Goes has an excellent piece out for Oregonian subscribers on how Vin Lananna was responsible for getting Worlds to Eugene but has been shunned by USATF head Max Siegel. My favorite few paragraphs.
When a Department of Justice corruption probe started asking questions about that, Siegel and his allies on the USATF board of directors treated Lananna and the successful bid like a live hand grenade. They put Lananna on administrative leave from the USATF presidency for nearly two years. The DOJ investigation never uncovered any dirt, but that didn’t prevent USATF from treating Lananna like damaged goods.
Truth is the USATF hierarchy never has been comfortable with Lananna in an official capacity, even though the USATF presidency is an unpaid position. Never mind that Lananna has been elected twice by the membership.
The investigation gave Siegel and Co. a convenient excuse to sideline him, even without facts. Lananna had to file a grievance with the Court of Arbitration for Sport to get the position back.
Even after a CAS arbiter sided with Lananna and he was reinstated, Siegel and the USATF board of directors tried to marginalize him by rewriting the presidency’s job description.
Lananna’s ideas are too big, too bold, too risky. It’s funny, really, because taking big, bold risks is what the sport needs to move out of niche status.
The rest is behind a paywall.
