The highlight of my month was watching the World Athletics Championships. The best track and field athletes spent nine days competing in Budapest. Imagine the Olympics with prize money and with no sports other than track and field. It was bliss. It was agonizing. I cannot wait for the Olympics in Paris next year.
I love track and field because most of the athletes look normal. Like someone you'd see at Planet Fitness, taking a yoga class, or hanging out at the shore. A lot of the athletes have careers. Middle distance runner Laura Muir is a veterinarian. Triple jumper Hugues Fabrice Zango has a Ph.D. in electrical engineering. Marathoner Susanna Sullivan teaches sixth grade math. There are teenagers competing with people twice their age. The women and men compete in the same sports (except for the heptathlon vs. the decathlon). Non-binary athlete Nikki Hiltz is one of the sport's biggest stars.
There are still problems. Some people in the media mis-gender Hiltz. The governing body discriminates against DSD and transgender athletes. The uniforms still sexualize the athletes, especially the women. There is still pressures to develop eating disorders, especially for women. There is still pressure to take banned performance enhancing drugs, especially for athletes in the Global South. The way sponsorship works, while improving, remains fraught. The way the competitions are organized and promoted is a clusterfuck.
Even with its problems, it's the sport I appreciate the most. It's more global, accessible, and fair than any others. The part I like best is running: the 100, 200, 1,500, 5,000, and 10,000 meters, plus the mile, and half and full marathon. I also love cross country, and trail and ultra races.