by Larry Eder
This is RunBlogRun’s six lessons on what they learned from the 2022 World Champs and how it will affect the future of the sport, namely the success of LA 2028.
Here are six lessons from attending and experiencing the World Champs in Eugene, Oregon.
- Hayward Field was an excellent host to the World Champs. The stadium sat an almost full crowd of 21,000 on big days, and the house that Phil and Penny built, which will be around for decades to come, is a great host for NCAA, Pre meet, USATF Champs, International meet, and such, but should not be and is not the only place in the US to host major events.
- The lack of involvement of most of Eugene and all of Springfield was embarrassing. This just required outside planning. Outside of the 1-mile radius of the actual Hayward Field, there were no benefits for local businesses, except if you were a price-gouging hotel or an even more price-gouging AIR BNB. The truth is this happens in every World Champs. LOCs could care less about what happens outside the stadium.
- What did Oregon get from it? No break days and limited housing meant that most fans did not travel within the state. How does Tracktown justify the money given by the state of Oregon if Oregon Tourism was not given some promotion? This is just common sense, and not much was used in this situation.
- The athletes always perform. The performances, and athletes, were the star of the show. That always happens in World Championships, no matter how clueless LOC is. Truth, they were not clueless in Eugene, many did not have any experience, and they were so busy putting fingers in the proverbial dyke to keep it from overflowing with the pandemic, financial challenges, and sponsor challenges that it is amazing that there were not more issues.
- Television is king, but then, talk about it. NBC continues to not see the changing ways of media. In some circumstances, this is good, but in some, it is sad, but there are opportunities. Peacock TV was the most undervalued asset that NBC has. The Global broadcast with Hannah England, Jenny Meadows, Rob Walker, Gail Devers, Tim Hutchings, and Mara Yamauchi was superb. Most in the US did not know about Peacock. The NBC team of Leigh Diffey, Ato Boldon, Sanya Richards-Ross Kara Goucher, Paul Swangard, and Trey Hardee did a fine job, but NBC continues to not see the changing of the guard, and it will hurt them terribly by the 2028 Olympics.
- There should be another World Champs in the US, in fact, every 12 years. The promotion has to be actually done, it has to be in a major media capital, and the US audience must be engaged. We have six years until 2027. If LA 2028 wants to be what it can be, Casey Wasserman should throw his power into World Champs in LA in 2027. If Phil Knight truly wants a legacy for Track & Field in the US, he will do the same, hopefully, and so will NIKE. World Athletics is making some moves in a positive direction in the US, but they need US sponsorship dollars which could open up if they engage the US audience. It is not that they do not care, most US sports fans know squat bubkiss about track & field outside of high school and the Olympics.
