Having decided to compete in the forthcoming Masters World Indoor Championships in Daegu, South Korea. I cant help but read the comments made by many others on the potential success or failure of the event.
The initial deadline for entry and confirmation was the 26th January and as that date arrived, the deadline was amended in silence on the website until the 2nd February. On reviewing the entry lists, it is evident to see that the uptake from athlete’s world wide isn’t as high as the recent outdoor championships based in Perth, and of those that have entered it appears they have all been processed and classified as ‘accepted’. However, also very clear is the large number of locals entered, both without an entry time to put down and still in a position of not being accepted.
Of course I fully expect there to be a large proportion of national athlete, that’s obvious, my concern is why are they still not processed, and I guess my main concern is are these purely for ‘number’. I know this is indeed a level of amateur sport but I believe those who compete and do indeed travel the world to compete wearing our nations vests, holding back the years, still take it serious enough to hope that we are not forced to race extra rounds purely so an event can claim to have had xx number of participants etc.
So what is my concern? Well I think really, why was a major competition planned so close to the previous, where the majority of athletes would have competed and financed for (lets not forget this sport is entirely self funded).
As such I’d fully understand, the local organisers pushing for more local entrants that they can push and entice to compete, but why was this placed so close to Perth?
I hope then when the 2nd February comes, the deadline is officially closed and we can just get ready to race and have a confirmed entry list and schedule. In the mean time I can only focus on what I need to do, and that is 48 days of hard training!!
