Track and field tries to expand reach by holding World Championships in USA for first time
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If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.
That is not Frank Sinatra singing in New York. That is Sebastian Coe talking about track and field in the United States.
Coe forever will be known as the runner who won 1,500-meter gold medals at the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games. He is also president of World Athletics, governing body for a sport called athletics in every country -- except this one.
For track and field to grow globally, Coe reasoned, it needed to hold its marquee event – the World Championships – in the United States. Until 1983, when the first World Championships were held at Helsinki, Finland, the sport cracked consciousness here once every four years.
That all changes, beginning Friday, when the worlds open a 10-day run on U.S. soil. Attempting to expand the sport’s appeal is the reason it is in Eugene, Ore., aptly named TrackTown.
Four women with Indiana ties could be in the mix for medals: Lynna Irby, Pike High School, 400 meters and 1,600-meter relay; Devynne Charlton, Purdue (and the Bahamas), 100-meter hurdles; Rachel Dinkoff, Waterloo, discus, and Kara Winger, Purdue, javelin.
MORE: Pike's Lynna Irby, Purdue's Kara Winger make U.S. team for World Championships
Missing will be Cole Hocker, a Cathedral graduate whose meteoric rise last year culminated in sixth place in the 1,500 meters at the Tokyo Olympics. He won’t race for a medal on his home Oregon track after a foot injury interrupted training, causing him to fall short of Team USA.
HOCKER: Injury contributes to Cole Hocker's stunning elimination from 1,500 at nationals
Coe has called these World Championships “an incredible opportunity for our sport.”
Otherwise, it would make zero sense to hold them in Eugene, whose population of 176,654 (2020 census) ranks 155th. Travel is difficult, lodging limited and the stadium small.
Nevertheless, here we go. The world – more than 1,900 athletes from 192 countries -- comes to Oregon22. (It was delayed a year by the pandemic.)
“It’s overwhelmingly significant because the reason that most Americans have a hard time connecting with the sport is because they rarely get to see the sport’s biggest stars in person,” said NBC analyst Sanya Richards-Ross, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, in a news release. “It’s going to be reminiscent of the 1996 (Atlanta) Olympics when legends were made in our sport."
Another reason for Oregon22: Nike.
Nike agreed to a $400 million, 23-year sponsorship deal with USA Track & Field in 2014. The corporate giant was born in Oregon, and co-founder Phil Knight can be credited for funding the new $270 million Hayward Field.
The 12,650 permanent seats were supposed to be expandable to 25,000, but actual attendance will be less. The Sports Examiner calculated the stadium will seat 17,000, with about 14,500 tickets available and the rest for media and officials.
Still, crowds will be the largest for global track and field since the 2017 World Championships at London. Seats were mostly empty for the 2019 worlds at Doha and 2021 pandemic Olympics at Tokyo. These World Championships will be the biggest Olympic sports event in the United States since the 2002 Salt Lake Winter Games.
If all looks good on TV, it’s all good. And 90% of evening sessions were sold out with 10 days to go.
NBC Sports has scheduled 43 hours of TV programing, including a record seven primetime hours of live weekend coverage (Saturday/Sunday and July 23-34) on NBC. Other programming will be on USA Network, CNBC and the Peacock streaming service.
HOW TO WATCH: Here's how you can subscribe to Peacock
There is little wrong at the grassroots level of track and field, which has been the fastest-growing sport in high school. According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, it is most popular for girls (488,257 participants) and No. 2 behind football for boys (605,354).
“The United States has huge numbers of kids participating in this sport when they are young, something happens at a certain point, and then it ceases to become as popular,” said NBC analyst Ato Boldon, a sprinter who won four medals at the 1996 and 2000 Olympics. “This is a big step in ingratiating the public to the sport and hopefully making a ton of new American fans by having it on U.S. soil for the first time.”
Leveraging participation into interest (and dollars) at the international/pro level has long been the issue.
Tangentially, Indianapolis has a stake because it is home to USA Track & Field. Max Siegel, CEO of USATF, has promised to create a “road map to 2028” and the Los Angeles Olympics. Indy was site of the first World Indoor Championships at the RCA Dome in 1987.
“USATF’s mission is to drive competitive excellence and popular engagement in our sport,” Siegel told World Athletics.
Excellence has long been there, beginning with the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, when the United States took nine of 12 gold medals. But in the world’s oldest and most universal sport, engaging a cluttered U.S. sports market has been tougher than winning golds.
Contact IndyStar reporter David Woods at david.woods@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.
Indiana athletes
(With 2022 mark, entry list ranking/world ranking)
Men
>> Chuk Enekwechi, 29, Purdue (Nigeria). Shot put, 69-8 ¾ (13th/11th)
>> Samson Colebrooke, 25, Purdue (Bahamas). 100 meters, 10.01 (20th/182nd)
Women
>> Lynna Irby, 23, Pike H.S. 400 meters, 50.67 (13th/17th).
>> Devynne Charlton, 26, Purdue (Bahamas). 100-meter hurdles, 12.60 (11th/sixth).
>> Rachel Dincoff, 28, Waterloo. Discus, 214-9 (fifth/18th).
>> Kara Winger, 36, Purdue. Javelin, 210-10 (fourth/12th).
Worlds TV schedule
Friday, July 15
Noon-8 p.m., Peacock
8-11 p.m., Peacock and USA Network
Saturday, July 16
1:30-3 p.m., Peacock and CNBC
3-5 p.m., Peacock and NBC
8-9 p.m., Peacock and CNBC
9-11 p.m., Peacock and NBC
Sunday, July 17
9-11:30 a.m., Peacock and CNBC
2-4:30 p.m., Peacock and NBC
8-10 p.m., Peacock and CNBC
10-11 p.m., Peacock and NBC
Monday, July 18
9 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Peacock and USA Network
12:30-4 p.m., Peacock
8-11 p.m., Peacock
11:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m., USA Network (same-day delay)
Tuesday, July 19
8-11 p.m., 8-11 p.m.
11:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m., USA Network (same-day delay)
Wednesday, July 20
7:30-11 p.m., Peacock and USA Network
Thursday, July 21
8-11 p.m., Peacock and USA Network
Friday, July 22
9:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m., Peacock
8:30-11 p.m., Peacock and USA Network
Saturday, July 23
12:50-4 p.m., Peacock
2-3 p.m., Peacock and NBC
8-9 p.m., Peacock and CNBC
9-11 p.m., Peacock and NBC
Sunday, July 24
9:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m., Peacock
12:30-3 p.m., Peacock
8-9 p.m., Peacock and CNBC
9-11 p.m., Peacock and NBC
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: WCH Oregon22: What to watch at 2022 track world championships
