BREAKING - OLYMPIC MARATHONS AND RACE WALKS MOVED FROM TOKYO TO SAPPORO DUE TO HEAT FEAR

It is a recomendation by the IOC working group actually. Will it get through?

KAV wrote:

It is a recomendation by the IOC working group actually. Will it get through?

If they don't want a 40% drop out, then I'd say yes.

The people at AthleticsWeekly are morons. This is only a proposal, not yet a decision.

Not what they wrote wrote:

The people at AthleticsWeekly are morons. This is only a proposal, not yet a decision.

This seems like a decision to me

I like this move, we can actually see a real race with some real running instead of a jog fest. I don't want to see Kipchoge run 2:10, I want to see Kipchoge and Bekele hammering away and running 2:01.

Isn't that the city where they make that tasty beer at? ?

Sapporo is a city of ~2 million

the marathon is popular in Japan

If the marathon (and to a lesser extent race walks) are the only events held there, I imagine turnout and atmosphere will be very good..

Falcon Heene wrote:

So no stadium finish, no big city Tokyo spectator feel, no real connection to the rest of the Tokyo Olympics. What, are they going to jet the medalists down to Tokyo for the medal ceremony? Just further proof that the Olympics are a total joke now, run by dirty, inept idiots.

You'd rather see what we just saw in Doha where 40% of the field drops out due to the heat and put athletes at risk because of it?

I bet if you polled the marathoners on this decision they would provide a great response of delight to this decision.

The Hokkaido Marathon currently bills itself as 'Japan's only summer marathon' and I assume that since they've got a nice certified course and other infrastructure in place, we'll get that course for the Olympics with the change happening less than a year out.

http://www.sapporo.travel/event/summer/hokkaido-marathon/?lang=en

Sapporo would be the 5th largest city in the US, larger than Phoenix and Dallas...

I’m pretty sure there’s a stadium you dodo bird.

I recall making this suggestion on a letsrun thread. Don't see my name mentioned, though.

big if true wrote:

Sapporo is a city of ~2 million

the marathon is popular in Japan

If the marathon (and to a lesser extent race walks) are the only events held there, I imagine turnout and atmosphere will be very good..

Agreed. The people in Japan are gonna go nuts and attend in huge numbers regardless of where it's at. And now the race may actually be good since everyone isn't overheating.

No, silly, I'd rather see the OG held at places and times when weather is decently favorable for all events' participants. Tokyo in July-August was the original fatal flaw, much like Doha in September. Shīt in, shīt out.

Prospective Olympic marathoners I have spoken to think this is stupid. You don't train your whole life to run the Olympic marathon that isn't held in the Olympic City.

You will be going to the Olympics - on a different island. In a different city. Away from all the events, hype.

You won't be staying with the rest of the track and field team.

It sucks.

This is the correct decision. We'll see if the kipchoges and Bekeles of the world are disappointed in missing out on the olympic party atmosphere. The guys who just want to run fast and win will be pumped, i'd imagine.

Good on the ioc for making a decision in the best interest of competition.

2miler wrote:

Falcon Heene wrote:

So no stadium finish, no big city Tokyo spectator feel, no real connection to the rest of the Tokyo Olympics.

You'd rather see what we just saw in Doha where 40% of the field drops out due to the heat and put athletes at risk because of it?

Actually, yes. The Doha marathon was the most exciting marathon I had followed in a long time. The anticipation of who was gonna blow up was great!

And what is the motivation to do the Olympic marathon if it isn't closely connected to the Olympic hype? Why not take a big payday elsewhere, since Sapporo is going to feel like elsewhere?

team Unruly Bush wrote:

And what is the motivation to do the Olympic marathon if it isn't closely connected to the Olympic hype? Why not take a big payday elsewhere, since Sapporo is going to feel like elsewhere?

Do you honestly think most people in the world will know the difference between Tokyo and Sapporo when watching it on TV? You might, if you are familiar with Tokyo specifically, but I don't think most will. I have no idea where the Rio marathon actually took place.. it could have been in Vietnam as far as I know. I don't know what Rio looks like.

Work Commute Track Club wrote:

Prospective Olympic marathoners I have spoken to think this is stupid. You don't train your whole life to run the Olympic marathon that isn't held in the Olympic City.

You will be going to the Olympics - on a different island. In a different city. Away from all the events, hype.

You won't be staying with the rest of the track and field team.

It sucks.

Nothing new.

1996 Games in "Atlanta" had sailing competition in Savannah (4hr drive), soccer in Miami (fly), Washington DC (fly) and Birmingham (2hr drive), women's softball in Columbus, GA (2 hr drive), volleyball in Athens, GA (1.5hr drive) and whitewater canoeing in Tennessee. There is a lot of discussion about the Games becoming more regional.

They've gotta do what's best for the athletes, but it'll be a shame that, for the third Olympics in a row, the marathon won't be finishing in the stadium, which is a shame for spectators and athletes. It's the greatest athletic spectacle of the games, a chance for every particpant to enjoy what they've accomplished in front of a whole stadium. Lately, I feel like the Olympic marathon has increasingly begun to resemble a world marathon major...a great achievement, but lacking in the grandeur.