Is athletics that boring nowadays?

The Monaco meeting, part of the IAAF Diamond League, pulls a talented field, year after year. The stands are packed , year after year. Records fall and spectacular races are garanteed, year after year. So the the Monaco meet did exactly the same thing they do, year after year – put on a great show for the fans.

But what the organisers certainly did not want was what the two frenchman Mehdi Baala and Mahiedine Mekhissi Benabbad delivered. Instead of doing what they get paid for, running the 1.500 meters around the stadium as fast as possible they had an attitude problem and tried to solve that straight away by punching each others face.

And what is the media doing? Instead of celebrating great 3.000m Steeplechase or 5.000m performances the spotlight is a fist fight between two idiots. Is the sport that boring?