The world governing body believes it could help “develop the virtual running scene”.
World Athletics discusses the World Track Championships.
The world governing body wants to “develop the virtual running scene” in an effort to expand the sport into new markets.
If the concept comes to fruition, World Athletics, which is already close to a deal with a technology partner for it, would follow the likes of rowing and cycling in hosting a world championship using gym equipment.
The World Indoor Rowing Championships, which began in 2018, sees athletes in various disciplines compete against each other in rowing machines.
In cycling, you have the Esports World Championships, where competitors ride bikes indoors on turbo trainers via a virtual platform.
Running on a treadmill (Getty)
“There are millions of people in the world who just go to the gym and run on the treadmill.” World Athletics CEO John Ridgeon told The Daily Mail.
“We have to create products for those people. We should have a world track championship. You’re an athlete if you run 30 minutes on the track or win an Olympic gold medal in the 100m. That’s athletics.”
World Athletics’ decision to back the global track competition shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, given the recent surge in popularity in the world of fitness and running.
For example, Hyrox, a fitness competition that combines a five-mile run and eight functional training stations, has seen a 1,000% increase in participation over the past five years.
London Marathon (Getty)
As for the popularity of running, the following year the London Marathon saw a world record 840,318 people apply for a public vote to take part in the event.
That was up from 578,304 entries in this year’s edition, an increase of 45.3% in just twelve months.
When asked about the track and field championships, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe added: “You can watch this space, but at the end of the day, why not? We need to embrace and we need to take our sport to where the people are. It is crucial.
“Whether it’s virtual, whether it’s Esports, whether it’s through the track, those are all things we really want to explore.”
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