Kingdom hits comeback snag
Gold medalist refused to pay $30 entry fee to regional event
Saturday, June 26, 2004
By Chico Harlan, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
After weeks of intense training, after running in several local events and improving every time, after coming within 0.24 seconds of the mark needed to automatically qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials next month, Roger Kingdom's comeback might end because of $30.
Kingdom had hoped to run today in the USA Track & Field East Region Open in Pomona, N.J. -- allowing the 41-year-old hurdler a final shot at the necessary 13.55 qualifying mark in the 110-meter hurdles -- but when event organizers refused to waive Kingdom's $30 entry fee, the two-time Olympic gold medalist backed out.
Now Kingdom will have to wait. He could still reach the Olympic Trials (July 9-18 in Sacramento, Calif.) because his most recent 110-meter mark, 13.79, meets the USATF's secondary standard, or "B" standard, for qualification. Thirty-two runners usually attend the trials. So far, 25 have clinched a spot by recording times of 13.55 or lower. Secondary qualifiers, with times under 14.00, fill the remaining slots.
Though he said he'll continue training, Kingdom said he won't make another attempt to qualify with a time of 13.55 or better.
Kingdom had planned to be in Atlantic City, N.J., this weekend for a charity golf tournament. Figuring he could parlay the trip into another qualifying attempt, he called the USATF-New Jersey office Wednesday. He told managing director Pam Fales, who is in charge of the East Region Open event, that he wanted to run. He also said he'd like the entry fee waived.
Fales apologized, but said she couldn't waive it. Other Olympic-caliber runners would be there, too, Fales told Kingdom, and they had paid. She couldn't make an exception.
With that, Kingdom said he wouldn't be attending, thus bringing his comeback to a curious (though possibly temporary) halt.
"This is not an ego trip," Kingdom said. "I'm just being realistic. The attention I would have brought to their event exceeds the $30 entrance fee she wasn't willing to sacrifice."
"Well maybe if he'd approached us a month ago," Fales said of waiving the fee. "But he talked to me Wednesday. If he's not going to come because of a $30 fee, that's his choice."
Had Kingdom participated, he said he would have incurred other expenses -- most notably, changing his plane ticket to an earlier departure time to make his event, which starts at 11 a.m. today.
Kingdom denied he was just looking for a way to back away from his comeback plans.
"Anybody who knows me," he said, "knows I don't cop out of anything."
Within the next week, Kingdom should learn his fate. So far, there are 19 eligible "B" qualifiers -- 10 with marks better than Kingdom's. As of now, that pool will fill seven open slots.
"He's got an outside shot, because several of the people with [times] ahead of him may not run," said John Chaplin, chairman of the Men's Track & Field Committee.
If Kingdom isn't selected, he also can appeal to a two-person board based on the grounds that he's an Olympic champion making a comeback.
"Could they put somebody extra in?" Chaplin said. "Yes, they could. You need a flexible system. Things aren't set in stone."