Michael Johnson’s three steps to save athletics
The athletics season really kicks into gear on Friday with the Bislett Games in Oslo, the biggest international meet of the year so far.
By Michael Johnson
Published: 7:30AM BST 30 Jun 2009
The year after an Olympic Games is always difficult and following the spectacle of Beijing was always likely to be a major challenge.
But the sport is facing bigger problems than ever before. Lack of spectators, lack of sponsors, and lack of stars, say the critics.
I have heard many times from those in the sport, from media to promoters, that a lack of stars since my own retirement in 2000 is the problem.
I disagree. Even the emergence of Bolt last year as a global superstar will not be enough to save the sport. These are far deeper issues we are facing and they require a change in attitude from those who run the sport if we are to make some progress.
Across track and field, people are searching for the answers to the dwindling interest which threatens the future. Two weeks ago in Cardiff we saw the inaugural event of the Super 8 concept which some believe could be the solution. It is a city versus city competition fitted into a two-hour time window.
The two-hour time frame addresses the problem of boredom because events last far too long and are difficult for fans with no previous experience of athletics to follow.
Over the long term I think this could work on a local and regional level and draw the interest of spectators and sponsors, but probably not the big stars.
It could be a great developmental league designed to give up-and-coming athletes an opportunity and a forum to develop. The key will be to draw enough fan interest and a big enough attendance to entice sponsor involvement. And yet the problem with most ventures like this is they start with a limited amount of time to be successful. It will take some time, possibly years, to establish a fan base of support for each city’s team.
The second obstacle is to make the series sponsor friendly, which is where the sport has suffered most.
The governing bodies of the sport at the international and national level have imposed strict guidelines limiting sponsorship of individual athletes in order to increase their own ability to attract sponsors.
True enough it is those sponsorship funds that provide the prize money and staging of events and, in some cases, funding of athletes, but it is a format that has done nothing to help grow the sport. A different, and I believe better, format would be to relax some of the restrictions on individual sponsorships for athletes, which would bring more sponsors into the sport.
There were many companies interested in sponsorship or endorsement relationships with me, but when many of them found out that they would not be allowed to have their brand placed on my uniform during competitions, my most visible and valuable moments, they were no longer interested.
It will be fascinating to see how the Super 8 concept goes when it starts for real next year, but at the very top level it’s not necessary to recreate the sport. It’s only necessary to focus on the most valuable assets of the sport and build on those.
My three-point plan would be to shorten the competitions and limit the events to only those that most people, in particular young people, are interested in. Focus on the pure competition between the athletes which is too often overlooked amid too much focus on records. And lastly, relax the sponsorship regulations to make the sport as a whole more sponsor friendly.
