Sep 18, 2004 Public Relations By Laurel Park :: Views- 1225

A few months ago I read an editorial in a major city newspaper that was written by a sports reporter who covers (among other things) road racing. In it, he bemoaned that fact that many of the foreign athletes who win the popular races in his region are not, to say the least, "media friendly." When they do agree to speak to the press, their comments are brief, predictable, and hardly illuminating. In short, they do not make for scintillating copy. The reporter stated that this was not caused by language difficulties as the majority of these athletes speak excellent English. He surmised that they did not consider publicity to be one of their duties - they expected to show up, run hard, collect a prize check, and leave. The reporter did not really fault the athletes but rather their agents, some of whom apparently don't think that invited athletes have a responsibility to assist with race publicity. Several years ago, a race director told me that for his event, a high-profile race which draws media attention from across the country, the foreign athletes regularly skipped the pre-race press conference and left for the airport as soon as possible after completing the race, thus missing the post-race conference as well (I suggested that payment of appearance and prize money be contingent on attending both events, but he said he didn't have the energy to fight the agents on that). The human interest aspect is what makes a news report come alive, and lacking that, it is little more than a glorified course and weather description. Glorified course descriptions do not attract readers. And people wonder why road racing doesn't get media attention.

This struck a chord with me because I've noticed that I'm just not that interested in the results from certain high-profile races any more, and when I thought a little more about that, I realized it was because I didn't feel any sense of connection with the top finishers. I don't know anything about these people and I don't have any context in which to place their accomplishments. Some races seem to be a revolving door of different faceless names every year, and whether Athlete A or Athlete B or Athlete C is the eventual winner doesn't mean a thing to me, regardless of how fast he or she runs. Maybe I'll scan the list of result for a familiar name, but I don't bother reading the newspaper or internet articles about the race. I'm much more likely to tune into a race where some of the names are familiar and have developed a relationship with the event. I remember reading a fascinating article about Tegla Laroupe in the pre-race publicity for the New York City Marathon a few years ago. Tegla described how much she enjoyed the race and the city, and the elite athlete coordinator talked about Tegla's background and history with the race. Knowing a little bit about the person inside the runner piqued my interest, and I made it a point to check the post-race articles to see how Tegla had done. The same with Cosmos N'Deti and the Boston marathon. It's also fun when athletes return to specific races over the years and develop a relationship with the community. In these cases, the athletes often have a rapport with the race director, are more than willing to speak with the media, and sometimes even spend a couple of days in town participating in race-related activities.

I'll also admit to a bit of nationalism and confess that in general I'm more interested in reading about my American colleagues than I am about a group of foreigners, regardless of how fast they run. It's not that I don't respect these people but as an American athlete I have a natural interest in other American athletes. Having lived in Europe, I feel fairly confident in saying that this is an international phenomenon, covering all sports in the vast majority of countries. I want to know how my countrymen fared, even if they are a few pegs south on the finish chart. I've heard any number of race directors and elite athlete coordinators argue that the people in their communities want to read about fast times and world records. That might make the sponsors happy, and for the few readers who follow the sport closely it's doubtlessly true. But my purely anecdotal evidence suggests that the majority of casual observers would far rather read about the "home-grown kid" who may represent this country in the next Olympics. Printing a story that highlights a group of athletes whose names are not familiar and who will not be wearing a "USA" singlet in the next Olympics is likely an invitation for the reader to turn the page. And I don't think that for most people this is an issue of race because I've seen it regardless of the country of origin. A foreign athlete is a foreign athlete, no matter what language he speaks.

I certainly don't advocate the banning of foreign athletes from all races, and I agree that only by competing against the best will U.S. runners become among the best. I guess I'd just like to know a little bit about the people in the uniform. I'd like for them to talk to the press and share their stories and give me a chance to get to know them. I'd like them to come back year after year so they become part of the community. I'd like to think of them as more than just running machines who are in town for a day to collect a check.