World 1,500 metres champion Josh Kerr concedes athletics’ entertainment value has “fallen behind” other sports.
The 26-year-old Scottish athlete stunned overwhelming favourite Jakob Ingebrigtsen at August’s World Championships and now has his sights set on upgrading his Tokyo 2020 bronze at this summer’s Olympics in Paris.
Many remain concerned that athletics is falling out of favour with the British public, a predicament exacerbated by broadcast and sponsorship challenges and backed by evidence suggesting younger audiences are looking elsewhere.
Kerr told the PA news agency: “I would say we are doing what we can in terms of entertainment from an athlete’s perspective. We’re trying to create more rivalries. We’re trying to create more storylines, which I think we are doing better at, but we are a little bit behind other sports.
“A lot of it is about TV deals but I don’t really have much say or much knowledge of what’s going on behind the scenes.
“If I’m allowed to be in any of those meetings maybe I can have more of a say but right now I’m going to keep trying to make entertaining races and hopefully get good build-up and make people watch.
“That’s the best I can do right now. I’m not sitting here complaining about the viewership of our sport. I think sometimes you get what you deserve in terms of viewership, and if our sport isn’t exciting enough maybe some things need to change.”
UK Athletics (UKA) lost Muller, their title sponsor, in 2022 and failed to renegotiate a reported £3million-a-year broadcast deal with the BBC when it expired in 2020.
UKA has since secured shorter, multi-platform deals with the broadcaster, including its 2023 major events series, while the BBC in 2021 extended its agreement with World Athletics for five more world championships and also holds the rights to the Paris Olympics and Diamond League through 2024.
Some competitions have been shown live on BBC TV, but others have featured only on iPlayer, Red Button or the BBC’s website and app, sparking fears that a lack of visibility on flagship channels will contribute to a decline in athletics’ relevance – which some numbers suggest is a genuine concern.
The 2023 EY Sports Engagement Index, which considers both participation and how Britons engage with sports live, on TV and online, revealed that while athletics still cracked the overall UK top-20, placing 15th, it did not feature in the top-20 for the coveted Gen Z (18-24) demographic, who prefer basketball, boxing, MMA, and even badminton – although “running” fared better.
Kerr, who tries to treat the Olympics as “a regular day at the office” has embraced his growing celebrity largely because it allows him to give young athletes “access to the information that’s needed for them to achieve their goals and dreams”.
His own ambitions are clear.
Ingebrigtsen walked away with gold in Tokyo, but the Norwegian was beaten by Britons in back-to-back world 1,500m championships, Kerr succeeding compatriot Jake Wightman, who sat out 2023 with a foot injury but is set to kick-start his comeback at February’s Maurie Plant Meet in Melbourne.
A potential Stade de France Olympic final featuring the three most recent world champions feels poised to become precisely the sort of must-watch TV storyline Kerr and his rivals are trying to write.
He added: “I am going to be in a position to be available for that medal.
“Everything changes every day. I might not be in this sport tomorrow. No one knows what is going to happen, so that’s my big goal. If someone says that’s cocky, that’s completely fine with me.
“They evidently don’t know me, and they don’t know what it takes to be an Olympic champion. That’s what I set in my brain. That’s the goal. Go out and get it, and if you can’t it’s OK.”
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Seville sizzles with personal best 19.96s-clocking at Atlanta City Games
With the Olympic Games now approximately 11 weeks away, Jamaica's Oblique Seville indicated his readiness for the global multi-sport showpiece, as he clocked an impressive personal best 19.96 seconds to win the men’s 200m at the Adidas Atlanta City Games at Piedmont Park, on Saturday.
Seville, running from lane four, in the four-athlete field, blew away the competition to win in a negative 1.1 metres per second wind reading, and took apart his previous best of 20.17s.
Such a performance from Seville certainly laid down a marker for what is to come at the Racers Grand Prix and National Trials in the coming months, as he targets a medal or two at this summer’s Paris Olympic Games.
The 23-year-old won ahead of Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards, who clocked a season’s best 20.04s, while American Elija Goodwin (20.47s) and Jamaica’s 400m World champion Antonio Watson (20.99s), completed the field.
There were no such fortunes for the Caribbean ladies in the women’s 200m, as Junelle Bromfield (23.44s) of Jamaica, and Guyana’s Aliyah Abrams (23.47s) were fourth and fifth respectively. The event was swept by Americans Lynna Irby-Jackson (22.67s), Kennedy Blackmon (22.96s) and Lauren Williams-Jones (23.18s).
The same was true for Jamaica’s Demisha Roswell (12.98s) and Yanique Thompson (13.13s), who placed fourth and fifth respectively in the women’s 100m hurdles. American Kendra Harrison (12.67s) finished tops ahead of Nigeria’s World record holder Tobi Amusan (12.73s) and Great Britain’s Cindy Sember (12.86s).
Carey McLeod placed third in the men's long jump.
