London Stadium sold out 60,000 today more than Sound Running, Holloway and every US Pro Meet in 2024 combined

Sold out last year too, yet still made a loss.

Hopefully the financial management this year has been better!

Said it

"Best overall team" is just something invented for the american fans.

Atlanta 1996 was the last major track meet in North America.

Drake + Texas Relays had more than 60k together. Add in every pro meet and you should be an order of magnitude higher than 60k.

Is there any major metropolitan area in the US that would have half-filled that stadium for a non-Olympic meet?

In a few different ways, specifically talking about the state of track and field in the US:

By all accounts the 2022 WC in Eugene were poorly attended. It makes it that much less likely that the US will get to host another one. So if you ever want to attend the track and field world championships as an American it is very likely you are going to have to travel internationally to see one from here on out.

The Eugene Diamond League looks to be living on borrowed time. How many more years is this meet going to be hosted with low attendance? Again it seems likely this meet will be dropped or moved in the future, another lost opportunity for US track fans.

Poor US viewership of the Diamond League overall caused NBC to drop its coverage of the series. Starting next year to watch Diamond League meets in the US you are either going to have to subscribe to Flotrack ($30/month) or use a VPN instead of watching them on NBC for free or paying $5.99/month for Peacock.

So in a nutshell smaller crowds are killing the sport in the US. The days of international stars like Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr racing on US soil may be coming to an end. If you want to continue to enjoy the sport you may well have to spend a lot more money to do so by traveling internationally and paying more money to watch meets on the internet instead of your television.

It is not enjoyment we are talking about. It is growth of the popularity of the sport.

All of them would. But we don't know as we have never tested it. Thus my answer like your question is all supposition until there is empirical evidence. This unfortunately will not occur because of the Nike/USATF under the table deal.

London DL was an electrifying experience as a spectator. Must have been hyper cool for the athletes.

Athletics is at a completely different level of understanding and appreciation in Europe. Completely different mindset really.

Ya fire Max. He might be a good guy and qualified but he hasn’t done much to elevate the sport of Track and Field in America. He is far to overpaid.

Michale Johnson has had more bright ideas to revitalize Track in the US then USATF ever has come up with.

Heck scheduling the US 8km road championships whilst the top distance runners are competing in Europe or getting ready for the Olympics is just daft.

I would love to see Grant Fisher smash Alberto’s 8km record. It will never happen based on USATF’s scheduling