I’d be shocked if Seb Coe goes ahead with the plan to wipe-out all athletics world records that pre-date 2005.
I can understand where the idea is coming from because the sport has a real problem with its image.
But putting it into practice is a whole different thing altogether.
There isn’t another sport which puts such importance on records. They are almost as iconic as medals.
Becoming the fastest man on earth is a huge deal. So is jumping the highest or, back in the day, breaking the four-minute mile.
Paul Radcliffe has been outspoken about it and mentioned the possibility of suing if she was stripped of her world record.
And you couldn’t blame her.
The fact that nobody has beaten her time marathon time in 14 years tells you how big an achievement it was. And to have it taken away from her by administrators would be incredibly hard to take.
It’s not just the prestige factor. It can affect your earning capability if you’re no longer a world record holder.
I’m no legal expert but I reckon lawyers would have a field day over this.
And that’s one of the big reasons that I can’t see the International Association of Athletics Federations seeing this one through.
* I haven’t managed to get the golf clubs out this season but I’m sure watching the GolfSixes on TV at the weekend will make me want to get back out on the course.
Like everybody else, I’m intrigued to see how it goes.
The format will take a bit of getting sued to, as will all the bells and whistle that go with it, but I’m all for trying something new.
You’ll get the usual split between traditionalists and modernisers, as is the case in all sports. Curling is no different.
But, whether it takes hold or not will depend on the players.
There will be plenty of media interest at the start, and I’m sure the corporate world will get behind it.
But if the top players don’t get won over and it gets C and D list fields year on year, there won’t be much of a future.
* That’s our season finished.
Overall, it’s been a pretty good one.
We always get judged on the majors and we’ve medalled in the Europeans and the Worlds.
We’ve also won two tour events – Basel and Glasgow.
The grand slams have been pretty disappointing. We didn’t perform as well as we would have hoped in those. And they’re the ones that carry the biggest prize funds!
There’s no money in the majors but that isn’t our motivation, particularly building up to an Olympic year.
It’s been another year of change but that won’t be the case next season and our coach is going to be with us at more tournaments going forward.
This was Glenn’s first year as a coach and I’m sure he’s learned a lot as well. He’s got clear ideas of the direction he wants us to go and he’ll be coming over here for a couple of weeks in August.
He’s really excited about what we can achieve next season and so are we.
