I’m not sure where you’re going with this, but as it pertains (last sentence) to the media “something is missing” I would say simply that the Athletics Federation in Australia has no idea whatsoever of how the media works with the sport.
There seems to be a notion that it is the media’s job to cover their sport. Wrong!
Coverage of athletics, at least as I understand it (outside of Britain), has always depended absolutely and completely on whether some individual reporter happens to be interested in the sport. If they are, their editor will humour them by allowing the occasional piece, so long as his (the sports editors are almost always men) reporter continues to file footy and horse racing stories, and something on a “proper” summer sport such as baseball or cricket. Anything that draws a good crowd.
Most editors think providing coverage of Olympics sports is a waste of space, a total pain in the rear-end because it means they have even less space to devote to the big-money, crowd-drawing men’s team sports.
In fact, most editors wouldn’t go so far as to even “think” about Olympic sports until a bona fide Olympic star hits their town, or when the Games are almost upon them and they don’t dare ignore them even though that would, for most, be their primary instinct.
Of course, they will always find space for anything Usain Bolt does and they still love a Ben Johnson yarn.
But after Marion Jones, none of them would know the name of a single female sprinter in the world today. But I suppose they’re not the Lone Ranger in that respect.
Oh and, by the way, you say you know who Darren Clark is? Well, give him his due and spell his name correctly. Without the final “e”.