Run-Down Forums

[Distance_Guru]

I saw this article about Zhanna Pintusevich-Block . Basiclly she says that she gets no respect from the meet directors on the European circut particularly the Golden League. She will race Marion Jones for the first time in 2002 this weekend. The reason they haven't raced sooner she says is that the meet promoters are happy to just have Jones. This got me thinking. Could it be that this is intentional? I wonder if having Marion Jones being the female sprinter is more valuable than having two top notch athletes that beat each other and therefore mess up the marketability of both since neither would have the destinction of being totally dominant. What do you guys think is Pintusevich-Block just asking for too much money or is she really getting the short end of the stick :question:
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[Dan]

[Conway]

Personally I think Zhanna is getting short shrift !!!

Unfortunately track is becoming less and less about competition, and more and more about money and marketing ... On face value I would say that Zhanna is worth the same as Marion ... Zhanna is the reigning World Champion ... She is having an undefeated year to date ... She has an awesome sequence of marks ... And she is the yearly leader and has been all year long ... Would seem to make her a majoar draw to me ....

But that is looking at it from a pure track standpoint ... Let's look at it from a marketing standpoint ... While I think Zhanna is cute, Marion has that big smile that lights up her face .... Marion also is quite articulate (although reading her diary on IAAF site so is Zhanna) ... Marion speaks one of the universal languages - English ... And Zhanna is American - still important around the world even though it almost means nothing here !!!

Add em up and Marion gets the cash ... As far as the IAAF keeping them apart ... I don't think so .... Far too many other rivalries getting played out to say they would stop this single one ... But I will say that theway things are set up it makes it easy for athletes to duck and dodge each other if they choose ... And I am not too sure that either camp wanted to meet early in the season ... Both had good reasons to divert from the other for a while ... The fact that it is happeneing now makes sense to me as this is the time when a major championship would normally be held ... And this is that type of race for the two of them ... I am sure that BOTH sides have been preparing as such all year long ...

Conway

[Micah Ward]

Would it not be better for there to be a rivalry instead of one star? It seems like a good rivalry would be much more interesting to watch than one athlete dominating an event.
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[Dan]

It would definitely be better for the fans, but the stars don't all see it that way. They tend to focus more on the ego (someone has to lose) and financial reward of remaining unbeaten.

Dan

[Conway]

I think hte biggest culprit in the "I Can't Lose" category is Track and Field News ... Back in the 80's "streaks" became popular ... There was Edwin Moses streak in the 400 hurdles that grew to over 100 finals (they even started to differentiate between finals and qualifying rounds) ... Carl Lewis' streak in the long jump ... Merlene Ottey at one time had a 100 AND 200 streak going ... Well you get the picture ... It got tothe point where as far as TFN was concerned you were NOBODY unless you had a streak ...

More importantly though they began to value being undefeated MORE than who you were winning against ... For example one season Mike Powell won over 20 long jump competitions with only 2 loses !!!! Those loses were to Carl Lewis - who had only 2 other "low key" competitions all season !! Who was rewarded ??? Lewis ... If you look at MJ's. Moses', and Lewis' careers they each had several minimal seasons (even without championships) where they didn't meet their top competition and were ranked #1 !!!!

The message became clear ... Doesn't matter who you beat or don't beat, just don't lose ... Even if it means just show up twice (which Carl did a few seasons) and do well and we'll rank you number 1 if you just don't lose ...

This is VERY important becasue on Euro circuit TFN rankings mean everything ... Whether you get into certain races ... The kind of lane draws you receive ... The kind of money you get paid .... Etc ...

SO ... Whereas once upon a time you battled your top rival for supremacy - Jim Hines v Charlie Greene, Steve Williams vDon Quarrie - now you try to keep your race slate clean !!! Note the Golden League ... Why not spread it out over say 10 meets and just award a cash prize to the individual that wins the most times in each event ????? More incentive for more people to compete in more meets !!!!

Instead we wait for those rare moments when the best actually meet each other ...

Conway

[Dan]

Interesting, and a very good point about the format of Golden League incentives.

Dan