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Elite Athletics Thread

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larkim
larkim
9:08am
9:08am, 10 Mar 2025
26,845 posts
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larkim
I wonder if there were similar concerns raised when stadia started to have big screens up so athletes could check on their opponents too? Just as pacing lights *could* assist some racers in some races if their tactics align, so can / could the ability to check on the pack behind you via the screens when racing purely for position.

My point really is whilst I don't dispute some of those theoretical issues with the wavelights, I'm not sure we saw enough positive or negative from them at this champs to see whether on balance they enhanced the meeting. Will be interesting to hear if "the powers that be" give a post event review.
jda
jda
9:25am
9:25am, 10 Mar 2025
18,562 posts
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jda
I think it’s pretty obvious that record-paced lights won’t have much impact at a low key meet where no one is running close to record pace.
SPR
SPR
9:38am
9:38am, 10 Mar 2025
47,262 posts
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SPR
I don't think the TV thing is the same as it's easy to do by looking over the shoulder TBH (I imagine a major stadium is too loud to use audio feedback of steps, breathing, etc). The lights are doing something that is supposed to be disallowed in a championship. Even if you could program your watch it's not the same as something moving in front of you at the pace you want.
Big_G
Big_G
9:46am
9:46am, 10 Mar 2025
4,606 posts
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Big_G
jda wrote:I think it’s pretty obvious that record-paced lights won’t have much impact at a low key meet where no one is running close to record pace.

Do you mean Larkim is trying to argue a meaningless point?
larkim
larkim
9:49am
9:49am, 10 Mar 2025
26,846 posts
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larkim
That's true jda, but one pacing of the lights was champs records pace, so that was relevant to those champs, even if the WR or Euro Record lights never got activated. Might be different at the Worlds or Olympics, of course.

I can see races where absolutely the individuals concerned could benefit - e.g. Rudisha's approach in the 2012 Olympics would have been enhanced by him being able to track wavelights, potentially.

But I still think that these scenarios are edge cases; on balance, I don't have a problem with a little bit of change to the fundamentals if it improves some of the engagement experience which helps the sport maintain relevance.
larkim
larkim
9:52am
9:52am, 10 Mar 2025
26,847 posts
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larkim
Big_G wrote:jda wrote:I think it’s pretty obvious that record-paced lights won’t have much impact at a low key meet where no one is running close to record pace. Do you mean Larkim is trying to argue a meaningless point?

LOL. We can't have it both ways.

At the extremes, the lights at these champs were an abomination which ruined races, or they were set at times too fast to impact things so no effect. And in reality neither of those things were true.

European Athletics set out a schema which looked to me like it was intended to avoid disrupting the pure competition, whilst enhancing the spectating experience. I liked that idea. I was happy to see it trialled. It's not a meaningless point. The Euro Indoors champs records were a valid benchmark to be seen. If they'd put European Lead times or similar, I'm not sure I'd have been as happy with what they suggested.
Big_G
Big_G
9:56am
9:56am, 10 Mar 2025
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Big_G
I meant, it seems you’re trying to argue for the use of the lights, at a meet where their usefulness, or otherwise, wasn’t tested. And then you’re trying to draw conclusions from that for future events.
Surrey Phil
Surrey Phil
10:08am
10:08am, 10 Mar 2025
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Surrey Phil
I seem to recall that there were lights on the road from the lead car when Eliud Kipchoge went under two hours for the marathon. At the time, they said that this was one of several factors that would prohibit the attempt being an official record.
SPR
SPR
10:10am
10:10am, 10 Mar 2025
47,263 posts
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SPR
The Rudisha final didn't need enhancing though did it? Nor do any of the races with Ingebrigtsen.

Funnily enough it's the Olympics and to an extent World championship as opposed to the diamond league etc that get casual fans to watch athletics.

I think we're getting to the point now though. As I said in previous comments, I think that it helping once is too much, whereas you're happy if that happens for the perceived benefit.
larkim
larkim
12:03pm
12:03pm, 10 Mar 2025
26,848 posts
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larkim
Big_G wrote:I meant, it seems you’re trying to argue for the use of the lights, at a meet where their usefulness, or otherwise, wasn’t tested. And then you’re trying to draw conclusions from that for future events.

I'm not trying to argue for or agin them. Before they were trialled at this champs, I thought "good idea, I like that". Others had different views.

We've had the champs. I've literally written a few times that I didn't see much negative, but neither did I see much positive.

But you can bet that WA are looking at the use in these champs to see if they can draw some conclusions too.

My gut feeling is that you can't really tell - clearly when they were implemented the "higher ups" felt that any trade off in terms of impacting the competition was worth it when traded off against spectator experience. (Probably more nuanced than that, and some may also suggest someone was given a big brown envelope to try them out too; there's no evidence of that, but maybe that was the case).

About This Thread

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

If there's anything that would be useful to add to the links or here, let me know.

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:

fetcheveryone.com/forum/track-field-fetchies-6378/
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