Global governing body supports the heritage of track and field with the creation of a digital home for artefacts

Over the years there have been various attempts to keep the history of the sport alive. Athletics has a strong presence, of course, in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, whereas the Olympic Museum in Barcelona was a temporary home to an IAAF centenary exhibition in 2012.

Similarly, a shopping centre in Doha housed a World Athletics collection of memorabilia for six months in the run-up to the 2019 World Championships in the Qatari city. Then there is the National Track & Field Hall of Fame in New York, which was founded almost half a century ago.

In Britain, a group of enthusiasts have worked hard in recent years to maintain a collection of primarily written material such as old programmes, books and of course magazines like AW. There have been temporary exhibitions, too, such as at Alexander Stadium during the Diamond League in Birmingham. But plans to build a bricks and mortar museum at the Olympic Park in London in 2012 did not materialise, which means of course that much of the historical material is currently inaccessible to fans.

During the past year, of course, museums have been largely inaccessible anyway due to the pandemic. Given this, World Athletics has created an online museum to allow fans to immerse themselves in the history of the sport without stepping outside their own homes.

The Museum of World Athletics – or MOWA for short – features 3D images of shoes, clothing and equipment, plus medals and more. It has evolved following the creation of the World Athletics heritage initiative in 2018 “to honour, preserve and promote the sport’s history” and includes attractive computer-generated images combined with actual high-quality photographs of various items and artefacts.

It’s goal? To excite, educate and entertain.

“It has been born out of necessity,” Chris Turner from World Athletics heritage department admits. “Covid-19 caused the cancellation of our plans for public events in 2020 and so the answer was simple: to go online.”

World Athletics president Seb Coe adds: “We’re not only the first international sports federation to launch a 3D sports museum online but MOWA is the first virtual sports museum of any kind in the world.”

The museum includes items such as Grete Waitz’s racing shoes from her heyday in the early 1980s and the singlet and number that Herb Elliott wore when winning the Olympic 1500m title in a world record in 1960 (see below).

A World Championships collection room is a focal point of the museum as it opens this week, but World Athletics plan to unveil an Olympic Games section in July followed by a section for road running, race walking, indoor athletics and cross-country in the autumn.

AW enjoyed an exclusive and extensive tour around the museum several days ago in advance of the official launch. Afterwards, World Athletics president Coe spoke with enthusiasm about the initiative and he enjoyed a short chat with middle-distance legend Elliott via video from Australia plus Waitz’s husband and coach Jack in Norway. As part of the launch today (March 15) a heritage plaque has also been awarded in honour of Elliott’s coach, Percy Cerutty.

So what is the MOWA experience like? Pretty good, I have to say. A bit like reading this article online in comparison to flicking through the pages of a printed magazine, some people will inevitably prefer the idea of visiting a museum in person rather than viewing items digitally. But during the pandemic we have little option and World Athletics has made a fine job.

There is a section focusing on the ancient history of athletics and how it has developed in the past 3000 years. Iconic artefacts from every continent are on display too. However the focal point so far is, not surprisingly, the World Championships area where everything from Carl Lewis’ singlet through to Mo Farah’s racing spikes are on view.

READ MORE: Our 5 favourite artefacts in MOWA

There are a few sound effects but instead of the shrill and arguably irritating music that visitors to the Diamond League website have found in recent years, it is the quiet rumble of footsteps and light chatter that you would find ordinarily in a museum.

The sound effects aren’t intrusive and make it feel very authentic. Add to this the general design – which includes images of make-belief visitors and even the same style of toilets that you would find in a real-life museum – and at times it really does feel like you are there.

If you grew up playing Space Invaders and Pacman, you will be blown away with the graphics. If you are part of the Fortnite generation, you will feel right at home.

Much of the technology involved in the MOWA is down to a company called dcSPORT, which is headed up by Jason Gardener, the former world and European indoor 60m champion.

Gardener’s team took 36 photos of each artefact at successive 10-degree angles to create the 3D element. The pictures were high quality, too, so that if you zoom in you can see every scratch or mark on the footwear or apparel.

Gardener says: “We wanted it to be a stunning visual, immersive, engaging and enjoyable place to visit. To be part of this big project where anyone with internet access can tap into this rich history is amazing.”

Many athletics moments last only a few minutes or even seconds, but their memory endures forever. Consider the blur of a 60m sprint, for example, or a shot putter spinning or sliding across a throws circle, or a triple jumper bounding into a pit. These feats of athleticism are over in a flash but the MOWA will allow them to endure for years to come.

Not only is MOWA impressive but it will inevitably grow in coming months and years if it can continue to get hold of interesting material. “MOWA is a myriad of marvellous memories and moments which few other sports can match,” says Turner. “But we are entirely dependent on the generous donations from athletes.”

To check out the museum, CLICK HERE