Botswana sprinter Letsile Tebogo has urged World Athletics to consider returning the defunct Continental Cup.
The competition was scrapped in March 2020 after 43 years following low demand but the Olympics 200m champion feels it was exciting enough hence the desire for its return.
“We need this meet back @WorldAthletics One of the fun meets to have watched,” Tebogo posted on X, accompanying his post with a poster of the competition.
Letsile Tebogo’s quest for the $30,000 prize and Diamond League Trophy will come under a heavy challenge as he is up against five top American sprinters at the final in Brussels.
The Continental Cup began life as the World Cup back in 1977 and was widely credited with paving the way for the launch of the World Championships in Helsinki in 1983.
Eight teams featured in initial World Cup format, which included the United States and the previous winners and runners-up of the European Cup.
An Americas team featured, along with Africa, Asia and Oceania and a rest of Europe squad.
World champion heads to the Diamond League season finale looking to win her first crown and there are a number of reasons which makes her hot favourite for the lucrative prize.
A total of 10 World Cup events were held from 1977 to 2006, with a trophy awarded to the winning team after each event and returned prior to the next edition.
World Cup trophies were the sole team event prize awarded by World Athletics in stadiums, until the event was rebranded at the Continental Cup.
The first event under the Continental Cup branding took place in the Croatian city Split in 2010.
Africa’s fastest woman Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith will be out to end her difficult season in style at the season finale in Brussels but she is up against top rivals both 100m and 200m.
A remodelled event saw four teams compete for the title, with Africa, the Americas, Asia and Europe contesting the event.
The Moroccan city of Marrakech hosted the 2014 event, with the final edition in Ostrava the Czech Republic in 2018 as teams competed for points during the two-day competition.