. Viewers no longer tune in to race day blind. They know the storylines: who dislikes who, which drivers are fighting for their place, what happened in previous years etc. They’re invested in teams and the characters within. Track and field has an even wider pool of personalities to pick from. All of the pieces exist, they just need putting together into a more enticing package.
