Amongst non-track fans (99% of people): Olympic bronze means a bit more
Amongst your peers/track fans (1% of people): World Champion means a lot more
The 1% includes yourself, your competitors, teammates and a lot of your closest friends/relationships. I think (you and that 1%) knowing you were the best in your profession outweighs the other factors.
When it comes to boxing it is the Heavyweight Champion of the world. When it comes to basketball it's the NCAA Champion and the NBA Champion. Baseball it;s who wins the World Series, The Indy 500 winner, The Kentucky Derby winner, when it comes to track & field it's will always be that Olympic gold medal that matters, a World title no comparision not close.
An Oympic gold medal gets ya on a Wheaties box, only us track geeks care about the Worlds Champs.
Would ya believe the 60 was once an Olympic event?
Every one agrees an Olympic Gold is the gold standard and the pinnacle in T&F. But that wasn't the question. A Olympic Bronze won't get you on the Wheaties box. Would you rather place 3rd at the Kentucky Derby or win the Preakness?
You do't talk anything in track & field comparing to the Olympics.
Amongst non-track fans (99% of people): Olympic bronze means a bit more
Amongst your peers/track fans (1% of people): World Champion means a lot more
Agreed with this take, though I might tweak to 99.9% and 0.1%. I have to say that I'd take the Olympic bronze, and it's not a close call. Maybe that's because of my age: the World Champs were still newish when I started competing, so they had even less cachet than they do now. The Olympics just have such a huge cultural footprint - not just to non-track-fans, but also to me.
The argument that Worlds is just as hard to win and features the same competitors is true, but doesn't carry much weight with me. There are plenty of grand prix races that feature essentially the whole field from the Olympic final, but I certainly wouldn't take a win in Zurich over an Olympic bronze, even if the former required a better performance. As far as I'm concerned, there's the Olympics and then there's everything else.
(On a related note, the concept of "world championships" is very much watered down, because every niche sport has one. Are there any triathletes or ultimate frisbee players who *haven't* been to some form of world championships? Heck, even I've been to worlds in XC. All of us here know that track worlds is a different story, functionally equivalent to the Olympics. But outside this room, going to "worlds" isn't that high a bar. I guess there's a reason that the IOC goes after anyone who tries to use the Olympic brand without authorization so aggressively.)
Amongst non-track fans (99% of people): Olympic bronze means a bit more
Amongst your peers/track fans (1% of people): World Champion means a lot more
The 1% includes yourself, your competitors, teammates and a lot of your closest friends/relationships. I think (you and that 1%) knowing you were the best in your profession outweighs the other factors.
It really is not a difficult question. Anyone who would choose Olympic Bronze over World Championship Gold does not deserve respect as a competitor.
Nobody outside of running knows what the world championships are or care. An Olympic medal is far far more impressive
The more I think about it, thats it. In your peer group, a WC gold is way better than Olympic bronze. In general though, any olympic medal is way better (outside your peer group, speaking engagements, celebrity in your community...) Everyone outside track and field knows the dude or gal that was "in the olympics" let alone won a medal. WC gold is more impressive as we all know, but to everyone else...? Olympics period. And you can get conspicuous rings tatoo!
If I'm a current athlete, World Championship gold. If I'm retired and seeking to market myself using my athletic accomplishments, Olympic bronze. People outside of athletics mostly know the sport only from the Olympics so it's a much bigger plus to say Olympic medalist.
When it comes to boxing it is the Heavyweight Champion of the world. When it comes to basketball it's the NCAA Champion and the NBA Champion. Baseball it;s who wins the World Series, The Indy 500 winner, The Kentucky Derby winner, when it comes to track & field it's will always be that Olympic gold medal that matters, a World title no comparision not close.
An Oympic gold medal gets ya on a Wheaties box, only us track geeks care about the Worlds Champs.
Would ya believe the 60 was once an Olympic event?
Yes but the OP is talking about an Olympic bronze, not the Gold. An Olympic bronze is not going to get you on a Wheaties box.
Neither is a world championship.
I would go WC gold, but I wonder if from a marketing perspective if "Olympic medalist" sells better than "World Champion". I have no idea.
The Olympics is edged in ancient history, myths and legends. Any person that repects the past and be chosen by the gods, of course the Olympics by far.
The general public might not watch or follow the world championships in track, but the term “world champion” still resonates with the general public, whatever the discipline.
Amongst non-track fans (99% of people): Olympic bronze means a bit more
Amongst your peers/track fans (1% of people): World Champion means a lot more
The 1% includes yourself, your competitors, teammates and a lot of your closest friends/relationships. I think (you and that 1%) knowing you were the best in your profession outweighs the other factors.
I would have ZERO interest in impressing people who have no interest in track & field.
I only care about the opinions of people who actually care about what I do.
World Champion over Olympic bronze, and it's not even close.
Just remembered: Jenny Simpson also has Olympic Bronze and WC Gold. I recall her Gold better of the two. Personally, I'd take the Bronze in the Olympics given the choice.
This thread reminds me of what my HS XC/track coach used to ask: Would you rather be County Champ in XC (a big deal in the 70s where we were) or 5th man on the State Championship XC team?
Wrong analogy.
That's like asking whether you want to win the national championship or being a member of the Olympic gold medal winning relay team.
As an individual runner, you essentially face the same competitors in the Olympics and the World Championships. That's not the case with county and state championships.
Nobody outside of running knows what the world championships are or care. An Olympic medal is far far more impressive
People are talking like they are basing their answer on how much they want to impress others. Personally, i would rather have the satisfaction of knowing I was the best in the world that day and I defeated all my competitors when it mattered. Who cares about 3rd place?
Nobody outside of running knows what the world championships are or care. An Olympic medal is far far more impressive
People are talking like they are basing their answer on how much they want to impress others. Personally, i would rather have the satisfaction of knowing I was the best in the world that day and I defeated all my competitors when it mattered. Who cares about 3rd place?
You nailed it. Why not just buy a fancy sports car? These people have questionable values.
I've always been super vocal about this. There's nothing about the Olympic final field that is superior to a world championship field. In fact the belief in this nonsense is the reason why our athletes don't get paid more.