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USATF

USATF

December 03, 2023

Breaking: USATF May Not Follow Trials Results For 3rd Men's Spot + The US Is No Longer Guaranteed 3 Olympic Men's Marathoners

Based on today's Valencia results, Scott Fauble is going fall out of the World's Top 64 and USATF's selection criteria states, "In the case that USATF is not able to select a full team of Qualified Athletes from the Selection Event...the U.S. will fill any unfilled quota positions with Qualified Athletes based on their rank order on the Road to Paris rank list following the close of the qualification period on May 5, 2024." So we are reading that to mean that unless 3rd placer at the Trials is under 2:08:10, the 3rd US team member will be the one with the highest world rank and not the one who finishes third. *MB Breaking: It appears USATF won't honor order of finish at marathon trials for 3rd men's spot - will go with World Rank instead!
November 27, 2023

In 2022, USATF Posted A $6.7 Million Loss As CEO Max Siegel Raked in $1.3 Million

It's the fifth straight year that Siegel made more than $1.2 million. USATF's says the large loss came from "planned expenses related to the 2022 World Athletics Championships." *MB: USATF posts its 2022 tax return -- guess how much Max Siegel made last year?
September 07, 2023

USATF Board Member Jim Estes Suing USATF & Max Siegel for Negligence & Defamation

Estes lawsuit stems from USATF's decision to disqualify Chattanooga's bid for the 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials because Estes worked as a consultant on Chattanooga's bid. The idea that Siegel cited that conflict of interest as a deal breaker is laughable to us considering "under (Max) Siegel’s watch, USA Track and Field has awarded hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of business to an Indianapolis marketing firm that once advertised itself as “a Max Siegel company.” *MB: USATF, Max Siegel being sued by Board Member Jim Estes for defamation
August 07, 2023

USATF Announces 2023 World Championship Roster

Sean McGorty is double-entered in the 5k/10k but there's still an outside chance Grant Fisher could run Worlds. *MB: Team USA Roster announced
August 03, 2023

Some Top American Athletes Will Miss 2023 Pan American U20 Champs Due to Passport Issues

World U18 100m record holder Christian Miller was among those kept off the team even though Americans don't need a passport to travel to Puerto Rico.
July 03, 2023

Network NBC Will Not Air Live Coverage of USATF Outdoor Championships for First Time Since 2006

The only live coverage of USAs this year will be on CNBC as NBC will instead air reruns of America's Got Talent.
December 20, 2022

WTW: Max Siegel Is a HYPOCRITE, Francine Niyonsaba Is Back and $86K For a 2:25

How Max Siegel and USATF handled Chattanooga's Olympic Marathon Trails bid is far different than how they handled giving out a "six-figure, no-bid contracts to Indianapolis marketing firm Matchbook Creative, a marketing firm that previously billed itself as 'a Max Siegel company.'"

September 01, 2022

The 2024 US Olympic Marathon Trials Still Don't Have a Host. Why?

The Trials were supposed to be awarded by July 14. USATF's Adam Schmenk told us why that decision has been delayed.
December 03, 2021

USATF Announces Faster Qualifying Standards of 2:18 and 2:37 for 2024 US Olympic Marathon Trials

The projected decrease in the # of qualifiers is drastic as just 17.7% of the women and 65.0% of the men in 2020 hit these marks. *MB: 2024 Olympic Marathon Trials Standards Are Out: 63:00/2:18:00 for Men, 72:00/2:37:00 for Women.
October 28, 2021

USATF Inexplicably Announces 2022 World Championship Marathon Selection Policy Way Too Late

Two years after botching the selection process for the Pan American Games, USATF has messed up again, leaving athletes in a web of confusion and frustration. Earlier this week, they announced a radically different marathon qualifying system that is based on just four races - three of which have already been held.
April 20, 2021

World Athletics Releases Entries for 2021 World Athletics Relays; USATF Will Not Send a Team

Team USA topped the medal tables at the previous four editions but won't be there in 2021.
July 20, 2020

US Track & Field Championships Cancelled for the First Time in 145 Years

The last time there was no US national track & field championship, Ulysses S. Grant was president and there were only 37 states. *MB: 2020 USAs Cancelled: For the first time since Ulysses S Grant was president, there will be no US Track Champs
June 18, 2020

UPDATE: USATF Corrects Their Own Mistake; Still Unclear If Marks This Summer Will Count for Olympic Trials Qualifying

USATF says its statement that marks achieved this summer would not count for Olympic Trials qualification was not "finalized" so it's possible marks could count. At least it's not as bad as last year, when USATF was forced to re-pick its entire Pan American Games squad because it failed to follow its own selection policy.
June 17, 2020

USATF Announces Athletes Will Not Be Able To Earn Olympic Trials Standards Until December 1

USATF has followed World Athletics' lead and will ignore all marks achieved this summer.
July 24, 2019

USATF's Unprofessionalism Continues, New Pan Am Team USA Roster Is Released But Press Release Fails To Mention 36.8% of Team Was Changed

The unprofessionalism many have come to expect from USATF continued today when they failed to admit that they messed up one of their major duties as an organization. An athlete’s right to participate in the Pan American Games is protected by US federal law. It’s one of four competitions covered by the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act. Shame on you USATF. *MB: USATF completely botches selection of 2019 Pan American Games team 
July 08, 2019

Here's What We Know About the 2020 US Olympic Marathon Trials

The top 3 across the line in the women's race on February 29th will definitely be going to the Olympics. As for the men, that's still TBD.
July 01, 2019

Looking for athletes who were wrongly denied a Pan Ams Game spot (and a lawyer who wants to help them)

Based on your best 2019 performance, should you be on the 2019 Pan Am team had not USATF violated its own published selection criteria and picked the team off of 2018 and 2019 marks? There still may be hope for you, but you need to contact us ASAP. We want to file a Section 9 grievance for you.
June 28, 2019

USA Track & Field's Pan Am Debacle Gets Even Weirder: An Arbitrator Has Apparently Ruled Against USATF, But Only In Certain Events

Scott Simmons' Section 9 grievance was successful but it only applies to the men's steeple and 10,000 which means he now has athletes going to Pan Ams based on both sets of rules - the ones he appealed against and the original ones. #Notjoking
June 27, 2019

Up To 39 Athletes May Have Had Their Spot on Team USA Denied Thanks To USATF's Incompetence, Hear Some of Their Stories Here

In December, USATF head Max Siegel and two others signed a 20-page document saying USATF would pick the team off of 2019 times - then USATF didn't do that and many are devastated as a result. Hear some of their stories.
June 26, 2019

USA Track and Field Tries To Hide The Fact That They Messed Up BIG TIME, Quietly Names New Pan Am Team

Instead of issuing a press release admitting they butchered the national team selection for the Pan Am Games, USATF today took the unprofessional route and simply changed the names on the web page they published on Monday without telling anyone. Kind of like how they changed the qualifying criteria without telling anyone either. An emergency Section 9 arbitration hearing is taking place tonight.