It seems like fielding a U20 team would be one of its core or fundamental missions. Has USATF done anything exceptional or exceptionally well recently?
As a fan, I want our young talent to have this experience today, but it’s also about the future. Stuff like this builds experience. When some of them qualify for bigger stages down the road, like the Olympics/WC, I also want them to have had this experience in their past.
Addy Wiley was on the last team (4th in 1500m). Willis and Whittaker ran the 800m (both earned a medal). So the experience is very valuable.
If Peru is such a potential problem - why hasn't it been moved? USATF should have protested months ago, and a more suitable site arranged (since Coe is in league with Nike - a paid employee of theirs).
This is CRAZY. World Athletics reaction to this should be simple - strip the US of the 2026 meet which is supposed to be held in Eugene.
If the US isn't going to support the meet when it's elsewhere, why should the rest of the world support it when it's here?
Did you know Peru is on the same safety list as the UK and France? After we finish writing the WTW, we are going to work on an editorial urging WA to strip the US of the 2026 meet.
PS. I have added the second part to the title - the part asking if WA should remove the US as the 2026 host?
10000000% agreed. How can you possibly afford to host a major championship 2 years after being too broke to send a U20 team to a lesser championship? And this is 2 years after hosting the world champs.
Fire the CEO, Max Seigel - he's been overpaid for years and at this point has plenty of money to be funemployed. He clearly has no idea how to allocate anything within this organization. Also I bet the USATF+ subscriptions will probably go up in price too.
Hilarious how this happens, and then 2 days later flotrack takes over diamond league streaming rights starting in 2025. This sport is going downhill fast...and these major entities clearly know it and don't care.
"the late-summer date of the event, and concerns about competitive readiness". usual approach is that the World Championships (both those words are key) determines when and how suitable level athletes structure their competitive prep; rather than that world level athletes set their prep plans in isolation from the key events and then shrug their shoulders in disappointment if their world champs falls outside their prep plans.
Woeful on USTAF part tho of course they are far too big and successful to get any WA sanctions.
Wait, but we sent an U20 team to Lima for the Pan-American U20 championships in 2019. What changed in the "area" from then to now?
To be fair they've been on the brink of civil war for like 2 years now. I have a lot of family in Peru and it's pretty dangerous there.
I went to Peru and one of the areas mentioned in the travel advisory at the height of their protests a couple years ago and I honestly felt safer than some cities in the US. Everywhere everywhere a tourist would be is swarming with police.
I used to enjoy traveling to level-4 "Do not travel" places in Mexico. One of my favorite haunts, Zamora, is now labeled "the world's most dangerous city".
Over the course of 45 trips, I was only assaulted twice.
I feel like going to a level-2 country is like driving to wal-mart. Sure something could happen, but the chances are unlikely.
Who thinks the motivation for USATF to skip this event is that none of the executive board wanted to vacation in Peru? I do. Dollars to donuts says it this event was in a more desirable vacation destination they'd be sending a team.
Here is the Travel Advisory issued by the State Department for Peru. It is listed as a "Level 2" advisory. Some other Level 2s include: Denmark, France, Germany, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, and Italy.
It's poor financial management and laziness - the two calling cards of the track & field prevention unit that is USATF. Look at 990's over the years - revenue is totally flat, with one or two blips. LRC made the inflation point, and the mismanagement of Eugene '21 ('22). No new sponsorship money - only in kind relationships (Conley's water company, some fem hygiene stuff, candy and other junk). Then there is the parasitic Toyota/Xfinity/Prevagen/Garden of Life hand me down signage from USOPC. USATF negotiated none of that. Maybe if Max took some of the Prevagen he'd remember that his job as a CEO is to bring new revenue. Seems to have forgotten that in 2011. They do this stuff to remove a cost and to remove an administrative lift.
We're currently trying to figure out how much money USATF will save by not sending the team. We've heard USATF is struggling financially. That's the only thing that makes sense to me.
The other excuses are laughable.
How could they be struggling when they agreed to non-inflationary fixed sponsorship deal with Nike thru like 2035? Not like inflation has grown 30-50% since then
It will be super funny if other big track nations announce that they are skipping Eugene's World U20 Championships citing safety due to America's ongoing gun violence crisis, racist and anti-LGBTQ+ policies in some place
The new Hayward Field is phenomenal but I'm bummed I never visited the previous one. That beautiful facility is a reminder that Nike basically owns track and field.
It seems like fielding a U20 team would be one of its core or fundamental missions. Has USATF done anything exceptional or exceptionally well recently?
Yeah it literally is the only reason for their existance. A new organization should take over that is willing and able to send a team.
Priorities for USATF 1) Olympic Track team, 2) WC senior team 3) WC Jr team
But the silly money maker "JOs" has become the #1 priority