Cross country should be added in 2024

Star wrote:

kirkandorules wrote:

100%

For the millionth time, all Winter Olympic sports require ice or snow to be incorporated in the event.

XC does not require ice or snow in order for it to happen.

It has to be a summer sport.

Nix the track 10,000 and have a 12K XC event.

For the million and oneth time- the Olympic Charter can he changed to accommodate it.

1. It's a winter sport every where but in the US

2. The winter Olympics are dying a slow, agonizing death. Much of the world doesn't even know what some of those sledding sports are. Cross-country can bring in viewers from all over the world.

I know it’s not eligible for winter sports, but that Boston WXC race was awesome. I’ll also add that once they change the charter, it opens a can of worms. You know this. That’s how we got climbing, skateboarding and dressage in the Olympics.

Dressage has been an Olympic sport since 1912. I appreciate it makes letsrunners cry, but it's not really the same as climbing or skateboarding.

Cross Country isn't in Olympics because they're trying to make the Olympics attractive for the viewer.

The World Cross is barely on the TV and isn't even every year anymore because it became such a boring event.

Why would they add events that have zero interest from the public?

There will be no Cross Country in the Olympics for you. That’s the bottom line brother. Because the IOC said so.

Cross-country at Summer Olympics is an excellent idea. A poster said elite 5000m & 10000m runners would not participate. They sure will if 5000m & 10000m are dropped, 3000m added and off-site XC is added. Real XC with long grass, hay bales on course and water on course. Much better tv than 5000m & 10000m. Now, tune in to 5000m with 900m to go and tune into 10000m with 1100m to go, a viewer hasn't missed much. Media can package and sell XC on tv far easier than 5000m & 10000m.

T&F utility man (200-3000)m wrote:

Cross-country at Summer Olympics is an excellent idea. A poster said elite 5000m & 10000m runners would not participate. They sure will if 5000m & 10000m are dropped, 3000m added and off-site XC is added. Real XC with long grass, hay bales on course and water on course. Much better tv than 5000m & 10000m. Now, tune in to 5000m with 900m to go and tune into 10000m with 1100m to go, a viewer hasn't missed much. Media can package and sell XC on tv far easier than 5000m & 10000m.

From your handle it seems you raced shorter distance and have an "F the distances I never ran on the track" perspective?

If your steeplechase like XC is the only race available for 5/10 runners, it will be the end of distance running in the Olympics, besides the marathon.

Only if the course is crazy, that would make it fun to watch. Steeple barriers, muddy hills to climb, forest sections…

Star wrote:

For the millionth time, all Winter Olympic sports require ice or snow to be incorporated in the event.

XC does not require ice or snow in order for it to happen.

Cross country skiing doesn't require snow, I've seen someone in a park on skis on wheels.

Yes, needs to add in elements like the old NXN courses where they had hay bales and stuff to jump over along with a ton of hills. Would be great to have streams and fences like an old time original steeplechase.

Bottom line it has to differentiate itself enough from the 5k/10k on the track and marathon on the road. Otherwise it’s 5 2k loops on a flat golf course and might as well run it on the track at that point. At the same time it also needs to keep from turning into CrossFit/Tough Mudder type of obstacle course

It would be an excellent event, 8k would be perfect. The people talking 12k would just end up being a paced event and likely boring with running a 4k loop 3 times.

Not sure a 5 man team event would make it great, lots of countries lack depth to keep up with the African teams

I was a middle distance guy. A poster asked me about my handle awhile back. I started as a 200m & 400m guy. I did participate in XC, high school & college, so I am not uniformed about XC and all events, T&F. I actually wanted to do throws, that's a long story.

I have read posts from you stating you were a 5000m & 10000m guy in college. That is fine.

