As athletics get into full swing at the Paris Olympics, it may come as a surprise to many of us that the sport is anything but…!

Track and field may be the world’s oldest championships from the Greek era, and in modern time popularized by the likes of Usain Bolt and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, but it has infrequent media coverage and small prize money compared to many other sports. 

And despite the public’s fascination with the fastest men and women, the strongest and highest jumpers on earth, many athletes largely rely on endorsement incomes from shoe and watch brands. These sums are meagre compared to the sport people in Formula 1, soccer, golf, tennis, and boxing, as the 1-billion plus audience only comes once every four years.  

For track and field, this may be about to change.

Financial Times reports that three new projects are taking off that would pull in frequent mass global audience without having to wait for the Olympics or the World Championships. 

The first is “Grand Slam Track” – a new global league shaped by legendary sprinter Michael Johnson that would showcase fastest men and women racing head-to-head annually. Prizes will total US$12.5 million.

The second is Athos – a new women-only track competition in New York. It is billing itself as “best of music and sports” with Megan Thee Stallion headlining the event in September. 

The third is World Athletics Ultimate Championship – defining itself to bring the best of the best – pitting world champions, Olympic champions, the Wanda Diamond League winners and the year’s best performing athletes against each other, to crown the ultimate champion. The total prize is US$10 million with gold medalists set to receive US$150,000. 

The organisers of these projects hope that the year-round events and airtimes will bring consistent global audience to the screens and lure sponsors and advertisers. 

There is also a shift from competing for world records to personal rivalries and personal storytelling to widen the interest. This is being pushed on with recently launched Netflix series, Sprint, featuring Fraser-Pryce, Shericka Jackson and Sha’Carri Richardson. 

With the Paris 2024 and its unique venues and impeccable organization already being declared a great success, the only high expectation not fulfilled so far is fewer numbers of new world records.

 As the “Greatest Show on Earth” winds down the Olympics, track and field may yet salvage any disappointment with more new world records. But the athletes will surely look beyond at their purses in the coming years as well.
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Source: https://www.ft.com/content/bea292f5-302a-444f-bb69-b2ca9cd682f4