[Jack_]

Originally Posted by Hayden

I touched on the whole "it draws in more viewers thing" in another post:



At least now there'll be less people chatting **** about stuff they have no idea about, or if the casuals do stay and continue to watch post Mo/Bolt then it encourages them to actually understand the sport a bit better and realise that there are actually other events happening and that the sport as a whole really is incredible even without big names

I actually laughed at the Chelimo thing so I see your point, but while there will be a void without them for a while it will undoubtedly be filled at some point and most of the attention will then shift to whoever that may be. Every sport has and needs its big name(s) and big events and unfortunately the price you pay for having good ratings/sponsorship etc is that they'll get a lot of coverage to the detriment of other athletes and events. But from what you've said it sounds like you'd prefer there to be less casuals which is fair enough

Originally Posted by Hayden

Also the 2014 Commonwealth Games showed that you don't need Mo/Bolt/Jess etc to fill a stadium - the crowds were jam-packed almost every session and I think Bolt only ran like two relay races in the last two days of it. It helped boost the profile of other British athletes like Eilidh Doyle, Adam Gemili, Lynsey Sharp, Jazmin Sawyers etc. which is good for the sport.

I can't wait for next year's World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, and the 2022 Commonwealths being in England too

Glasgow 2014 was a whole different ballgame though, it was two years after a hugely successful home Olympics and the appetite was still there for a multi-sport event on British turf. That's why the BBC opted for wall-to-wall coverage again, I don't think they'd ever done that for a Commonwealth Games before? But yeah, IIRC most of the venues were packed because people who missed out on or just missed 2012 in general wanted to get in on the action, I think the same has applied to these Championships too and that's why almost all the sessions have been packed out, but it goes without saying that the most sought after tickets in the ballot last summer were the nights Mo and Bolt were on.

It's not that I'm saying Mo/Bolt/Jess etc are/were the only draws of athletics, of course not, there's a whole range of factors involved (including the post-2012 legacy), it's just that for now they have been ~the names~ and that's why they've received the most coverage. One benefit of GB's victory last night though will hopefully be that people who tuned in to watch Bolt now see the strength and depth of our team and are encouraged to watch in the future.