Libertine Seguros said:
.......
But people still want to see those sports. The 100m (especially the men's) is seen as one of the most prestigious events in the Olympics, and it comes with a level of glory and attention not afforded to, say, Kenenisa Bekele. And as long as there is fame and glory and doctors giving you stuff they think will give you an advantage, there will be people willing to go that extra mile.
Quite an interesting take on it. OK so I can remember Mary Rand winning and the coverage at the time being very jingoistic. My perceptions for what they are worth -
My first proper recollections of starting to think about how different sports were covered at the Olympics is Munich. There I don't think there was much difference in how various T & F events were portrayed apart from Hemery and Sherwood in the 400m Hurdles was the great thing. OK counter argument - certainly Mary Peters got very short shrift prior to the final couple of events. But I was very disappointed with the coverage Alan Wells gained in relation to Moscow. (Confession - I thought he was great and thought he ran clean - until I found out there was a connection with Angus Fraser - soigneur - 10 years later working with Chris Carmichael, injecting USA team Juniors with steroids without telling them what they were. Fraser - see Tour with Shane Sutton ANC.) At Moscow it was all about Ovett and Coe. The 100m was a side show for freaks.
The Ben Johnson Seoul Olympics made the freak show news and then we had Linford Christie. I have no idea what went on but suddenly the BBC was in lurve with the 100m for men, but the women were getting quite a mention as well. Then with Christie's downfall the BBC went "women's 400m" for Sydney. But by 2008 it was bonkers, worse than it ever had been for the 100m for men. The sexual discrimination male/female was more pronounced than at any time I can recall. Sue Barker and the drones sounded like they were on a sponsored talk show - how many times can we eulogise over Bolt. Remember the 2008 BBC Sports Personality and Bolt's international award ? Pass the sick bucket and when it's full, let's tip it over the producer's head.
I well remember the 2003 Int Spoty going to Lance and thinking, as the homages were paid, I dearly hope this ends up showering this bunch of morons in sh*t. (Travis I will forever be in your debt.) So where does that leave us ? Looking around for better journos and thankful of social media which provides better access to more information and fellow minds.