The organization’s leadership nixed a plan for the U.S. 4×100 men’s and women’s relay teams to compete at a tune-up in London before last summer’s Paris Olympics, according to an after-action report by relay coaches Mechelle Freeman and Michael Marsh and reviewed by The Journal. This came despite the men’s relay team’s continual struggles to safely pass the baton in several previous Games. The decision not to participate in a practice meet wasn’t financial, Chapman said, adding that USATF opted to hold a relay camp ahead of the Games instead. THE U.S. MEN BOTCHED A HANDOFF IN THE MEN’S 4×100 RELAY. AT THE PARIS OLYMPICS. In Paris, the U.S. women’s 4×100 relay won gold—but the men’s relay was disqualified after another botched handoff. “Not being able to engage in a competitive opportunity led to inadequate preparation,” the after-action report concluded. Following the report, the relay coaches’ contracts weren’t renewed. USATF officials said that the critical report didn’t prompt the nonrenewal of the contracts.
The article also underplays another long-term problem with USATF's finances, which is the millions in compensation that Siegel has taken out over the years when those millions could have been used to advance the sport.
To respond to comments above, the US is successful in track and field despite the USATF, not because of it. If you look back over the stories about the USATF on this site, it's an endless saga of screw ups, and not just with the men's relays. But the US has such an overwhelmingly large pool of world-class talent for most events and so many opportunities in the college system to develop that talent that this USATF can keep fumbling things and the US will still be successful.
Good WSJ piece on USATF's ongoing financial issues. They've been running big deficits, cash flow problems have led to layoffs and six-month delays on prize money, and the US Olympic Committee just forced them to hire a law firm for an "independent review" of the org. Looks like Max Siegel's finally facing some heat.
Also, apparently the US 4x100 teams were supposed to run at the London DL as a pre-Olympics tuneup, but USATF leadership shut it down? Article strongly suggests that the relay coaches got axed after the games in part because of criticizing USATF leadership for this.
The organization’s leadership nixed a plan for the U.S. 4×100 men’s and women’s relay teams to compete at a tune-up in London before last summer’s Paris Olympics, according to an after-action report by relay coaches Mechelle Freeman and Michael Marsh and reviewed by The Journal. This came despite the men’s relay team’s continual struggles to safely pass the baton in several previous Games.
Following the report, the relay coaches’ contracts weren’t renewed.
USATF officials said that the critical report didn’t prompt the nonrenewal of the contracts.
I look forward to the results of an independent investigation. There’s no way USATF can continue to go on the way it is without ruining the entire sport here in the US. Needs to be some serious changes.
The figures are so small many of us could cover that with the cash in our Cash App account. There in lies the problem. Our sport has very little presence amongst the public.
Logic doesn’t preclude what you suggest,, but it doesn’t imply it either.
If I wear a 5 pound weight in every race, the weight wouldn’t be responsible for my wins, but it may very well be responsible for my losses.
What if it is responsible for a win?
What if that extra weight makes you slightly more cautious to start, and thereby, you pace your race better, which then leads to a win?
Then it is in part responsible for the win. But you are missing the point. In a situation where it is not responsible for the win (ie where you don’t pace yourself any differently), you can’t go and say “if it isn’t responsible for a win then logically it can’t be responsible for a loss.”
This is basically the logical fallacy put forth by the earlier poster — if the USATF wasn’t responsible for the successes, then logically it can’t be responsible for the failures. That is not a valid argument — it is possible (and not uncommon) for something to only influence an outcome in one direction. I don’t know if the USATF is one of those things, but it certainly can be one of those things.
Profit Making orgs have 1/10 the staff and overhead expenses of Charity orgs. Profit Making orgs are lean and efficient, Charity orgs are full of retirees standing around, taking selfies, socializing, because no one has to earn a salary & has stock options to work towards.
The tunnel at Hayward Field in not tall enough for the Javelin cart with Javelins installed. So we have to stop, unload the carts of dozens of Javelins, push the cart though the tunnel, hand carry dozens of Javelins though the tunnel, then replace in order, each of the dozens of Javelins. The Architectual Firm of Hayward Field, botched the job. It's another example of how incompetent USATF has been to the Officials.---
The tunnel at Hayward Field in not tall enough for the Javelin cart with Javelins installed. So we have to stop, unload the carts of dozens of Javelins, push the cart though the tunnel, hand carry dozens of Javelins though the tunnel, then replace in order, each of the dozens of Javelins. The Architectual Firm of Hayward Field, botched the job. It's another example of how incompetent USATF has been to the Officials.---
This is the most ridiculous but funny response I’ve seen on here in a long time. USATF had nothing to do with the design of Hayward field. It was designed by the college, the track staff, Tracktown and Nike. There are many facility flaws that are massive and worth complaining about. This by far is not one of them.
