2016 Olympics Will Have Fewer Track Athletes
It's going to be a little harder to be a track and field Olympian in 2016 than it was last year. There will be a maximum of 2,000 track and field athletes at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, 231 fewer than competed in London, according to the Olympics-centric site Inside The Games . The number from London was the most ever; the 2016 cap of 2,000 returns the athlete total to what it was in recent pre-London Olympics. Still, the decline in track and field athletes competing in 2016 signals a potentially troubling trend, according to Inside The Games. The reduced number of track competitors coincides with track no longer being in its own category when it comes to the Games' revenue-sharing plan. The IAAF, track and field's international governing body, got about $45 million from the 2012 Games, the most of any sport's governing body, Inside The Games reports. Starting in 2016, gymnastics and aquatics will have the same revenue-sharing agreement as track and