Yes the board of directors voted for Chattanooga, but again the USOPC has the final say. It sounds the USOPC DQed the bid because of the major conflict of interest, and the BOD was forced to reverse their decision. Sarah needs to fact check some more.
If that is the case then that is very easy to state by USATF communications. "The US Olympic Committee disqualified the bid from Chattanooga and we selected Orlando as a result."
USATF should remember it is a non-profit and serves the community at large and should try and be as transparent with the running community as it can. The lack of communication is the problem.
Yes the board of directors voted for Chattanooga, but again the USOPC has the final say. It sounds the USOPC DQed the bid because of the major conflict of interest, and the BOD was forced to reverse their decision. Sarah needs to fact check some more.
If that is the case then that is very easy to state by USATF communications. "The US Olympic Committee disqualified the bid from Chattanooga and we selected Orlando as a result."
USATF should remember it is a non-profit and serves the community at large and should try and be as transparent with the running community as it can. The lack of communication is the problem.
The lack of communication is one of WAY TOO MANY PROBLEMS.
USATF board and higher ups are a bunch of greedy piggies. Voting huge million dollar salaries for themselves every year while giving like a handful of 15k stipends to the country's best athletes. Insanely corrupt. I would love to see them all stand trial and do jail time. This sounds extreme, but Siegal should spend the rest of his life behind bars for such a blatant disregard for the wellbeing of american athletes. Can you imagine if he set aside just half of his disgustingly bloated salary to be given to top athletes? You could pay like 20+ of them, 100k a year to just get fit and win medals. And he'd still be getting MILLIONS. Pig.
USATF board and higher ups are a bunch of greedy piggies. Voting huge million dollar salaries for themselves every year while giving like a handful of 15k stipends to the country's best athletes. Insanely corrupt. I would love to see them all stand trial and do jail time. This sounds extreme, but Siegal should spend the rest of his life behind bars for such a blatant disregard for the wellbeing of american athletes. Can you imagine if he set aside just half of his disgustingly bloated salary to be given to top athletes? You could pay like 20+ of them, 100k a year to just get fit and win medals. And he'd still be getting MILLIONS. Pig.
Anyone else remember when USATF didn't send a team to u20 worlds in 2021 because THEY DIDN'T TO PAY FOR IT?
USATF board and higher ups are a bunch of greedy piggies. Voting huge million dollar salaries for themselves every year while giving like a handful of 15k stipends to the country's best athletes. Insanely corrupt. I would love to see them all stand trial and do jail time. This sounds extreme, but Siegal should spend the rest of his life behind bars for such a blatant disregard for the wellbeing of american athletes. Can you imagine if he set aside just half of his disgustingly bloated salary to be given to top athletes? You could pay like 20+ of them, 100k a year to just get fit and win medals. And he'd still be getting MILLIONS. Pig.
Anyone else remember when USATF didn't send a team to u20 worlds in 2021 because THEY DIDN'T TO PAY FOR IT?
Maybe he sees a pay cut in his future after all the outrage and needed to find alternative sources of income
There’s been a few comments from various pros about Max. Outside of that, there’s been very little response and outcry from the elites. I’m very surprised. I expected some protest but nothing. It’s like the fans are more angry than the pros themselves. I find this strange.
The membership is spineless and disorganized. This is the bull shot they’ve been peddling while making millions for a decade. Nobody fights nobody really cares there is obviously too little at stake. The whining is as irritating as the offense.
Does Sarah have her facts straight on who “DQed” Chattanooga? The USOPC gives the final approval, right? Sounds like there was a major conflict of interest having a board member (Jim Estes) as part of Chattanooga’s bid.
From the article, he disclosed that early in the process and recused himself from the voting matters.
The real question is where did Nike want the Trials held?
Whether there was a good reason or not, the fact that the top organization of the sport can't provide a clear and timely comment or explanation proves how incompetent the leadership is.
I'm amazed no one's picked up on this.
Could it be that Orlando was selected because it so happens that Universal Studios Florida is owned by the television partner of the USOPC and the IOC?
If I'm NBCUniversal, I'd want part of the course to go through/near Universal Studios properties, including the hotels. Also, it would save NBCU some production expenses, AND possibly get some money back by housing participants, friends, family, media, and NewGen groupies at hotels on Universal property. You can hook people on a Universal Studio pass as part of the hotel package.
All of a sudden, the marathon trials on TV looks like a 3-hour infomercial for Universal Studios!
The USOC really needs to step in here. Usatf regularly not abiding by its own bylaws. At this point, the FBI might want to start looking into the back door deals being made.
From the article it appears they did follow the bylaws. I read it that the Board can recommend or advise, but the final decision is made by the national office.
According to minutes from the October 9 USATF board meeting held in Miami Beach, recently posted to USATF’s website, the board issued “an advisory vote of approval for the 2024 USATF U.S. Olympic Trials - Marathon bid to be awarded to Chattanooga, Tennessee. Final approval still remains with the USATF National Office.”
There may be shady things going on, but this aspect does not appear to be it.
