HERE’S THIS MONTH’S collection of short takes on generally off-track activities that have gone/will go a long way towards shaping the way the sport is headed.
Coe To Hand Off On High Note
The World Championships in Beijing next year will be the last one organized under the leadership of outgoing WA head Seb Coe, and he is setting a high bar for the September event.
“I started in the Bird’s Nest and I finish in the Bird’s Nest,” says Coe, referring to the ’15 WC that was held in Beijing’s Olympic stadium. “The most important expectation is we must have a full stadium. China is very capable of doing that.”
Describing China as a “massively important market,” Coe adds, “I know from having spoken to the athletes… they’re really excited about being back in China. We will have the best of the best in Beijing.”
USTFCCCA Athlete Hall Of Fame Tabs 12
The collegiate coaches organization has announced its latest Athlete Hall Of Fame class, the fifth since the Hall was instituted in ’22. The incoming bunch accounted for 44 national collegiate titles, 37 Collegiate Records, 5 global medals and 7 World Records while in college.
The women: Gail Devers (UCLA) 100/200/100H/LJ; Carol Lewis (Houston) 100H/LJ; Candice Scott (Florida) HT; Dawn Sowell (LSU) 100/200; Delisa Walton (Tennessee) 800; Leann Warren (Oregon) 800/1500.
The men: Earl Bell (Arkansas State) PV; John Carlos (San José State) 100/200; Paul Ereng (Virginia) 800; John Godina (UCLA) SP/DT; Earl McCullouch (USC) 110H; Dave Patrick (Villanova) 800/1500.
Battle Over Ofili’s Allegiance
“I moved to Türkiye to save my career from officials,” says sprinter Favour Ofili, taking a swipe at the Nigerian federation in a parting that is far from amicable.
The former LSU star, who boasts PRs of 10.87 and 21.96, blames the federation for administrative failures that kept her out of the Olympics twice. “It started in Japan [2021] when some of us were stopped from competing in the Olympics because some officials failed to do what they were paid to do. After that, there were no apologies, and people behaved as if nothing happened.
“They did the same thing to me at the Paris 2024 Games when I was not registered for [the 100, although she did make the 200 final], even when I had labored to qualify for it. They set up a panel to unravel the circumstances that led to that error, but nothing happened afterwards. The same officials were given a fresh mandate to continue with their blunder.”
In the meantime, the federation says it will do everything it can to block Favour Ofili from switching her nationality before the ’28 Games: “She was among the elite athletes who were paid training grants by the NSC last year, and it is not possible for her to switch allegiance to Türkiye. If Ofili wants to compete for another country, she will have to wait until September 2028.”
WADA Looking For Due U.S. Funds
Pay up. That’s the message from WADA to the U.S. government, which is behind some $3.7 million on paying its dues.
However, the check won’t be in the mail anytime soon. As part of a government funding bill that President Trump signed into law in early February, the dues will not be paid until there’s a full independent audit of WADA.
Witold Bańka, WADA’s president, says that his organization already is subject to regular audits. “I don’t know any other international organization with such strong auditing mechanisms, so I think there are no obstacles for our friends from the U.S. to fulfill their duties and pay the contributions.”
The one obstacle Bańka is overlooking is the current reluctance of the federal government to tie itself to a number of traditional international obligations. In the biggest example, the U.S. owes nearly $4 billion to the United Nations. President Trump recently authorized a payment of just $160 million.
Upgraded Medalists Want Compensation
Five women who were cheated out of medals at the ’12 Olympics are crowdfunding a legal battle against WA and WADA.
American Shannon Rowbury is leading the charge. Originally 6th in the London 1500 final, she will be getting the bronze medal at the LA Olympics in two years.
Three of the other athletes were upgraded medalists from the 400H race: Lashinda Demus, Zuzana Hejnová and Kaliese Spencer. Joining them in the effort is Alysia Montaño, who has earned a delayed bronze in the 800.
Says Rowbury, “We are seeking damages but the bigger fight is bringing in reforms. It is not just us but others who have said that change is needed, but the way sport is governed at Olympic level makes it so hard — and expensive — to even be heard.”
In their case before the CAS, they are demanding a clean-athletes’ assistance fund, stronger conflict-of-interest rules and provisional Olympic bans prior to the Games for any athlete with an abnormal biological passport.
They are funding the effort through GoFundMe, which at $2738 at this writing, is still well short of the $125,000 goal.
“If an athlete is caught doping their fees are waived at CAS, but us women, who have been deeply damaged by doping and are bringing this case for reform and damages, are required to front the anticipated fees,” explains Rowbury, who never got her $50,000 medal bonus from Nike, which does not pay for retroactive medals.
“The governing bodies that are making money off athletes’ performances are now joining forces against us to prevent change. It’s been both absurd and heartbreaking to live through this. I at least expected it to be more civil but it’s been crazy.”
Kenya Suspends Recruiting Company
Scholarbook Premier, one of the recruiting agencies that we covered in our December issue, has been suspended by the Kenyan federation, according to a release issued on March 04 that said, “This suspension is due to non-compliance with Athletics Kenya’s mandatory anti-doping regulations and event organization requirements.”
The specifics of alleged non-compliance with the anti-doping regulations are not spelled out. However, the release pointed out that Scholarbook is organizing a “time trials/recruitment” event on March 12 in Nakuru, and the federation warned athletes and support personnel not to participate.
The response came quickly: “Scholarbook has complied with every applicable regulation. We are fully registered with the Kenya Sports Registrar, hold a signed compliance agreement with ADAK, have partnered with ADAK to provide educational anti-doping workshops for our athletes before traveling to the USA and have been in direct communication with the AIU to ensure full compliance with anti-doping regulations. Furthermore, we are working with the AIU to provide regular doping testing and anti-doping education at our events — a step we took voluntarily to uphold the highest standards of integrity…”
“We are also deeply concerned about the motivations behind this notice. It is our belief that certain individuals within Athletics Kenya’s leadership have undisclosed ties to organizations that compete directly with Scholarbook, which creates a serious conflict of interest.”
GST Still Racking Up Big Bills
In a proposal some commentators are calling “audacious,” Grand Slam Track has submitted a bankruptcy plan that will create a new entity under the leadership of Michael Johnson, with funding from Winners Alliance.
The plan proposes to pay 85% of the debt owed to athletes, plus 84% of “allowed critical vendor claims,” but only 1.55% of “unsecured vendor claims,” leaving that final category short more than $12M. Overall, it would mean that GST would only pay $13.7M out of the $31.4 in question.
If the plan is not approved by the creditors, Chapter 7 liquidation would follow and the athletes would likely get a much smaller slice of the pie.
In another twist, it seems that going bankrupt isn’t cheap. The Grand Slam organization spent $617,935 in January alone, according to its monthly statement. Most of that — $440K — went to the lawyers. Almost $90K went to payroll and medical insurance. Where’s that money coming from? It’s part of a million-dollar loan from Winners Alliance, putting GST’s total debts up to $41.68M. ◻︎
