“This Is Ugly”: Huge Change by World Athletics Leaves Sports World Unhappy

Published 05/24/2023, 9:51 AM EDT

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The World Athletics recently made headlines in the world with a massive announcement on its website. Through a press release, World Athletics updated track fans that it would be changing the name of “Indoor Track and field” for future track events. The formal approval for this name change will be given in August 2023 at the World Athletics scheduled meeting in Hungary. Travis Miller from NBC Sports gave all details of this news on his Twitter handle.

The World Athletics also hinted in its press release that this new name will help new cities to host track events at more reasonable costs if there is a shortage of space. Responding to this update, many athletics fans were dissatisfied as they were unhappy with the change and felt it wasn’t needed. The name World Athletics suggested created a furor among fans immediately.

World Athletics’ new name for ‘Indoor Track and Field’

The World Athletics gave a proposal for a new name specifically for 200m tracks on its website. It has recommended the name to be ‘short track’ instead of ‘indoor track and field. This will help to distinguish 400m tracks from 200m tracks. Defending the name change, World Athletics stated, “With the advent of modern athletics and the development of hybrid competitive venues- city squares, shopping malls, train stations- it is becoming increasingly difficult to maintain the separation between outdoor and indoor athletics.” The President of World Athletics Seb Coe also regarded this change as a positive development in track and field sports.

Indoor track and field is being renamed “short track”. 👀https://t.co/pKao5pSuuE
— Travis Miller (@travismillerx13) May 23, 2023

Further elaborating, Coe said, “This change is designed to remove an unintentional barrier to competition innovation, by offering organizers the chance to explore solutions and opportunities which the current rules may discourage.” The name will also help to differentiate indoor and outdoor tracks. Reacting to this update, fans gave intriguing reactions.

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Fans strongly disapprove of the new name World Athletics proposed

A track fan gave an interesting perspective that very few track events are held indoors and implied how this new name was pointless.

Makes absolutely no sense. The only short races run indoors are the 60m and 60mh. And they do hep for men and Pen women. Every thing else is the same. Smh
— Lance-Jo Muir (@Muirj5) May 23, 2023

Later, a fan also opined how the new name was unattractive and awful.

this is ugly
— a khalia stan acct 🤍 (@khaliaaaw) May 23, 2023

Afterwards, another fan bluntly criticized World Athletics and spoke about how short track was better associated with skating.

The only thing “short track” sounds good with is speed skating, WA getting ridiculous these days 🤣🤣🤣
— Rayban™ (@rayjwillz) May 23, 2023

Post this, one fan named Kevin also recommended World Athletics take a strong decision instead of using the new term, ‘short track.’

Makes absolutely no sense. The only short races run indoors are the 60m and 60mh. And they do hep for men and Pen women. Every thing else is the same. Smh
— Lance-Jo Muir (@Muirj5) May 23, 2023

One fan also expressed surprise that World Athletics was focusing on this issue, hinting there were other important issues World Athletics needed to look into.

So many issues with this sport..and this is what they focus on..?
— Esteban Quiyono (@QuiyonoEsteban) May 23, 2023

Not only this, tracks athlete, Michael Johnson, who once complimented Jamaican athletes, gave a hard-hitting response about how World Athletics is ignoring serious issues and instead focusing on such a minor issue.

Problem with this is the sport has a few glaring problems needing to be fixed but WA decides to ignore those (hard problems) and fix this (easy problem). It’s become a WA pattern, and the comments show people are tired of it. https://t.co/bbqo6aYfTC
— Michael Johnson (@MJGold) May 24, 2023

Fans’ reactions are proof of how they are upset about the World Athletics’ proposed name. The sports community will definitely watch out for the World Athletics meeting in August this year to see whether the new name is formally approved.

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Written by:

Priya Hinduja is a sports writer at EssentiallySports with a specialization in skiing, gymnastics, and other major American sports. With a master's degree in English, Priya's writing is marked by a sophisticated command of language and a personalized pool of dictionaries, making her an exceptional wordsmith. Her love for skiing and gymnastics is evident in her coverage of these sports, which is as exhilarating as the sports themselves.

Edited by:

Brandon Gabriel

“This Is Ugly”: Huge Change by World Athletics Leaves Sports World Unhappy

World Athletics’ new name for ‘Indoor Track and Field’

Fans strongly disapprove of the new name World Athletics proposed

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