With the Tokyo Olympics being moved to next year, it naturally meant that the 2021 Track & Field World Championships would also move back a year. As a result, once we get through all this, we'll end up with a global outdoor championship in five consecutive years. After this summer, there won't be another year without a major outdoor meet for Americans until 2026, which understandably has American track & field fans excited heading into the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Ordinarily, there's an "off" year in the Olympic cycle. The World Championships are normally held in odd years, leaving the even year between Olympics without a championship meet in which Americans participate. This has long frustrated a number of American track & field fans who think this schedule change is an opportunity for World Athletics to do something they've wanted for a while...have a World Championships in all three non-Olympic years.
World Athletics President Seb Coe does see this as an opportunity. He isn't exactly opposed to the sport being center stage five years in a row, either. But don't expect it to become more than a one-time thing. Coe is opposed to it. And he should be. Because it's a bad idea!
I love track & field as much as anybody. I'd love to see an outdoor World Championships every year. But I understand why there aren't. Because it would be overkill. And it would water down the competition at the World Championships.
If the World Championships were every year, stars would inevitably take at least one edition off per cycle. Many of them build their training and competition cycles around having that off year. Some take the year off entirely, while others may take advantage of the opportunity to run different events or have a lighter competition load. Still others see that as their chance to go after records.
And in a sport with appearance fees and performance bonuses, that's a chance to make a good amount of money without having to worry about flying to stifling Des Moines in the middle of July for Nationals! Yes, that would give all of the top Americans a reason to actually show up at Nationals, but that's only a "problem" once every four years, so I don't really have much of an issue with it.
Then there's the matter of finding a host. The World Championships are an expensive undertaking. With nearly 2,000 athletes from more than 200 countries, it's the second-largest single-sport World Championships, behind only aquatics (which combines swimming, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming). So, you need to find a country with a big enough stadium and enough hotel rooms that willing to pony up those massive costs every year. And if you're trying to grow the sport globally (which Coe is), you can't just plant them down in Europe every time.
Let's not forget, either, that the outdoor World Championships aren't the only championship event staged by World Athletics. Not even close. All of them are biennial with staggered schedules. World Outdoors, World Relays and World Cross Country are in the odd years. World Indoors and World Juniors (which may not seem like it, but is a major competition) are in the even years, with the Olympics every fourth year in even years.
There's no way they'd have the resources to properly plan and promote each of these championships if they weren't all on an every-other-year cycle. And they're all equally important to World Athletics. So why should World Outdoors become an annual event but not any of the others? And if they were to do that, the other events wouldn't just lose their luster. They might not survive period.
This next point is an important one that some American fans fail to (or choose not to) understand. More countries compete in track & field than just the United States! And the U.S. is the only one that has an "off" year! Everybody else does have a major competition every outdoor season. So they're not clamoring for the World Championships to be more frequent than they already are.
It was the same thing when they were first discussing potential dates for moving the Olympics and a number of people (all American) suggested 2022. The biggest reason why that wouldn't have worked is the same reason why the rescheduled 2022 Worlds are in mid-July: the Commonwealth Games. The Commonwealth Games are a huge competition for those nations, many of which are track & field powers. So, the Commonwealth Games are rightfully protective of their track & field program and making sure the best athletes from those nations participate.
Likewise, the European Championships are staggered so that they're opposite Worlds. European Indoors are in odd years, European Outdoors are in even years. Naturally, the top Europeans focus on the Olympics in Olympic years. In the non-Olympic even year? They go all in on Euros, and the competition is sick! And, let's not forget, Europe is the hub of the sport. But I doubt that even European broadcasters would be keen on having three major track & field championships--Euros, World Juniors, Worlds (plus the Commonwealth Games for Great Britain)--in the World Cup year.
TV is another thing that has to be taken into consideration. How much is too much? You don't want to oversaturate the market, and three major championships in the same summer would do just that. It's also highly unlikely that the top athletes would actually compete in all three, either. Especially since there would still be Diamond League and Continental Tour events, which is where they make their money.
So, while having a major international championships every year may sound great in theory, it would be too hard to execute. Too many logistics and too many other factors to consider. You'd also run the risk of people losing interest if the World Championships were annual except for Olympic years. I'm talking both athletes and fans. It would become just another meet on the calendar, not the major event it is. Not to mention the fact that, outside of some American fans, nobody really wants it.
Track & field is a niche sport in America. As much as people may want that to change, it seems unlikely. And, while an annual international meet may help the sport's growth, it could have the opposite effect, too. The World Championships are a big deal. They should be treated as such. They should feel exclusive. But if they were to become annual, they wouldn't feel as exclusive.
Will I enjoy the five straight years of world-class summer outdoor track meets featuring American athletes? Of course! (I'm actually somewhat happy about the delay for the Oregon Worlds, which gives me another year to save up.) But it's the exception. There's no reason for it to become the norm.
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