Deji’s Doodles: The World Indoors and the tale of the athletes that really wanted them

Deji’s Doodles: The World Indoors and the tale of the athletes that really wanted them

The world indoor championships in Nanjing underpromised but overdelivered. Context matters, but if you had done a sample size of the stakeholders who were primarily core followers of athletics, a large chunk of them would have nodded in the dissident about the potential for the event to be a hit.

The event itself felt like an afterthought. Almost akin to promising a 10-year-old a trip to Disney World shortly before COVID-19 brought the world to a standstill and five years later you try to make it up to them. Their priority would have changed, and you will need to pull off something extraordinary if you want to spark that excitement in them five years from when you promised them. It turns out Nanjing just needed to put up a quality show and a decent crowd, and the weekend became a blast.

In this case, the top country at the last few World Indoors, the United States of America, sent over what you would call a B-team; most of the top athletes that dominated the European Indoors a few weeks ago in Apeldoorn opted not to travel to China and a furry of marquee athletes who had committed to the new wave of the Micheal Johnson initiative Grand Slam Track made the call that an indoor medal round your neck isn’t worth risking for a few more zeros in your bank account. After all, hundreds of athletes are already jostling it out for a small pool of funds around the sport.

In the grand scheme of things, the legacy of some of the very best in the sport isn’t always decided by whether they won an indoor medal or not. But still, some athletes have taken it upon themselves to show up and use it as a springboard for their outdoor season or event some that were looking for that elusive medal at the world stage. Like fiat money, we give meaning to what we want meaning to. And these athletes that showed up in Nanjing wrote their own stories.

Here are some of the storylines that made the world indoors worth the while of some athletes

1. Akani Simbine finally got his hands on a global medal

If there’s one athlete who will leave Nanjing with a smile, it’s Akani Simbine. The South African sprinter had long been the “nearly man” of sprinting, consistently reaching the global 100m finals since 2016. However, despite his steady presence on the biggest stages, he had yet to claim a global medal. That’s why his bronze in the 60m would have meant the world to him.

Simbine’s time of 6.54…