Ed
You make some valid points here, but don't throw the baby out with the
bathwater.
Sydney OG women's marathon contained 11 of the fastest 14 women from the
previous two years. Of the missing three, two were accounted for by the
three per nation rule, the other was injured.
Has a Chicago, London, New York, Fukuoka, Osaka, Berlin, Rotterdam EVER
boasted such depth?
I agree that championships are flawed by the three per nation rule and the
fact that the OG doesn't offer prize money, but they still offer far more
depth and breadth of competition than any big-city race can ever hope to.
The men's race in Edmonton contained something like 25-30 sub-2.10 runners.
That's some joke, to use your word. Certainly the WC fields are not as
stellar as the OG but, again, which big-city race that does better than
that.
I love the big-city races and the spring and autumn ''seasons'' in the US
and Europe, but I don't believe the set-up performances there are a patch on
the championship races by any measure other thatn times run. But if I had
the choice between watching Haile Gebrselassie's 26:22 WR race and either of
his Olympic duels with Paul Tergat, I'd go the Olympics any day, too.
Len Johnson
MANY are peaking for a championship? I don't think so. The World
Championships marathon is a joke compared to the other events at the World
Championships. The Olympics are better but still probably only contain 60%
of the top competitors. The rest of the events contain 80-95% of the best
competitors. Winning the WC or OG for a marathoner should NOT be given the
same weight as winning the OG is for a track & field athlete. This year's
WC should carry no more weight than Chicago, Boston, London, etc.
Judging a marathoner is always tough because they have so few
competitions. But let's not delude ourselves by arbitrarily placing extra
value on the WC. It's simple - if we want a true world championships, we
have to come up with the money to make it worth their while. I understand
the argument about fairness to other events, but we should be clear about
the choices - give the marathoners more prize money (and at least 15-20
deep) or accept that you don't have a true world championship.
- - Ed Parrot
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