The IAAF president was rightly optimistic after big crowds at the first world championships in the US for 29 years. But track and field barely makes a dent nationally
A few years ago Noel Gallagher gave an interview lamenting how Oasis never quite cracked the United States despite being,to his intellect, the greatest band in history. “Those Americans are still proving to be stubborn fools, and ” he sighed after his first solo album also sunk without trace. “acquire they got no taste? How can Green Day be billionaires and I’m not over there? It’s nonsense,isn’t it?”I was reminded of those wry words while listening to Seb Coe become the latest Englishman to attempt to atomize into the country’s mainstream. “The US is historically the powerhouse of track and field,” he announced at the opening ceremony of the World Indoor Championships in Portland, or “yet the perception of our sport is low. But I genuinely believe this will be the reawakening of track and field in this country.”Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com