A Disturbing Trend...

In the UK we have the same problem on a national level, we have gone from over 100 decathletes scoring 5000 points or more. In 2006 we had 40 decathletes over 5000 points. It is an alarming statistic.

It's like this everywhere - these are worldwide numbers. When I plotted US athletes at 6800 and 7500, the trend is downwards, but not as severe - meaning the US is doing only a little better than the world. I'll dig a little more and see if there's a country that is not following this trend. Do you have the results for the UK over 5000 point decathlons? Does anyone have or know of results (with or without individual marks) for women's heptathlons over the same time span?

Morning Guys, i was reading about this "problem"and in italy we have the same problem( also is we never had a very strong deca cultur , the problem, here , is the latino mind !!they love too much to stay in bar or to play soccer!)

i remenber when i had 20 y old , in the races there were as 30 athlets , now when i go in some race , where i run and i see my athlets , we re around 15 the 1th day and in the 2 th we finish in 8!!and no all arrive near 6000points !!

very very problem, for me is so sad to see that but that is really!

So what can be done?

Hey everybody


really a nasty problem you found there. definitely. And shows how much time we all spend(t) on the track, so we only find such facts if we're injured*gg hopefully you recover soon.


As by he facts, wellI guess it

s a big problem not only in multi-events but in track and field in general. When I started doing athletics, which wa sat the age of three and had my first competition at the age of five, you had to wait about an hour to be on deck next attempt for the long jump, when I finished my career, it was rather a question if you put you long pants back on or leave it because it would take too much time to put it off again for the next attempt in order to stay in time for the attempt clock.


But if you really want to see where it leads to, have a look to Israel, we happened to be in training camp there once and when we were there, national championships took place so we participated, funny thing because there were about 2 other athletes from Israel, and if we wouldn't have been there the nationals would have been blown off for the at-least-three-guys-rule. well actually the winner in the end scored 7000 points with a new national record...


but maybe it's just that were it leads to. mtv, playstation and whatever it is, may be reasons, lack of money and respect as well. remember Chris Huffins, when her returned from the Olympics 2000 where he was third place, a small article( well article would be exaggerated) was in the paper which said like: chriss huffins, assistant coach from wake forest was third in the olympics. It wasn't even mentioned in which sport it was. who would blame any young guy looking and craving for movement to choose something else than athletics? I loved that sport and I still do, just for the pain of it) any body doing it knos waht i mean, just the feeling to be as exhausted as not being able to get up and go back home after work out


heroes we are? or maybe gods of the stadium as we are told in Talence, but well even gods die, when there

s no one left to believe in them.


So we'll see what time brings.


Good luck to any of us

Interesting Discussion...


Seems to me that it is an economics problem as much as anything else. The incentives for world class performance are not nearly as high as other track and field disciplines, let alone as high as other sports. Take a 7000 point decathlete, which puts someone among the couple hundred best in the world. That athlete will make zero money competing, and perhaps a modest stipend coaching somewhere...


Compare that to the 200th best out fielder in the world. That person would be playing baseball professionally, probably in the Majors, or at least at AAA level, and making a very comfortable living. Or the 200th best golfer; Or the 200th best soccer player. You name it.


Because of this, much of the best talent is choosing other events, or other sports.


One thing that seems to me that could work well is creating a sort of "farm team" system, where Decathletes join teams. Each team has various levels from Majors, down to Minors, and including 2-3 Amateur levels. These teams would compete for points and prizes, not just in decathlon competitions, but also certain open meets with any individual decathlon event counting for points. Each athlete gets a set # of eligible events, perhaps 3 counting Decathlons, and up to 20 counting individual events. This way, frequent competition is promoted, and rewarded.


Teams with the highest total points win.


Competition could be kept track of virtually, with web standings, and the various teams needn't live near each other or even compete together, though it would be fun it they did...


There would need to be a handful of sponsors, and the money would have to be significant. At the prep school and amateur level, prizes could come in form of University Scholarships. (I'm sure a number of Universities would be willing to sponsor partial scholarships).


Levels are set up as follows with 5 members per team (Teams self-organize):


Majors: 7,250+ PR's to join the team

Minors: 6,000-7249 PR's to join the team

Universities: Anyone enrolled in University

Amateur:

Great suggestions – this would be wonderful for the sport. There would be so many athletes, including me, that would be thrilled to participate in this. You’d see a lot more men leaving college with something to look forward to.


Sponsors invest when they know they will get a return. But the turnouts to track meets, particularly multi-events, is low. TV ratings for non-Olympic meets is probably worse.


Sponsors need to not just put money into existing meets, they need to work with the athletes and fans to widen the audience. If NASCAR can grow like they have and not change the sport (lapping a track), but change the marketing, image, and distribution, sponsors can do the same for track and particularly the decathlon. Imagine a TV show that has one decathlete compete against ten professional athletes from ten other sports (cornerback in the 100m, soccer midfielder in the 1500, “worlds strongest man” in the shot put, gymnast in the pole vault, MLB pitcher in the javelin etc.) and the competition is made into a 1-hour main event on TV. People would either think the decathlete has no chance or it is rigged, but it would be neither, and he would win. It seems like blasphemy, but it would create a wide audience instantly.


Track sponsors should take a chance and not just broadcast a meet, but work with us to make the sport a better product. If people aren’t ready to see track as a product, funding, and the quality and quantity of athletes will continue to dwindle.