One thing that is interesting and continues to dog athletics is the following:
The relevant Ministry administers both Sport and Culture.
Culture as it pertains to promoted Carnival fetes in need of a venue is a PROFIT center (people making money)
Sport on the other hand is still viewed as a COST center (funding of teams, programs, looking for subventions, etc)
Until someone can illustrate to the government, private sector how Sport can become a revenue source it is most likely doomed to play second fiddle to the fetes in the stadia.
When I watch the Diamond League, I see people not just being entertained but being wowed by the best there is, so they come out in the tens of thousands. It's like going to see Cirque du Soleil, you do not know what to expect but you know it is going to be great, and the magic changes every year with new but consistently great talent.
Believe it or not, for the younger ones in here, in the 70s (when there was only channel 2 and 13, no satellite dish, no cable TV, no internet, no US programming of NBA basketball/formula one car racing, etc) sport used to be the best deal in town on a Saturday afternoon other than a double feature movie at your local cinema.
I witnessed crowds like you see in Jamaica champs replete with people climbing on the roof of the Arima velodrome to see Leslie King battle Daniel Morelon in the match sprint, Hasely Crawford battle Steve Williams then Steve Riddick in what we thought was a new WR though it was a wind aided HT 9.8, twice in one weekend (Williams beat Crawfie in 9.9 and they ran a rematch the next day which Crawfie won in 9.8 sec) You could not find standing room in the house.
When there used to be Relay Championships (a points and trophy meet), clubs would bring their "Best Village" drumming and rhythm sections and it was mas in the place. There was even a DJ spinning tunes downstairs. Men would come up to you to buy you an Apple J if you won your race because there was also a "horse race" betting pool in the place. Same thing at Southern Games with the likes of Horace Tuitt cutting some Kenyan backside in the 800, or down in Point Fortin or Palo Seco. Communities used to come out to support athletes, and I think it was because they came to see and witnessed QUALITY track and field and cycling, much like they enjoy in Europe on a grander scale today.
It is however a harder sell for people today given the amount of additional entertainment and distraction, so you have to work harder to market such events as REVENUE makers.
Jamaica has invested in quality coaching, effective catchment mechanisms to find those jewel athletes from small, gotten long term sponsors for track meets, made track and field main stream, and made the Champs an "intercol-style" competitive meet, that fuels, attracts and recycles the talent pool.
Look we have the quality in T&T but it only comes along every 10 years it seems. With all of JA's history in sprinting, none has run as fast as Ian Morris still. And well, we still hold the 100m junior WR. It is just a matter of making this more of an assembly line where, as an example, a triathlete like Gavyn Nero could find out he could be a star track and field athlete and not get lost in a sport that may not have maximized his talents.
But I digress.......