Column | The fear of the great white shark

Of course we are not asked. We, the consumers or sometimes the voters, the spectators, the fans. Everything is decided over our heads and we, we are supposed to have the feeling that they, the institutions in all forms, whether clubs, associations or parties, only mean well for us. They only want, so the credo goes, the best for us.

Political representatives try to lure us with crude deceptions, especially before elections, when we know that most of their words are just smoke and mirrors. However, we are weak and regularly succumb to wild promises and temptations. This is mercilessly exploited. The most successful way to get ahead, according to the current experience of the two state elections in Germany, is to not come up with any ideas or suggestions. Then you get a lot of votes. You just have to be loud and rail against the current government. That is enough and that is one of the saddest realizations of the last few weeks and the real alarm signal for our society.

But soon we will be distracted again, because that is also being taken care of. I am not talking about the air show with deported asylum seekers convicted of criminal offenses, which was staged just in time before the elections (it was of little use), but the new sports calendar, which is forcing us into an insane dilemma.

In order to be able to watch everything we want to see, we have to go to lots of TV stations. For a fee, of course. At the same time, however, we would have to reduce our workload, otherwise we would miss one event or another. Less work, less money, more expenses. It will be a vicious circle, because I forgot: the big associations in particular only want the best. Not for us, but from us: our money. Anyone who thinks that the Champions League in football, with 204 games in a season, has only been expanded so that we can all have more fun is very much mistaken. In the future, sporting events will be strong competition for money-printing machines. Football is the driving force behind this.

The Champions League plays in a completely new format. © ANSA / SEBASTIEN NOGIER

Others are following suit with more and more formats. Athletics, for example, now wants to hold world championships every year. In even-numbered years, i.e. for the first time in 2026, a three-day final spectacle will be held in Budapest, in which only the best of the best will compete. Olympic champions, world champions, Diamond League winners, world record holders. There will no longer be any qualifications and zero tolerance at the start up to 400 meters. A blink of an eye will then be a false start.

A very special water obstacle The obstacle course is now only 1500 metres instead of 3000. Faster pace, more spectacle. Maybe a few piranhas will be used in the moat. The board will be symbolically nailed to the wall. In the long jump, there will be a take-off zone of 40 centimetres in the future. The bar will only be used as a guide. And in the pole vault, the actual height will be measured and not the height of the bar for each attempt. There will only be six possibilities anyway. And in the javelin throw, only the best throw counts. The shorter rounds will not even be measured. And then there will be a women-only competition in the USA and a new competition series that will compete against the Diamond League. And so on and so forth. The European championships in between, for example, or even national championships, will be downgraded.

We saw just recently where this is all leading when the Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis competed in Zurich against the Norwegian 400m hurdles world record holder Karsten Warholm. Over 100 meters. "Mondo", who holds the pole vault world record with 10,37 meters, won in a really strong time of 6,26 seconds. It was fun, good. Warholm will have to compete in the final of the Diamond League in Brussels wearing a Swedish jersey. But it also shows that every conceivable means is being used to bring the classic sports into a new era with new formats.

Michael Phelps swam against a great white shark in 2017. Ben Johnson ran against a horse. Of course, that is no longer sport. It is a circus, in the true sense of the word. Come in. The monster show begins. You have to be extremely careful not to turn sporting competitions into a puppet show that no one really takes seriously. And I once heard in passing that if you want to be good, you also have to train. Thomas Michelmann, President of the German Handball Association (DHB), said in the trade magazine "Handballwoche" that there is a danger that the sport will eat itself up.

Sports doctors have long been warning about the excesses of the schedules because there is no time left to recover. It is no coincidence that the two Olympic finalists Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcatraz were eliminated early in the US Open. Both were tired, mentally too. In the end, it was perhaps clever of Jannik Sinner not to compete in Paris. He seems fresh and is now in the semi-finals in New York. In the future, it will be increasingly important for athletes to take a close look at their schedules. And to say no if necessary. That applies to us too, of course.

About the author: Sigi Heinrich The award-winning sports journalist (including winner of the German Television Prize, the Bavarian Sports Prize and nominated for the prestigious Grimme Prize), author, long-time sports editor of the Süddeutsche Zeitung and commentator at Eurosport since 1989, devotes his column "Sigi's Tips" to the entire diversity of sport and also likes to poach in unfamiliar territory. Sometimes with a wink, sometimes thoughtfully or deliberately provocatively. There should be something for everyone.

Tennis

hockey

Winter sports

Football

Italy

International leagues

International

Read More

Motorsport

Cycling

Watersports

Favorites

Column | The fear of the great white shark

More and more sports are trying to secure their future with new formats and even more competitions and games. Our columnist, Eurosport commentator Sigi Heinrich, warns against circus-like excesses that have already occurred and sees the danger of overburdening the participants and spectators.

Comments (0)