Why athletics is compulsive viewing right now

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Olympian and broadcaster Tim Hutchings says we shouldn’t underestimate just how spoiled track and field fans are for choice at the moment

I fear that many of us in the sport of athletics take for granted just how much of it is broadcast – either on terrestrial and satellite TV, or streamed over the internet. We are fortunate that the “No.1 Olympic sport” is visible in our living rooms pretty much all through the year and on an incredibly regular basis.

While athletics was never under threat in this case, the recently announced and pared back schedule of the 2026 Commonwealth Games should serve as a sobering reminder that no sport is immune to the cost-cutter’s knife.

We are lucky, then, that there has been such a feast to devour and I for one have delighted in the wide range and volume of athletics events that have been staged over the past year in stadia and on the road.
For the past 35 years I have been in the privileged position of being part of it all from my position in the commentary box and 2024 has been one of the most enjoyable to witness from behind the mic.

We had the European Championships in Rome in early June and of course the Olympics eight weeks later, while 15 Diamond League meetings were also stitched into the fabric of the summer, as were dozens of World Athletics Continental Tour meetings.

Our fabulous squad of British athletes have done us proud this year and, as I write, Keely Hodgkinson seems at least to be favourite to win BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year. Our medal hauls in Rome and Paris, despite many being relay medals, was wondrous, and more than sufficient to justify the sport rightly expecting good TV coverage for the immediate future, good funding to continue and good recruitment to continue at club level.

Indeed, it is testament to the set-up of our sport in the UK that athletics has provided the best value for central funding money per medal garnered in Paris. In complete contrast to this, the sport’s astonishing lack of sponsors on the UK scene remains one of the great mysteries of this current era. It both puzzles and angers me.

But back to the day job. Many of you reading this no doubt would dearly love to try your hand at TV commentary. I mean, how hard can it be? You turn up, describe what you’re seeing with a few nuances and it’s a case of job done.

Of course, the phrase “armchair expert” came into being for a reason, though, and it’s all too easy to pass judgment, not only on the athletes trying their best but on commentators, too. If you miss something, you’re wrong. If you misidentify someone, you’re wrong. If you slip up over a split, a faller, a field position or make an error on a clip that’s thrown at you, live or off tape, you’re wrong – and don’t those “experts” let you know it!

That said, like any challenging job, it’s satisfying to get a project (race call) right, and equally frustrating to make an error. With many jobs, everything is in the preparation but, no matter how ready one can be, live sport has a habit of throwing googlies at you.

I’ve known colleagues beat themselves up over a poor race call, but what we do know is that 99 per cent of those listening wouldn’t even have noticed, and the few that did are largely both sympathetic to a small error, and too busy enjoying the rest of the coverage to bother with any public criticism.

Happily, most programmes go well, viewers are enthused – which I think is perhaps the most important element of our job – and they look forward to the next top meeting.

Speaking of which, the men’s 1500m final in Paris, was my “race of the Games”, a truly fascinating battle, with such fine margins deciding the result. Jakob you-know-who told me after the Games that he knew he’d blown it when he saw the first 400m time was under 55 seconds and that, 1000m later, his legs were “absolutely dead” coming into the straight. His racing strategy carries huge risks, but high reward when it goes right, and I admire him enormously for that gung-ho, “catch me if you can” attitude. While he’s involved, no major final will be won with a 51-second last lap again and others are constantly trying to be as strong as him. He has changed the whole world of middle-distance racing.

Britain’s success in Paris was solid, but frustratingly could have been so much more; imagine if Matthew Hudson-Smith had not been caught by Quincy Hall, or if Josh Kerr had hung on for that 1500m gold after passing Jakob? Neither Matt or Josh put a foot wrong in their races, but were simply beaten by an outside force over which they had no influence.

In athletics, as Discus Queen and two-time Olympic champion Valarie Allman told me recently, you simply have to accept that on any given day, one other person might achieve something incredibly special for them, something that you have zero control over, even when you’ve done everything right yourself. There is no shame at all in losing in those circumstances.

But the race of the summer, for me, didn’t take place at the Games – it was Jakob’s 3000m world record in the Silesia Diamond League. That’s because, just as in his two miles world record last year at the Paris Diamond League, he didn’t just break a long-standing best ever mark, he totally obliterated it.

We’re living through a privileged time in our sport, with consummate professionals putting on races that, again and again, get me giving it oomph down the mic. Commentating is often an “act”, in that you have to gauge your volume and excitement levels, going “through the gears” to hit top speed as the athletes approach the finish line.

But, again and again this summer, I found myself simply calling a race from instinct, not by design – and that was a huge privilege and genuine pleasure for me on too many occasions to recount.

The coming year carries many fascinations, with Michael Johnson’s four-meeting “Grand Slam Track” series, for track events only, arriving on the scene. How will it be regarded? I’m sure the Diamond League will also, again, produce fabulous performances by the hatful, but this time it will conclude before the World Championships in Tokyo in September. After that there will be nothing, no track meetings at all. Now that will be weird!

Thankfully, the familiarity of intense competition never leads to boredom or disinterest. Will Keely threaten the 800m world record, as many are predicting? Will Jakob get that elusive world 1500m title? Can Noah Lyles keep the pack at bay, after winning the Olympic 100m title but losing over 200m (albeit with Covid)? Finally, let’s remember how lucky we are that whether your thing is running, jumping, or throwing, you’ll have umpteen opportunities to see it next year, indoors and out. These are special times and we should celebrate them.

» This article first appeared in the November issue of AW magazine. Subscribe to AW magazine here, check out our new podcast here or sign up to our digital archive of back issues from 1945 to the present day here

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