Athletics World Cup is a poorly-planned sideshow, and could backfire on the IAAF

THE initial announcement of the Athletics World Cup, set be hosted over the next two days the London Stadium, attracted a fair bit of excitement.

But clashes with the Football World Cup, the Wimbledon finals, Tour de France, and other track and field events have taken off quite a bit of the shine.

It may be a bit premature to call it a failure before the starter’s gun has fired but the event is already showing fundamental flaws.

The meeting has an elite bias with the so-called top eight nations in the world being invited to participate.

Yet there is no place for Kenya or Ethiopia, who finished second and seventh on the medal’s table at last year’s IAAF World Championships in London.

It may have something to do with the fact that the World Cup is limited to track events only up to the 1 500 metres.

The idea behind the format, which sees one entrant per country in every male and female track and field event has its foundation in IAAF president Lord Coe’s push for renewal in the sport.

Kenya and Ethiopia’s medals at the world championships came courtesy of middle-distance and distance events.

There seems to be a push at the IAAF to separate the distance events from the main programme, which is evident from the World Cup event.

The World Cup is also slapbang in the middle of the international athletics season, and athletes who are selected for the London event has to forego the earning potential from other events like the Rabat Diamond League.

The athletics bigwigs should consider looking at introducing window periods dedicated to international events where athletes do national duty.

Athletes should not be placed in a precarious position where they have to decide between their own livelihood and representing their country.

The Athletics World Cup should not have the status of an international event, and athletes should therefore not feel obligated to participate.

The meet’s incentive structure is based on team standings at the end of the two days, which means the prize money is shared among the athletes.

This is great for some who are working their way up the international rankings, but not for the elites who feature in the top-tier Diamond League and World Challenge meetings.

It also brings us to the athletes’ personal sponsorships. Because the athletes are competing in their national colours, there is also no incentive for their sponsors.

The meeting is supposed to pit the top eight athletes from the eight highest-ranking nations in the world.

Unfortunately for organisers, some of the big names have snubbed the event due to the sponsorship restrictions, the timing of the event or other reasons.

The blue-riband men’s 100m has been watered down with most of the top sprinters from their home nations unavailable.

American drawcards Noah Lyles, Ronnie Baker and Michael Rodgers will not be in action while some of the other nations are also fielding weakened teams.

South Africa will be without Caster Semenya, who was initially selected for the 800m and the 1 500m, while 3 000 and 5 000m specialist Dominique Scott-Efurd is also unavailable.

Injury has also played a part, with Akani Simbine and Clarence Munyai withdrawing due to niggles.

South Africa’s top three 100m sprinters this season – Simbine, Henricho Bruintjies and Emile Erasmus – will not feature.

But there is still some star quality with SA longjump world champion Luvo Manyonga returning to the scene of his greatest achievement.