Last week, it was announced that Fred Kerley made the switch from Nike to Asics, which was a huge move in the 100m.
But only a brief time before Kerley made his announcement, 400m legend Michael Norman announced that he was making the move from the 400m, to the 100m this season.
“We’ve always had this idea that once I develop and accomplish the goals that I want to do in the 400m, that the goal will be to drop down to the 100m,” Norman told Nick Zaccardi in a recent interview.. “I can comfortably say that I’ve achieved what I wanted to achieve in the 400m and I can start challenging myself and trying something new in attempting to medal and break records in the 100m.”
Norman won his first individual world championship in the 400m at the World Championships in Oregon last summer. His personal best in the 100m is 9.86, which he set in 2020.
If you’ve listened to this show, the topic of ways to grow the sport of track and field is nothing new.
But is the answer to growing the sport a simple fix? Kentucky track and field athlete Katelyn Huchison thinks so.
“It’s right there,” she said. “I don’t think we need to think too hard about this stuff. If we want to be able to grow our sport outside of the Olympics and outside of the World Championships, we gotta bring the hype back to these other meets that people are going to and actually give people incentive to want to be there.
“I’m talking about y’all better be dropping them dollars, because you can’t expect people to use their time, body and energy at the ages that they’re at, and you’re not giving them any money to show nothing for it. Getting more energy and excitement behind those meets, that’s one step forward.”
How will Norman fare in the 100m this season and beyond, and what are some other obvious, or more complicated issues when it comes to coverage of the sport? We discuss all these things and more on this episode of Track Talk.
