PEERING INTO THE ABYSS
TIM HUTCHINGS ON THE SLOW DEATH OF THE WORLD CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS
World Cross 1984: Pat Porter leads from Steve Jones, winner Carlos Lopes and Tim Hutchings
PICTURES: MARK SHEARMAN
I AM LARGELY a believer in Seb Coe’s suitability for the position of IAAF president. He is one of the few people who could have weathered such a first year in office containing the horrific doping revelations which were intertwined with the alleged corruption of entire federations as well as the previous IAAF president, his son and one or two henchmen. But while I get the feeling that he is still having to spend too much time ‘fire-fighting’, there’s one area of our sport which is in desperate need of some firm handling and direction to pull it back together and I believe Seb has to lead on this. It needs project status and time is running out, but it’s a political hot potato and delicate issues need to be tackled.
I’m talking, of course, about the wonderful sport of cross-country running. It’s one of the oldest and most noble, pure, accessible, exhilarating and yet most physically demanding of disciplines. And yet it is a branch of our sport which has been disgracefully mismanaged by previous IAAF administrations to the point where it’s now perceived as almost irrelevant on the annual international calendar.
“CROSS COUNTRY IS A BRANCH OF OUR SPORT WHICH HAS BEEN DISGRACEFULLY MISMANAGED”
Added to this, when there’s been the opportunity for many years to piggy-back the sport on the astonishing numbers participating in road running – we’re talking millions remember – virtually nothing has been done. The IAAF as a body, missed the boat on road running and ironically, when they had control of cross country to some degree these last 20 years, they’ve let it slip from their grasp.
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