America’s World 110m hurdles champion Grant Holloway topped the event in a World leading 13.07s, running in a slight headwind. Robert Dunning (13.40s) and Michael Dickson (13.50s) were second and third, also with season’s best marks.
The much-anticipated men’s 150m was expectedly won by American World sprint double champion Noah Lyles, who stopped the clock in 14.41s. Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes (14.66s) and Dominican Republic’s Alexander Ogando (14.86s) were second and third, while Jamaican Tyquendo Tracey (15.90s) was fifth.
In the men’s long jump, Jamaica’s Carey McLeod continued his good early season form with a third-place finish, after a best leap of 7.92m. The event was won by Italy’s Mattia Furlani, who cut the sand at 8.06m, while American Damarcus Simpson was second with a season’s best leap of 7.94m. Bahamian Laquan Nairn (7.70m) was fifth.
Jamaica’s Chanice Porter, with a season’s best 6.58m, and Tissanna Hickling (6.50m), were fifth and sixth in the women’s long jump, won by American Tara Davis-Woodhall, who cut the sand at 7.17m. Another American Quanesha Burks (6.89m) and Nigeria’s Ese Brume (6.87m) were second and third respectively.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s Akani Simbine indicated that he was still a part of the conversation for in the men’s sprints, as he topped the 100m with a World Leading 9.90s in a slight 0.4 metres per second headwind. Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala (10.00s) and American Kendal Williams (10.05s) were the runners-up.
American Aleia Hobbs won the women’s 100m in a season’s best 10.88s in a slight tailwind of 0.5 m/s. Her compatriots Tamar Clark (10.98s) and Mikiah Brisco (11.00s), also clocked season’s best for second and third.
Grenadian Olympians Kirani James, Lindon Victor set to compete on different continents this weekend
As they continue sharpen their skills ahead this summer’s Olympics Games in Paris, France, Grenadian Olympians Kirani James and Lindon Victor are set to compete at separate meets on different continents this weekend.
James, the 2012 Olympic champion and three-time medalist, has been confirmed for the LA Grand Prix on Saturday, May 18, at the Drake Stadium in Los Angeles, California. This will be his second race of the season having opened at the USATF Bermuda Grand Prix on April 28.
Meanwhile, Victor, a decathlete, will take part in the Hypo Meeting at the Mosle Stadium in Gotzis, Austria, from Saturday, May 18 to Sunday, May 19.
The Hypo Meeting is a World-Athletics organized combined events gold level meet that features the world’s top heptathletes and decathletes in two days of grueling competition.
Victor, a two-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist and the holder of several national records for Grenada has his sights set on the 2024 Paris Olympics where he will make his third Olympic appearance for the Spice Island.
Following competition in Austria, Victor will fly home to Grenada where he will contest the long jump and the 100m at the Grenada Invitational on June 6.
Olympic hopeful Tamarri Lindo faces deportation to Jamaica amidst Olympic dreams
Tamarri Lindo, a standout track athlete from York University in Canada, finds himself grappling with the looming threat of deportation just as his Olympic aspirations reach a critical juncture. Despite his impressive athletic achievements, including a recent bronze medal in the 60-metre hurdles for York University at the national collegiate championships, Lindo's dreams of representing Canada at the upcoming Olympics are in peril.
Tamarri's journey to Canada began in 2019 when he and his family fled Jamaica due to alleged threats and violence linked to his father George Lindo's political activism against gang influence in support of the opposition party. Tamarri, who has excelled both academically and athletically, earned a Ca.$2,500 scholarship after catching the eye of scouts while in high school.
"My goal was to make the 2024 Paris Olympics. But now, it feels like everything is being taken away," Lindo lamented in an emotional interview with CTV National News. "I feel like I could have a mental health breakdown. My heart is sinking."
Despite providing evidence of threats and violence faced in Jamaica, the Lindo family's asylum claims have been denied multiple times by Canadian immigration officials. The most recent pre-removal risk assessment, conducted in March 2023, upheld previous decisions, prompting the Canada Border Services Agency to issue a deportation order scheduled for next week.
Immigration lawyer Aidan Simardone, advocating for the Lindo family, has filed for a judicial review as their final recourse to remain in Canada. He condemned the decision, highlighting the potential danger awaiting the Lindos if forced to return to Jamaica.
"The fact that they are doing this is unconscionable," Simardone asserted. "It goes against our Canadian values of providing people their fair opportunities and protection to those in danger in other countries."
For Tamarri, who hoped his athletic achievements would bolster his family's case for residency, the uncertainty looms heavily. As he faces the imminent threat of deportation, he remains hopeful for a successful appeal while continuing to train and pursue his athletic goals amidst the uncertainty that surrounds his family's future in Canada.
As the legal battle unfolds, supporters have rallied behind the Lindo family, advocating for a reconsideration of their case and hoping for a resolution that allows them to remain in Canada and for Tamarri to pursue his Olympic dreams.
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