It's pretty simple really. Orlando probably had a better package of luxury hotel suites, comped meals, and gift baskets for Max and his pals. Athlete considerations are second.
Reminds me of the time they chose to hold the race at 1pm in LA on an 80 degree day
I do not think they expected it to be 80 in February even in LA.
What should happen is the board of USATF derivatively sues USATF for breach of fiduciary duty and seek a declaratory judgment they violated the bylaws, etc. Maybe tack on a claim for corporate waste. Alternatively Chattanooga could sue saying that the National office acted without apparent authority bc the bylaws authorizing Chattanooga were public. So many options if the board/Chattanooga wants to go that route
what do I know though I’m just a Corporate lawyer ://///
The board can fire the staff. There is no need for a lawsuit.
Also, it does not appear they violated the bylaws at least not in terms of this. The bylaws apparently allows the national office to make the final decision.
Having been around this world for a while sometimes the national office actually makes a better decision than the board on things.
Yes the board of directors voted for Chattanooga, but again the USOPC has the final say. It sounds the USOPC DQed the bid because of the major conflict of interest, and the BOD was forced to reverse their decision. Sarah needs to fact check some more.
If that is the case then that is very easy to state by USATF communications. "The US Olympic Committee disqualified the bid from Chattanooga and we selected Orlando as a result."
USATF should remember it is a non-profit and serves the community at large and should try and be as transparent with the running community as it can. The lack of communication is the problem.
Can someone show me where the USOPC has the final say?
Right, but that was disclosed prior and updated according to the article. Also, the board unanimously voted for Chattanooga based on the recommendations of the men's and women's long distance committees. I guess it's possible that Estes had so much influence over the committees and also the board, but that seems unlikely, and it wouldn't explain 2016.
Again, the fact that nobody can explain or comment on it doesn't look great for anyone making the decision.
It's like that time when Billy Beane picked the pitcher with the bum elbow to play first base, when his entire scouting staff unanimously voted for Pena!
And look what happened..21 game winning streak in Oakland! It's all about getting on base.
From the article, he disclosed that early in the process and recused himself from the voting matters.
The real question is where did Nike want the Trials held?
Whether there was a good reason or not, the fact that the top organization of the sport can't provide a clear and timely comment or explanation proves how incompetent the leadership is.
I'm amazed no one's picked up on this.
Could it be that Orlando was selected because it so happens that Universal Studios Florida is owned by the television partner of the USOPC and the IOC?
If I'm NBCUniversal, I'd want part of the course to go through/near Universal Studios properties, including the hotels. Also, it would save NBCU some production expenses, AND possibly get some money back by housing participants, friends, family, media, and NewGen groupies at hotels on Universal property. You can hook people on a Universal Studio pass as part of the hotel package.
All of a sudden, the marathon trials on TV looks like a 3-hour infomercial for Universal Studios!
I doubt this is the case. Universal Studios hardly needs to have the Trials nearby to draw people to it. Seems like it is doing pretty well.
Also, that is not how tv crews work. It is not like everyone who works a camera for NBC lives in Orlando. They hire a lot of local folks to do things or fly people in from all over the country already.
The only consideration should be selecting the best team for the games on a course as close as possible to the Olympic course. Not money or hotels or anything else. Chattanooga has to be closer to Paris, right?
Orlando, from a tourism standpoint, couldn't care less about these trials. There may be other reasons but Orlando already has all the tourist dollars they need. Compared to Disney, Universal, and people chasing the sun for a vacation the trials money will be a rounding error, likely in the red direction actually.
This needs to be repeated. The only important consideration is finding a course that is closest to the Olympic course to send the team most likely to medal. It shouldn't really even be a bid, no city should be paying for this event. Just pick the marathon that most closely resembles Paris, throw the trials at the front of it a few minutes before the mass start, and be done. No fanfare, not additional cost to cities, not money to USATF.
The use of the term "disqualification" is an attempt to make it sound like Estes and Chattanooga violated some rules or standards. But they didn't. Nothing was communicated to the relevant parties, either verbally or in writing, to indicate that it would be impermissible to have a board member affiliated with a bid. Estes followed the standard protocol in these situations, and everything was out in the open. If USATF wants to have new rules about board members' activities, it can do that, but it shouldn't be ex post facto. Whether or not USATF and Max had some secret reason to prefer Orlando, it certainly makes things look fishy to tell the organizing committee that all of their work was for nothing because they violated a rule that didn't exist until after they submitted their bid. To be clear, I'm not seeing anything to indicate there was corruption in this particular instance. It just looks like more mundane incompetence. (Max's other specialty.)
The only important consideration is finding a course that is closest to the Olympic course to send the team most likely to medal.
If medals were the only consideration, then we'd have selection committees instead of trials. There are lots of relevant considerations in selecting a trials host.
In any event, replicating the course is irrelevant. The best runner on a flat course is going to be the best runner on a hilly course and vice versa. This was one of those Atlanta talking points that just took on a life of its own among people who don't actually know anything about marathon running.
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