Whatever the specific solutions, athletics needs to be marketed better.
Most people are unaware when events are happening outside of major championships. I had one amateur marathon runner tell me on Instagram that he’d love to watch more athletics, but never knows when it’s on.
We need to be telling the stories of our top athletes all year round. Showcasing all the events they compete in, rather than just once every four years. That’s what Formula 1: Drive to Survive has done. Why can’t athletics do something like it?
What really goes on in the GB squad? How do they react to their contract being cut? How do they deal with injuries? How do they balance becoming a mum and still keeping their identity as an athlete? How does drug testing work? That is stuff that is rarely seen but I believe it’s the only way we can engage the next generation of viewers.
It doesn’t even have to be a full-scale production. The governing bodies could hire a few videographers to follow some of the top athletes and upload weekly videos to social media. It would help people to see the human behind the athlete.
Live TV coverage is important, too. If you don’t show it, people can’t see it. I just don’t believe there isn’t enough time, or an appetite, for live sport on mainstream channels.
BBC Sport showed the British Championships on the Red Button and online – but for me it should be on a main network channel as well. It also needs to be promoted better, be easier to find, and we need the competition timetable, start lists and results.
Even as an athletics nut, I struggle to find all that online, so can you imagine how difficult it is for Joe Bloggs?
