World Athletics is rebranding itself to bring athletes and fans closer than ever before. The governing body led by President Sebastian Coe and its 214-member federations released an official statement outlining the four-year business strategy called Pioneering Change. This will be built on five core pillars with the newest inclusion of the fifth segment called the sport and event innovation. But there’s more than what meets the eye. 

The innovations strategy has new events to test first thing on the list. Events such steeplechase mile, mixed 4×100m relay, and a take-off zone for the long jump and triple jump will be likely introduced after appropriate trials are done. But here’s the catch. Back in February, the World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon made a statement that entailed doing away with foul jumps from the long jump event. The logic behind the organization’s proposal was said to be,

“At the World Championships in Budapest last summer, a third of all the jumps were no-jumps, athletes stepping over the front of the take-off board.” In other words, jumps would be measured from an athlete’s take-off to landing position. Should this be understood as an attempt to keep the apathetic sponsors hooked for more or the fans entertained, time will tell but this was not met with open arms by the athletes.

In fact, shortly after winning the world indoor title on March 2, Greek long jumper Miltiadis Tentoglou, who considered the run-up followed by accurately hitting the board to be the most challenging part of the long jump event, reacted to the news and threatened to quit. He elaborated, “The jump itself is easy. The hard part is the run-up. So if they want to remove this, the long jump would be the easiest event. If that happens, I will not do long jump anymore.” 

Whether they are still going ahead with their scheduled trial… Well, yes. But not without a pinch of salt. Here’s what World Athletics released as a statement, considering how the discourse of rule change has led to such a kind of unsettlement among the athletes, “All new initiatives will be robustly tested and consulted… If they don’t test well, they will not be introduced.”

Other innovations include improved efficiency of measurements and technology-powered protocols to decide tie-breakers in jumps. In light of how the governing body wants to repurpose to be an athlete-first organization wherein fans will have more access to the stars of the events themselves through social media, new meetings/events, and other such developments, President Seb Coe shared, “Innovation across all facets of the sport will help to future-proof athletics and elevate the breadth and talent of our athletes…

“More events that attract more fans and broadcasters mean more money for our athletes, for our federations and more generally for our sport. This is the focus of our Pioneering Change four-year strategy (2024-2027).”

Back in April, hot on the heels was World Athletics to become the first international governing body to present a generous $50,000 gift for each gold medalist at the Paris Olympics. Despite totaling a prize pool of $2.4 million prize money and the new innovation plans, the ideas received mixed reactions from fans. 

Game-changer or gimmick? Coe’s bold move faces fan scrutiny

Expressing disappointment over World Athletics’ proposal of introducing a mixed 4x100m relay, one user commented, “No one asked for this.” This also highlighted several fans’ perspectives regarding the perceived necessity of the new discipline.

Another X user shared their view on World Athletics’ consideration of introducing the steeplechase mile. They wrote, “The steeplechase mile will change the sport for good”. 

A fan replied to the post enquiring why the hammer throw isn’t included as a discipline in the Diamond League, despite efforts to innovate the sport. With disappointment and frustration, they added, “At what point will the hammer be included as a diamond league discipline? There’s a lot of time, energy, & money spent trying to innovate the sport (when most people are against many of the changes) and we can’t even get basic inclusion for the only field event that is excluded”.

Criticizing World Athletics, one user added an opinion, “WA again changing the things that don’t need changing and not changing the things they should be”. Their words suggested their opinion regarding World Athletics focusing on unnecessary changes like the mixed relay while neglecting more pressing issues.

Will such a groundbreaking event promise to add a fresh and exhilarating dimension to competitions worldwide? What are your thoughts on the ideas shared by World Athletics? Share with us in the comment section below.