by Larry Eder
This piece by Larry Eder of RunBlogRun provides 4 lessons from the 2022 USATF Outdoor Championships, held in Eugene, Oregon, June 23-26, 2022.
Here are the four lessons essential to appreciating the USATF Outdoor Champs in Eugene, Oregon.
- Performances are top-notch at US Outdoor Champs when a World Champs or Olympics is on the line. We must always give the athletes something to shoot for, something to attain. In these champs it was the World Champs, and the athletes performed incredibly well.
- USATF and Tracktown have to stop assuming that if they hold an event at Hayward Field, the fans will come. At Prefontaine, it was lowed crowd in 35 years. At USATF Outdoors, it was embarrassing. At NCAA, it was strong, and at World Champs, it was all of the converted.
- Hayward Field is important, but American track fans have Hayward Field fatigue. Want to kill our sport? Put all of the major events in Oregon. Mt.SAC, Des Moines, New York, and perhaps Chicago all need to host events.
- Most fans do not know what Peacock is! NBC continues to not get sports fans. Every other sport promotes its coverage and events. I asked fans in Hayward about Peacock, and 80 percent did not know that they could watch it on their phones until I showed them. What gives NBC?
