Track and Field

As a pro track athlete in the US it is almost 3 or 4 times harder than most other sports here. We don’t get as much publicity and hype as sports such as basketball, football, or baseball so you really cannot compare even Usain Bolt (currently the most publicized T&F athlete) of our sport to a star in another “traditional American sport”. The bottom line is that Americans are not that interested in watching a 2 hour track meet on TV where people run endlessly around an oval. Most people, I would say, are ignorant of a majority of the track and field events and don’t find it all that exciting. However, as all track athletes know every 4 years the US get that Olympic fever and decide to strongly support the “long winded” sport. I suppose that some Americans get their fill of Track excitement in Olympic years and that it lasts a whopping 4 years until the next go round, but maybe there's hope!

The truth is that most people like watching track races and some specific athletes, but there just isn’t enough media on the sport for fans to stay in the fast lane. There are only a handful of meets shown on TV here in the US, and these meets you have to search for in order to find. You don’t normally see track meets like the USA Visa Campionship Series heavily advertised on sports centerfor like other sports. In fact, I can only recall one short appearance from a track highlight on the ESPN top 10 list: Maurice Green when he creatively celebrated his 100m win by extinguishing his spikes out in California. I feel like people are not really connecting with track athletes for some reason. Perhaps they don’t know enough about the athletes, our fun-loving personalities, or demanding schedules, and feel like they can’t relate. Maybe there aren't enough celebrations and tauntings to make it interesting, or perhaps not enough physical contact or close calls. We do have the occasional photo finishes that can boost fire from those adrenal glands!! Well…maybe not, but that explosive competitive spirit in other sports is in every race as runners surpass complete physical exhaustion and their breaking points to win races and shatter records.

Those seasonal fans who would actually consider watching a track meet just don’t know when or where to check out information on upcoming meets. Others think that the only track event that there is, is the Olympics. I can’t tell you how many people think that track athletes train meticulously throughout four years to have one shot at a chance for the Olympics. This is so far from the truth. Track has seasons just like any other sport. Depending on your event you may have many seasons verses a primary one and done. For example runners can choose to compete in cross country (yes even as pros, lol), Indoor track, and outdoor track. Indoor season for professional athletes tends to start mid January and finish up in early March. Outdoor season typically starts in late March, and finishes in September with a few specialized meets in October. Pro athletes compete at college meets, various meets around the country allowing unattached athlete participation, and professional invitation meets. The US invite meets are sponsored and feature some of the most known track athletes. You can usually find a meet and/or media schedule for the US meets on www.usatf.org. With the lack of fan support US athletes are forced to travel the world for meets due to the limited number of meets here. This is why you may have heard about track athletes flying to Europe, S. America, Asia, or the Caribbean to compete. In Europe, downer sports in the US such as Track and soccer, offer a huge fan base and normally house 50,000+ fans at each meet. It’s no surprise that runners would travel overseas to compete since the fans are there, and they bring the money in.

Interested in learning more about the sport, or following up on meets, athletes, and other track events see these additional websites: www.trackandfieldnews.com, www.iaaf.org, and www.dystatelite.com (for high schoolers)
This is the life of a track athlete.