I believe you would agree, not for let'srun but for gals & guys who dine at Applebee's or patrons of dive bars and sport bars, 5000m & 10000m are awful television. Did you ever race XC on a true XC course? I did. I loved it even though I didn't race XC well on long grass, hay bales and water. Gals & guys falling all the time. It would be great tv. I know you would watch! Wouldn't you rather have seen Rod Dixon in 1500m in 1976 Olympics? Wouldn't you have rather seen Eamonn Coghlan and Thomas Wessinghage in 1500m, 1983 W.C? We all wonder today how well Mohammed Farah would have done, 1500m at Olympics & W.C? Miruts Yifter in 1500m or 3000m would have been entertaining. 1976, it would have been great tv, I am sure you would agree, Frank Shorter versus a fresh Lasse Viren in Marathon. Think about Said Aouita, 1984 Olympics in 1500m. Maybe it would have been a 1500m race as fast as men's 1500m race a few days ago in 1984. I have stated on other threads I want to add 3000m. Three-thousand metres, no barriers would be great tv. Wasn't the 3000m Mary Decker v. Zola Budd hype exciting? If there were 3000m, no barriers, 1980 Olympics and Olympics without 5000m & 10000m, if schedule would have allowed, Steve Ovett may have tried 800m/1500m/3000m triple. That would have been entertaining.

Nonsense,

You missed the point entirely. Incorporating Cross Country into the Winter Olympic Games would draw in at least 30-40 new countries into the mix along with their fans, and many of the African countries would glom onto this. The Olympic Games would no longer be winter white though and that might offend the sensibilities of the Euro-centric winter sporting crowd.

The IAAF does an atrocious job of marketing World XC., and top runners from numerous countries tend to skip it in favor of the glamor road or track races. That relegates it to second-class.

Ditch the stodgy mindset, put it in the Winter Olympic Games, make the course radical, separate it from Olympic summer track, and that changes the whole picture. It would also provide unique exposure for our world's runners and a chance to shine on an Olympic stage every two years rather than four.

Neither here nor there, but I just learned that cross country is already part of the summer olympics... in the Modern Pentathlon, in an event called laser-run which combines running with shooting.

The full pent also includes horseback riding, fencing, and swimming. Who on earth would / could train for that...

If the longest race was 3000 and Komen was running, every 5/10 guy could kiss off winning a Gold Medal. There are guys whose best distance is 3000 and I would maybe put Centro in that category.

You say your dream XC race would be great T.V. but outside of possibly the 1500m and marathon, the great unwashed are not going to be interested in distance running. The elite runners and their coaches would be vehemently opposed to bumping the 5 & 10 for the 3000 and XC. They aren't going to participate and the XC race would be B-level.

I'd like to see XC but want to see an off road Ultra more.

It's for the rich guys who aren't quite good enough for dressage.

If you want another running event, there should be a distance medley relay. There are already two relays for sprinters, why not something for the middle distances? That would be interesting for non-runners as they'd be less 'sitting and kicking' in a relay.

It should be added for the 2026 winter Olympics. Even if the runners are second-class to those on the track, it's more running to watch for us fans of the sport. I could see some athletes doing a 5k/10k and XC double even. The XC race would have to be true XC, hills, water crossings, things to jump over, etc., and 12k would be a great distance.

Did anyone watch xc mountain biking? They had logs to ride over and rock gardens to negotiate and even a tough drop as I remember.

Even as a rider though, it wasn't too interesting to me. I imagine xc running would be the same. Cool in theory, but probably wouldn't work.

The team aspect though, could be the change. Adds an element not present currently, where the 15th finisher could be the one who toughs it out and clinches gold.

French Dawg wrote:

Perch wrote:

Yes but it should be more than the glorified track meet on grass that passes for HS and collegiate XC in the US. Should have hills, water crossings and low barriers to be hurdled.

Yess. I remember asking my coach in HS if there were any iconic courses like Mt. SAC for collegiate XC and he said not really. I thought that was lame. It’s more fun when the times are so slow that you can’t relate them to a track performance at all and it’s all just about the race and the course.

It would be great to have Cross Country in the olympics, but it is a dying sport not an up and coming sport. It does not lend itself well to 10s tick tock segments.

FYI, I grew up in Virginia and almost every dual meet course was better than Mt. SAC's course. They had grass, dirt, mud, hills, forest. I ran Mt SAC after moving to Ca after college because I heard how "iconic" it was.

So Cal just lacks open space so Mt SAC gets hyped because it is mostly dirt rather than the pavement of most other So Cal "Cross country" races and has been around a long time. Many So Cal regional parks could host a better course, but it is a dying sport so they don't...