byLarry Eder
Gateway Arch, St. Louis, Missouri, photo by Larry Eder
The Hyatt Regency on Chestnut street is merely a few blocks from some of the most historic structures in the city of St. Louis. The Old Courthouse is the site of the famous Dread Scott decision, where slavery was allowed in the state of Missouri, in 1821, a decision that merely put off the inevitable. The Gateway Arch, is one of the most amazing structures to view and even more amazing to visit. Over six hundred feet tall, the Jefferson Exposition gives the viewer a look into all things west.
Saint Louis is a river city. With Spanish and French influences, the city has fascinating ethnic diversity, dating from the eighteenth century. St. Louis was the place one began the journey to the Western United States. Over the past two decades, the city has been rediscovered, and some of the old neighborhoods ( I was raised two blocks from Anheiser Busch, on Lemp avenue) have become quite bohemian, with art galleries, restaurants and young families discovering the benefits of living in old homes, built of brick that date back to the nineteenth century.
The USATF convention comes to St. Louis at a critical time. It has not been held here since 1994, when the event was hosted at the Adam’s Mark. Since then, we have had three very different CEO’s-first Ollan Cassell and then, Craig Masback. Doug Logan, the most recent CEO, made it only 18 months as the head of USATF. The most recent CEO search gave us a candidate who did not want to hold the job, or perhaps, the candidate could not extricate himself from a current job situation. In any matter, the federation has been without a CEO since September 2010.
The truth is, Mike McNees,as the acting CEO, has stayed out of the limelight and has allowed a board that is quite activist (minus three members, Jack Wickun, Steve Holman and Max Siegel) fight among itself.
2012 is a year with many momentous decisions: 2012 Eugene, 2012 London and a focus forward. The focus for the board is 2012 Eugene and London 2012, and then, as the chairman and President Stephanie Hightower noted, and then, next summer, a renewed effort on finding a new CEO.
so did the expectation levels on day one of USA Track and Field’s Annual
Meeting.
Hotel – within shouting distance of the famed St. Louis Arch – to map
plans for the sport’s American governing body heading into Olympic Year
2012.
Stephanie Hightower, citing an array of dominating American
performances at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea, the World
Youth Championships in Lille, France, and more.
finally crashed through to outleap the world in Daegu, and will be
honored here as winner of the Jesse Owens Award as USA’s athlete of the
year.
long shot heading into Daegu, beat the long odds by winning the global
title for the fourth time; as Hightower put it, “he showed what it takes
to show up when it counted.”
women’s title at the Boston Marathon; “what she lacks in height she made
jup in heart,” said Hightower.
major surprise package at the World Youth Championships in Lille,
winning the women’s 800 in 2:02.40, time that broke Track and Field Hall
of Famer Joetta Clark Diggs’ New Jersey state record for the two laps,
and taking America’s first-ever medal in the event in Wold Youth meet
history. Some even predict she has what it takes to follow in the
footseteps of Madeline Manning, 1968 Olympic champion and still
America’s only winner in the event.
sponsorship funds, and a huge chunk of that will be allocated to the
many national federations for athlete development, team organization and
transport to the Games. (But some $200,000 of USOC funds had been used
to back 2008 Olympic 400-meter champion LaShawn Merritt’s bid to regain
full Olympic eligibility, following the completion of the penalty phase
of his disqualification on a drug charge.)
million. As USATF treasurer Kenneth Taylor put it, “this is the largest
budget inn USATF history.”
Field in Eugene, Oregon, it will represent a major stride for the
nation, which last hosted an IAAF World Championship in 1992, the World
Cross Country Championships at Franklin Park, Boston. (But don’t expect
USA to host the World Outdoor Championships anytime soon; the financial
barriers seem insurmountable.)
World Relay Championships, and the good news, reported by IOC Council
vice president Bob Hersh, is that the IAAF has at last given approval
for the event. “But the devil may be in the details,” said Hersh.
“They approved the idea but set no dates. It would have to be in
odd-numbered year (to avoid conflicts with existing events); 2013 may be
too soon, so maybe it will be 2015. Again, maybe.”
will make history as the first female participant in a men’s Olympic
Trial event. Since Taylor-Talcott, a two-time national champion, has
clocked a 4:41 for the 50-kilometer walk, with the men’s Olympic Trial
standard pegged at 4:45, she will be allowed to compete in the men’s
National 50K to be held January 22 in Santee, California (a trial for
both the IAAF World Cup in May in Saransak, Russia, and the Olympic 50K
in London.) Still, she’d be ineligible to compete for the nation in
either event, since these are officially men’s events, with no women’s
equivalents.
promotional push, led by the Max Siegel firm. Siegel, formerly a member
of the USATF Board of Directors, has vast experience in such other
sports as football, baseball, hockey and basketball, which he hopes to
translate to track and field. Already on the books: staging of the US
Open Track and Field Meet Jan. 28 at New York’s Madison Square Garden,
filling the date vacated by the Millrose Games, which has moved to The
Armory Track Center, and a giant digital billboard to be placed high
above New York’s Times Square, promoting track and field on all levels.
into 2012 expectations are even higher. One thing USATF Interim CEO Mike
McNees plans to amend is the financial basis for many domestic
telecasts: “It’s a crime that USATF buys the time for these meets,” said
McNees. “We are going to turn that around,” McNees promised.
