So running can be changed to be all about tech, but then the Olympic Committee is gonna have a bit to say about things. They have to treat all sports fairly after all. Add to that the fact that they've already proved that nothing is sacred when they dumped wrestling. (Wrestling was, at least to my mind, one of the original sports even in antiquity. They had no problem at all jettisoning it.) And you end up in an environment where Track and Field has to be a bit careful about where we step. We already have, let's say, not the best reputation because of doping. We really didn't need any new headaches. (In all honesty though, I think the wrestling thing woke a lot of sports federations up. A lot of sports are being a bit more careful about things these days. So trying to avoid the attention of the Olympic Committee is definitely not just Track and Field.)
Well sure. But there IS skiing in the Olympics, and that is a sport that is defined by (pun) cutting-edge technology. The constant jockeying for slight improvements makes all skis that much better. Of course, we remember the "cheat suits" worn by some lugers a Winter Olympics' ago, which was a pretty controversial thing but all considered I was on the side of "well, they just showed up better equipped..."
I think the dumping (and re-instating) of wrestling was a good thing for the sport as it forced to innovate in places where it had become insanely passive and boring with very few watching or really caring.
There's the issue though isn't it?
There's no F1 at the Olympics.
So running can be changed to be all about tech, but then the Olympic Committee is gonna have a bit to say about things. They have to treat all sports fairly after all. Add to that the fact that they've already proved that nothing is sacred when they dumped wrestling. (Wrestling was, at least to my mind, one of the original sports even in antiquity. They had no problem at all jettisoning it.) And you end up in an environment where Track and Field has to be a bit careful about where we step. We already have, let's say, not the best reputation because of doping. We really didn't need any new headaches. (In all honesty though, I think the wrestling thing woke a lot of sports federations up. A lot of sports are being a bit more careful about things these days. So trying to avoid the attention of the Olympic Committee is definitely not just Track and Field.)