BUDAPEST – Some number of years ago, Anna Cockrell was an undergraduate at the University of Southern California, where I teach journalism. At a track and field dinner, she and I happened to get seated next to each other. It was obvious she was destined for big things. 

On Friday, at the Team USA news conference before the start of the 2023 world championships, Anna, who is a standout hurdler, was asked – by a non-American journalist – how it is that the United States can keep sending a dominant team even though the sport is “losing popularity” and has essentially no “major support” at home. That is because, as he asserted, not incorrectly, “ESPN is ignoring it.” 

Anna delivered a lengthy soliloquy that, for the most part, hit the right notes. (Not surprising. She is, as noted, hugely capable.) At the same time, it also underscored the blunt reality facing track and field as the sport heads into what seems by every measure to be first-rate world championships, what could be the best-ever, here in Budapest.