Emma Coburn only learned her AR wouldn't be ratified from postings on the Letsrun Message board

LRC scores again. I wonder if Emma's actually reading the boards or if someone told her about it.

Can't disagree with anything in your post but feel compelled to add that this is reason number, like, 73 why Emma should get herself an agent. Or, to paraphrase a very old saying, an athlete who represents herself has a fool for a client.

So USATF posted on their own website that she broke the American Record but did not ratify that record or notify her of her obligations.

I do think it is in USATF's best interest to take matters into their own hands for these things because American Records are good publicity for USATF.

Record certification is not a passive process. Federations can only approve applications they receive. It is the athlete's responsibility (or that of the coach, agent, club, etc.) to actually apply.

Not hard to find a form. Go to usatf.org, click on "stats", then "records", then "applications for record".

It's done all the time, and seems to work pretty well.

spinning records wrote:

Record certification is not a passive process. Federations can only approve applications they receive. It is the athlete's responsibility (or that of the coach, agent, club, etc.) to actually apply.

Not hard to find a form. Go to usatf.org, click on "stats", then "records", then "applications for record".

It's done all the time, and seems to work pretty well.

I don't think anyone is disagreeing with you. I think that most are saying that if the USATF knew about this and didn't receive the proper materials, someone could have contacted her in time. It would only benefit the sport this way. It's not like they didn't know she got the record.

She ultimately is responsible but nothing wrong with getting help from those in the know.

Sourceofalltrackknowledge wrote:

LRC scores again. I wonder if Emma's actually reading the boards or if someone told her about it.

No women has ever posted here. Of course she heard it from her friend.

After Emma I bet everyone knows the rule and won't make the same mistake. In track, instead of saying "I'm going to Disney World!" after setting an AR, people will be saying "Gimme a damn cup to pee in!"

True But... wrote:

spinning records wrote:

Record certification is not a passive process. Federations can only approve applications they receive. It is the athlete's responsibility (or that of the coach, agent, club, etc.) to actually apply.

Not hard to find a form. Go to usatf.org, click on "stats", then "records", then "applications for record".

It's done all the time, and seems to work pretty well.

I don't think anyone is disagreeing with you. I think that most are saying that if the USATF knew about this and didn't receive the proper materials, someone could have contacted her in time. It would only benefit the sport this way. It's not like they didn't know she got the record.

She ultimately is responsible but nothing wrong with getting help from those in the know.

I agree with you but that would require that USATF give a sh*t about the athletes. That obviously is not the case.

spinning records wrote:

Record certification is not a passive process. Federations can only approve applications they receive.

If you were USATF wouldn't you want the record certified?

It shouldn't be a passive process.

That's just terrible public relations.

To be fair The Lets Run Community knows statements like the above imply 'subject to ratification' but he general population of casual and potential fans not so much. IMO it can't hurt to add the phrase in official correspondence.

I thank that it's possible that the Ratification Committee/Group never saw the actual paper work submitted ( and first realized it was incomplete) until they were at the table at the meeting doing their ratifying.

It would not surprise me to know that someone is tasked to open the mail and route it to the proper person or group and just sorts it without inspection.

Oh here's a AR application. That committee will meet at the next National meeting it goes in this pile. Here is some hate mail for Hightower that goes in the big pile. Here is a letter asking about someone named Bumby yup we have a pile for that... Dues payment this pile... Request for Sanction that pile...

Star wrote:

If you were USATF wouldn't you want the record certified?

She isn't a nike athlete, so I guess not.

True But... wrote:

I don't think anyone is disagreeing with you. I think that most are saying that if the USATF knew about this and didn't receive the proper materials, someone could have contacted her in time. It would only benefit the sport this way. It's not like they didn't know she got the record.

She ultimately is responsible but nothing wrong with getting help from those in the know.

I agree. On the podcast, Coburn is very classy and takes responsibility for not knowing the rule and doesn't whine about it.

From a fan's standpoint, I think the point is that if the USATF is putting out press releases and making Coburn athlete of the week, maybe someone at USATF could have given her a call and talked to her about getting the record ratified - just because it's good for the sport and the USATF ought to be promoting the sport.

Maybe the call wouldn't have been within the time to get the doping test but surely someone at USATF could have reached out to Coburn SOMETIME before December instead of having her finding out her record wouldn't be ratified 5 months later when someone posts something on Letsrun. She should at least have been told by USATF before the end of track season that she missed the deadline.

When did it becomes USATF's job to notify athletes of something that didn't happen. No one even notified USATF that Coburn was making an AR attempt. The problem as I see it, Coburn either needs an agent or she needs to do a better job of acting as her own agent.

Blind pig finds acorn wrote:

There's a nice interview with Coburn on the House of Run podcast (it's great podcast if you don't listen to it, by the way):

[

and I'm very rich if you don't actually count my money.

gave my nightnurse rug burn wrote:

Blind pig finds acorn wrote:

There's a nice interview with Coburn on the House of Run podcast (it's great podcast if you don't listen to it, by the way):

[

and I'm very rich if you don't actually count my money.

Okay, I deserved that. What I meant was that if you don't already listen to the podcast, you should, because it's a great podcast.

TrackCoach wrote:

When did it becomes USATF's job to notify athletes of something that didn't happen.

At the very moment hat they became an entity to promote the sport in the US.

So either when TAC emerged in 1979 or when they renamed themselves USATF in 1992.

TrackCoach wrote:When did it becomes USATF's job to notify athletes of something that didn't happen. No one even notified USATF that Coburn was making an AR attempt. The problem as I see it, Coburn either needs an agent or she needs to do a better job of acting as her own agent.

I'm not going to repeat everything I already said. It's on the athlete to know the rules and to satisfy them. No one disputes that.

What is strange is that on 7/16/14, USATF put out this press release:

Coburn (Crested Butte, Colorado) continued her dominance in the event by etching her name in the American record books, finishing second in 9:11.42 and breaking former University of Colorado teammate Jenny Simpson’s record from the 2009 World Championships by more than a second (9:12.50).

I don't know the inside story of how the AR application process went, but apparently her record was submitted and rejected by the records committee at the USATF annual meeting. Coburn was at the annual meeting but apparently no one ever contacted her about the rejection or ever told her that there was a problem. Instead, she found out after the fact because someone posted it anonymously on Letsrun. That's not how a well run process should work. Someone from USATF should have been in contact with her at some point. And maybe the USATF should have corrected it's erroneous press release.

^

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