I stumbled upon an article on the AIPS (Association Internationale de la Presse Sportive) classification of the top european sportsmen of the year. The article appeared in several greek newspapers because this time there were two greek athletes in the top 20. Giannis Antetokounmpo, aka "greek freak", the NBA superstar, was occupying the 9th position in a list where L. Hamilton, the Formula 1 pilot, was number one for the third time in his career.
The second greek athlete was S. Tsitsipas, the tennis player, who is currently the third best european player and who occupied the 20th position. Five track and field athletes were figuring in the list: S. Hassan 5th, K. Warholm 7th, D. Asher-Smith 12th, M. Lasitskene 14th and N. Kaul 19th. The choice of these five athletes is quite reasonable, although I would prefer to permute the positions of Lasitskene and Asher-Smith.
The article was giving the history of the previous awards, since 1958 when the european sportsman of the year award was introduced. I perused the list and I was shocked. From 1958 till 1978 12 track and field athletes were nominated sportsmen of the year (out of a total of 21). Among them we find V. Brumel (thrice 61-62-63) and I. Szewinska (twice 66 and 74). In the next 21 years the pattern is the same: 11 out of 21 winners come from athletics. Lord Sebastian figures twice (79 and 81) at the top of the list. And then with 00s the interest for athletics goes down the drain. In the 20 year period from 2000 to 2019 we have just half a nomination from the world of athletics: in 2005 Y. Isinbayeva shared the first place with R. Federer.
In fact the post-2000 period is dominated by Formula 1 and tennis. There are 10 (well, 9.5) winners from tennis and 8 from Formula 1. And one can already distinguish the shift of interest by looking at the 1979-1999 winners: there are 4 from tennis and 2 from Formula 1, although athletics is still well represented.
Analysing the list of the best european sportsmen of the year was sobering. It is clear that athletics is no more the king of sports as we have always (quite justifiably) believed. People are more interested in disciplines like tennis (which I, personally, find boring) or Formula 1 racing (which I adored in the era of Prost-Senna duels and which I came to hate during the reign of Schumacher). Is this shift of interest a marketing effect? I cannot tell. But, in any case, athletics has a serious problem. (Re-)Capturing the interest of the people at large looks like a nigh impossible task.
The second greek athlete was S. Tsitsipas, the tennis player, who is currently the third best european player and who occupied the 20th position. Five track and field athletes were figuring in the list: S. Hassan 5th, K. Warholm 7th, D. Asher-Smith 12th, M. Lasitskene 14th and N. Kaul 19th. The choice of these five athletes is quite reasonable, although I would prefer to permute the positions of Lasitskene and Asher-Smith.
The article was giving the history of the previous awards, since 1958 when the european sportsman of the year award was introduced. I perused the list and I was shocked. From 1958 till 1978 12 track and field athletes were nominated sportsmen of the year (out of a total of 21). Among them we find V. Brumel (thrice 61-62-63) and I. Szewinska (twice 66 and 74). In the next 21 years the pattern is the same: 11 out of 21 winners come from athletics. Lord Sebastian figures twice (79 and 81) at the top of the list. And then with 00s the interest for athletics goes down the drain. In the 20 year period from 2000 to 2019 we have just half a nomination from the world of athletics: in 2005 Y. Isinbayeva shared the first place with R. Federer.
In fact the post-2000 period is dominated by Formula 1 and tennis. There are 10 (well, 9.5) winners from tennis and 8 from Formula 1. And one can already distinguish the shift of interest by looking at the 1979-1999 winners: there are 4 from tennis and 2 from Formula 1, although athletics is still well represented.
Analysing the list of the best european sportsmen of the year was sobering. It is clear that athletics is no more the king of sports as we have always (quite justifiably) believed. People are more interested in disciplines like tennis (which I, personally, find boring) or Formula 1 racing (which I adored in the era of Prost-Senna duels and which I came to hate during the reign of Schumacher). Is this shift of interest a marketing effect? I cannot tell. But, in any case, athletics has a serious problem. (Re-)Capturing the interest of the people at large looks like a nigh impossible task.
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