Raise the profile of Triathlon
tryboy
Posts: 1
in General Chat
Hi, I'm new to the forum and although I'm not a triathlete I'm looking into the sport as part of my sports media course. It seems to me that triathlon really doesn't seem to get the media coverage it deserves as one of the fastest growing sports in the UK.
What do you think should be done to raise the profile of the sport in the media?
What do you think should be done to raise the profile of the sport in the media?
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Comments
Interestingly I had to go to a presentation skills training course, in which we had to do a 5 minute talk about something where we have an interest, obviously I went with triathlon. But what came out of doing a short presentation was how little people actually know about the sport, just over half the room knew that it consists of the swim bike run element, but very few knew that they were done consequtively, I think triathlon is often seen as being similair to the decathlon.
I think that in time given the growth of the sport it will eventually gather a critical mass and then start to gather more media attnetion, and with that, funding.
However the problem lies in not the perception of the sports rather how many spectators it can attract. For example sprint triathlons are good to watch, because you will see an athlete and then maybe 20mins-30mins that athlete will reappear. However the other extreme would be ironman. It is a true challenge to complete one, and a spectator or broadcast company would not then see many highlights or atheltes for hours.
So even though it is a fairly known 'difficult' sport, it is not viewed on by broadcasters as a money earner. Where as football for example could gain thousands/millions from one two hour show.
I personally prefer triathlon the way it is, it is a sport where people do nt osaturate it because of its known challenges, and immense training that is required, although it would be nice to see on telly now and then at a decent hour. Bring back Trans World Sport.
Most we can hope for is that the numbers coming into the sport rise fast and builds momentum.
jaz
I think that the elite athletes in this country do exceptionaly well for the lack of funding they get.
Take Tim Don for one. I record and watch the ITU Triathlon series on channel 5. Last year Tim Don finished second in the series...that second in the world!!! If you put Tim Don in a room of 100 people how many would recognise him? The same for Richard Stannard, Andrew Johns, Andrea Whitcombe, Liz Blatchford, etc etc.
The message of Triathlon is getting through to the general public. It must be cause we keep hearing that it's the fastest growing sport in the country. Hopefully with that will follow the media attention and then the profile will raise even further.
For now it relies on us to spread the word. To encourage friends and family to come and watch and then possibly enter an event and then they in turn will do the same thing.
Phwor that was quite a rant. I've stopped dribbling now and calmed down a bit!!!
a year ago we had only just formed and had about 20 members but went to a local event and practically wiped the floor. the kids take these successes and tell their friends so they come along and join too. we've now got about 50 members a 150% increase!!!
I think we've got to do the same for the wider picture like BonusB said and when we do do well, SHOUT ABOUT IT!!! Maybe that way the TV/Newspaper/Radio stations will take a bit of notice and move their coverage to a more earthly time.
What about a triathlon TV channel?????
Let's not forget that it has come a long way in the last 30 odd years, and was only announced as an Olympic event in 2000. My father in law has been competing since he was 50 (now 67) and he's started complaining that the competitor fields are becoming too large! surely that's a testament to it's growth - albeit too slow for our generation.
[:)] Perhaps we need to employ Japanese event organisers to start throwing electric eels in the pool and feline predators on the run circuit - that'll get us on C5 more often [:D]