One of the biggest storylines in the track and field world this month centered around one of the best receivers currently in the NFL, Tyreek Hill.
Hill is no stranger to the track, as he competed on the high school as well as the collegiate level. He hadn’t raced in a track meet in close to a decade, but he took part in the 60m at the USA Track and Field Masters Indoor Championship in Louisville, Kentucky.
He won the event with his time of 6.70, winning the race by a wide margin. Some in the social media sphere praised his performance, while some in the track and field world had a different reaction, especially after Hill called out the likes of the world’s fastest sprinter and track and field legend, Usain Bolt.
Anderson Emerole of Track and Field Black History and the Final Leg believes that Hill running and winning the meet might have done more harm than good when it comes to the perception of track and field.
“The main thing is because the perception from outside is he ran super fast, he killed the field, he ran crazy – I think that perception further downgrades and lessens what track and field is about,” he said. “You didn’t see Travyon Bromell in that race, you didn’t see Marvin Bracy, Fred Kerley. You didn’t see the top sprinters in that race, so now people are now like Tyreek Hill is one of the best ever. People were saying that this was a masters race. What does masters mean, it means the best in the world. But we know in track and field, that’s not how it works.
That I think lessened the perception of track and field unfortunately because the outside doesn’t have a clue about our sport. All respect to him for actually running, but this didn’t help the perception of track and field in my opinion.”
In addition to recapping Hill’s performance and how it affected the perception of track and field, we also discussed if professional athletes should consider money, or the competition when setting up races. Hear our thoughts and rationale on this episode of Track Talk.
