Fingers Crossed as Decision Day Approaches

By Scott Bush - these are Scott's opinions

Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 18, the IAAF announces their selection of host city for the 2019 World Outdoor Championships. Eugene, aka TrackTownUSA, is one of three finalists, facing stiff competition from Barcelona and Doha. While Eugene has plenty of pluses and minuses, it’s considered internationally as the dark horse candidate. How does a college town of 150,000 people compete with international metropolises? 

So let’s break it down! Will Eugene win the 2019 World Outdoor Championships bid tomorrow? Yes or No?

Of Course It Will

Let’s be frank, if the IAAF doesn’t select Eugene, it’s arguably the biggest disappointment in U.S. track and field bid history and will make fans wonder if the U.S. will ever see the World Champs stateside. The United States has never hosted the World Outdoor Championships, despite submitting bids before. The thing is, it’s never received a bid from TrackTownUSA until now. Eugene is the capital of track and field in the United States, whether you like it or not, and that simple fact holds power. 

Vin Lananna and his team just hosted the IAAF World Junior Championships this past summer and did a marvelous job. They’ve already won the 2016 World Indoor Championships for Portland, so clearly they are doing something right. We’ll get to Eugene’s structural issues later, but Eugene is on the rise. There are new hotel plans in the works, it’s less than two hours from Portland - which isn’t that far, really - and should Eugene win the event will basically take over the town in every way. That’s kind of cool!

Getting back to the “most dominant track and field team in the world” I wrote of earlier, the IAAF has stated time and time again over the past decade that they’d love to host the world’s most notable track meet outside of the Olympics in the United States. There are monetary reasons, because there are certain sponsors and media organizations willing to pump some cash and attention towards a big-stage event in the U.S. Then there are international politics of it all. Shouldn’t the world’s greatest track power host the IAAF’s most important meet sooner or later? Of course it should.

Last point…Eugene can expand their stadium to host 30,000+ screaming, passionate track and field fans. It will sell out every single day and every single session. It’ll be fully funded and there won’t be an international PR crisis’ (unlike Doha) and it’ll get the sport on a “new” stage for the world to see (unlike Barcelona - Europe has hosted too many times - boring). Track and field needs a wake up call and sticking it in the baking desert or another European city is not really all that appealing. In fact, I’d say it does nothing to advance the sport forward, when it desperately needs it.

Vote for the sport, IAAF. #VoteTrackTown.

No Way

You’ve heard the Yes argument, now for a little negativity. Hosting the world’s most important non-Olympic track meet is intense. Not that the TrackTownUSA and USATF staffs couldn’t handle it, it’s just that Eugene is a college town. Limited hotels, limited transportation, limited ways to get there - it’s like sticking it in a suburb of a metropolitan city, but making the commute two hours instead of 20 minutes. Infrastructure matters, logistical planning matters and Eugene doesn’t come up to par in these areas, at least not against the cities of Doha and Barcelona. 

We see it, Doha and their big oil money staging luxurious events. They’ve already won the 2022 World Cup, they can build the biggest and most impressive stadiums quickly and are always more than happy to spend a billion here and a billion there when needed. Money is not an issue, ever. 

For Barcelona, it truly is one of the gems of the world. It’s a beautiful city, truly international and will have the support of the entire European continent. The majority of the Diamond League meetings are staged in Europe, so doesn’t it make sense to continue to build the sport’s profile at the “center” of the track and field world?

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Okay, no more pretending, the IAAF should pick Eugene. If they are smart, they’ll realize that taking over a town and filling a stadium full of the most rabid fans you’ll see anywhere in the world trumps money, infrastructure and history. It’s time for the sport to start taking risks and a good step forward for the IAAF is to chose Eugene. Fingers crossed heading into tomorrow’s selection.