The current Grand Prix track and field circuit is being run on various days of the week in different countries without any real cohesion to the season. The president of the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF), Primo Nebiolo wants to change this and organise top-class running so that Wednesday nights would be athletics night all over Europe.

In common with other major sports, athletics is fighting for television revenue, which is in turn determined by viewer interest. The world governing body is, accordingly, trying to reduce the length of major meetings to around two hours, promote head-to-head competitions and make Golden League meetings a regular part of the sports fans' weekly viewing.

"We would like to have the meetings on the same day of the week," Nebiolo said last month. "It would be Wednesday for athletics. All the meetings would be on the same day. The plan is to put on a good show and limit it to two hours."

So much for tradition.