Olympian and broadcaster Tim Hutchings says we shouldn’t underestimate just how spoiled track and field fans are for choice at the moment
I fear that many of us in the sport of athletics take for granted just how much of it is broadcast – either on terrestrial and satellite TV, or streamed over the internet. We are fortunate that the “No.1 Olympic sport” is visible in our living rooms pretty much all through the year and on an incredibly regular basis.
While athletics was never under threat in this case, the recently announced and pared back schedule of the 2026 Commonwealth Games should serve as a sobering reminder that no sport is immune to the cost-cutter’s knife.
We are lucky, then, that there has been such a feast to devour and I for one have delighted in the wide range and volume of athletics events that have been staged over the past year in stadia and on the road.
For the past 35 years I have been in the privileged position of being part of it all from my position in the commentary box and 2024 has been one of the most enjoyable to witness from behind the mic.
We had the European Championships in Rome in early June and of course the Olympics eight weeks later, while 15 Diamond League meetings were also stitched into the fabric of the summer, as were dozens of World Athletics Continental Tour meetings.
Our fabulous squad of British athletes have done us proud this year and, as I write, Keely Hodgkinson seems at least to be favourite to win BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year. Our medal hauls in Rome and Paris, despite many being relay medals, was wondrous, and more than sufficient to justify the sport rightly expecting good TV coverage for the immediate future, good funding to continue and good recruitment to continue at club level.
Keely Hodgkinson (Getty)
Indeed, it is testament to the set-up of our sport in the UK that athletics has provided the best value for central funding money per medal garnered in Paris. In complete contrast to this, the sport’s astonishing lack of sponsors on the UK scene remains one of the great mysteries of this current era. It both puzzles and angers me.
But back to the day job. Many of you reading this no doubt would dearly love to try your hand at TV commentary. I mean, how hard can it be? You turn up, describe what you’re seeing with a few nuances and it’s a case of job done.
Of course, the phrase “armchair expert” came into being for a reason, though, and it’s all too easy to pass…
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