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Elite Athletics Thread

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SPR
SPR
Nov 2022
1:54pm, 7 Nov 2022
38,757 posts
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SPR
It's obvious they will cloud the position, that's fact. There was a school of thought that the shoes weren't an improvement initially but research has changed that.

Like the Olympics it's a race K5 and people see winning as more important. It also would need the very best to push it forward. Would the men's record still stand if Kipchoge had done it for the last few years for example.
Big_G
Big_G
Nov 2022
1:55pm, 7 Nov 2022
2,127 posts
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Big_G
I think 6/6 of the marathon majors have been won by Kenyans on the men’s side this year, and 4/6 on the women’s. Looking on Wikipedia, Kenyans haven’t ever scooped all 6 wins on the men’s side before.

I don’t like being ‘one of those’, but I can’t help but wonder about validity when watching the races live. I really enjoyed the racing yesterday but I had it in my mind, I’m afraid, especially as the commentators mentioned the potential Boston DQ yesterday.
larkim
larkim
Nov 2022
1:57pm, 7 Nov 2022
19,544 posts
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larkim
Wonder what the conditions were like in 2011? Course looks like it favours a southerly breeze quite heavily, and it was a bit warm yesterday.
SPR
SPR
Nov 2022
1:57pm, 7 Nov 2022
38,758 posts
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SPR
The sport didn't need the shoes as spectacle. I'm not sure it even needed it money wise, more that the money Nike put in meant they were given leeway that others wouldn't have got.

General public don't care any more about times. Competition and rivalry is what will drive interest.
SPR
SPR
Nov 2022
2:00pm, 7 Nov 2022
38,759 posts
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SPR
That said, it's possible that sponsorship for individual athletes will be more valuable now as there the shoes are seen as a differentiator. Problem is, for that to work they really need to not be a differentiator so that multiple companies can say their shoes work and give athletes more options.
SPR
SPR
Nov 2022
2:01pm, 7 Nov 2022
38,760 posts
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SPR
...like Under Armor here as we are discussing, lol.
Big_G
Big_G
Nov 2022
2:02pm, 7 Nov 2022
2,128 posts
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Big_G
Yes, I think a proper race is more exciting than a WR attempt. For example, I think how Yuki won Boston in 2018 was just amazing, although the time was slow. It was made even better that the US commentators didn’t have a clue who he was though, and really showed themselves up early on.
larkim
larkim
Nov 2022
2:08pm, 7 Nov 2022
19,545 posts
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larkim
2:08 victory doesn't lend itself to being a clear finger pointy doping outcome, especially as 2nd and 3rd place weren't too far behind and from different nations. But for a few seconds we could have had an Ethiopian or Dutch winner.
larkim
larkim
Nov 2022
2:11pm, 7 Nov 2022
19,546 posts
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larkim
Honestly I don't think the general public care one jot about who wins marathons, shoes or otherwise. Or even if there are competitive rivalries.

If / when someone breaks 2 hours that will be a big story, but distance racing is a very niche sport from a fan perspective I think. Though clearly from a participation perspective it is a bigger deal.
Big_G
Big_G
Nov 2022
2:20pm, 7 Nov 2022
2,129 posts
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Big_G
I think the TV production could be so much better. Yesterday, the ticker at the top wasn’t even accurate so unless as a viewer you spotted a course mile/km marker, it wasn’t clear how far the athlete had left to run, if they were on for a course record etc. And that meant that the ticker didn’t show the correct order of the athletes all the time - for example when the men’s leader went down and was overtaken, the ticker didn’t update. I may well have missed it, but I don’t think it was made clear that Rupp pulled out, for example. I like to think I’m switched on to these things and I did know what as going on, but for a casual viewer it could be confusing.

Maybe we’re spoiled with the TdF coverage where we mainly get petty accurate distances and times between the groups (I know it’s not always accurate on TdF due to weather etc, but you get my point).

About This Thread

Maintained by SPR
A thread to discuss any interesting stories or developments in elite athletics.

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If you enjoy watching athletics why not have a go yourself? If you have any questions about how to go about doing that, ask on the Track & Field Fetchies thread. Someone is bound to be able to help:

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