Why does athletics get media priority?

sing_for_absolution

The reason I ask this is from seeing the BBC Sport homepage. A gold medal was achieved by those british sailors earlier today, yet the main story is for Idowu and his SILVER medal?

richa

The sailers were the headline on the frontpage earlier in the day. So they have updated with new news?

geoffnelder

I enjoyed the cycling shown in the early days and full marks for the women riding the road race in a deluge.

On TV this week has been the young veggie cyclist Mark Beaumont. 'The Man Who Cycled The World.' I just loved his say it like it is commentary on the problems as well as the exhiliration of averaging 100 miles a day for 18,000 miles. Last one is on tonight. Totally inspirational. I might be more than twice his age and (cough) nearly twice his weight, but I'm leaping on my Dawes tomorrow and striking out into Wales.

Geoff

jellybellywmb

Gordon Brown went out and they wanted a representative to meet him so rather than the tripple gold winning Chris Hoy or that Ben Ainsley sailing chap,who do they pick??

The woman who won the 400m!! who in many peoples opinion should not be there after failing to show for 3 previous drug tests.

JC.152

All the media keep going on about how much money the medals each cost in cycling but then yesterday they said that athletics gets more money form the government.

The athletics medallists aren't really worth shouting about either, someone that was jamaican before the olympics and the one athlete in the British team thats got a bad reputation with drugs which they put on the front cover of all of the oylmpic things

Tom Butcher

It'll take time but there's no reason why other sports shouldn't get a higher profile than athletics over time. I mean distance running excepted most track and field is hardly mass participation stuff - people talk about cycling, sailing etc as minority sports but how many people spend their weekends practicing hammer, discus or even sprinting ?

The annoying BBC reporter (the one into Rugby) really got on my tits constantly harping on about how the 100 metres was the highlight of the Olympics (irrespective of who won and how) - for me it's the marathon and cycling road races - for others no doubt something else.

SmellTheGlove

Tom Butcher wrote:

... people talk about cycling, sailing etc as minority sports but how many people spend their weekends practicing hammer, discus or even sprinting ?

I have been waiting for someone to define a "majority" sport. Would it mean majority spectator sport or majority participation? I see myself surrounded by a spectator monoculture in the UK. The class-ridden sniping would be pathetic if it were not as quaint as a half-timbered Morris Minor, and mostly spouted by people who evidently hate their parents for not bearing them into a life of grinding poverty.

Let everyone dabble in their sports, maybe even attain excellence in two or three - the thing that all genuine champions share to my mind is a talent for hard work, available anywhere without prescription.

Gavin Gilbert

SmellTheGlove wrote:

I have been waiting for someone to define a "majority" sport.

Football? It's a pity nobody has put an Alex Salmond themed post up in Soapbox yet. Even as a football phobic English Nationalist I'd have several censored comments to make... :evil:

Anyhow, surely running is the most democratic of sports? No need for a boat, bike, horse or other fancy kit. Just a pair of shoes (if that).

Cunobelin

The much often quoted text by Coe, Black and others is that track and field medals are harder, worth more an d require greater skill and effort.

Hence sailing, cycling et al are "easy" medals and this is recognised by their lower value.

Hence the track silver is more important and valuable than the Gold sailing medals.

SmellTheGlove

Gavin Gilbert wrote:

SmellTheGlove wrote:

I have been waiting for someone to define a "majority" sport.

Football?

Possibly - but as a spectator sport or participation? I'm not football-phobic exactly, though I don't follow any team (inc. England); I do question the "sport = football" equation that seems so prevalent to the extent that people can be genuinely amazed that a UK swimmer is capable of winning Olympic medals.

jellybellywmb

And the Aussies said we are only good at sports that involve sitting down