Indoor track meets have been likened to three-ring circuses. So what can you say about a six-day meet with a couple dozen age groups (male and female)? Not enough. Clermont-Ferrand was overwhelming, especially when every athlete has a story. And the results page (I’ve copied the USA one here) can barely do it justice. For example, the American M60 4×200 relay team was DQ’d. Given its makeup of world-class speedsters Sam Hall, Steve Robbins, Mack Stewart and Charles Allie, it’s obvious that a medal was lost. Thankfully, that mystery is now resolved: A collision sparked by a clueless official led to the DQ. It wasn’t the only instance of officiating stupidity.

Dr. Robbins reports:

I just got back from the worlds in Clermont-Ferrand and thought I’d share some observations with you because I know you’re interested in how these meets are run. Please note that my comments come from a very narrow perspective. They just cover my experiences as an M65 sprinter.
The common problem I saw at the French meet was officials who either didn’t know or chose to ignore the rules and procedures that were in place. As a somewhat “expert” on management, I know rules and procedures exist to increase predictability and uniformity. When they’re ignored, you can get some pretty crazy results.
Let me highlight what I experienced:
— We had three heats in the 60m dash on Monday morning. The rules are clear (they were even in the program!) that with 3 heats, the top 2 in each plus the next fastest 2 go directly to finals. After the heats, the officials confirmed that we would bypass semis and move to finals on Tuesday. When I came on Tuesday for the finals, I was told that I had missed the semis (along with four others) on Monday afternoon. Thankfully those results were protested, thrown out, and the final was run as it should have been.
— For the final of the 60, the names of the eight competitors were put into the computer in the wrong lanes. After the race, while I thought I had won, the display board had a German as the winner and me in third. I was getting congratulated by the athletes but all I could see was that I had officially finished third. I kept telling everyone to “look at the board; I didn’t win!” About 20 minutes later, our team manager told me that I had won and that the results would be changed.
— The medal ceremony for the M65 60m was scheduled for the late afternoon — some 5 hours after the race. However, the results were still not posted on the result board. The official overseeing the medal ceremony asked me if I had the official results. Of course, I didn’t. But I said I did. He asked me to write down the names of the medal winners. Based on what everyone had told me, I wrote down our names and countries. They awarded us our medals based on my handwritten list!
— The 12 semi-finalists for the 200 in our age group showed up at the check-in desk at the appropriate time. We were told that our semi had been canceled and that we would go directly to finals. As a group, in mass, we tried to explain to the officials that the rules required us to have semis. The officials were insistent that there would be no semis. Only after the British team manager came over and interceded did the meet officials go forward with the semis.
— The rules clearly state that the fastest seed in the 200 would get lane 5 and the second-fastest lane 6. They seeded all the heats and semis in reverse, with the fastest seed in lane 6. Only after a protest was made was this corrected in the finals. This effected both placements on first and second seeds as well as how much effort athletes exerted in trying to get the preferred lane 5 for the semis and finals.
— For the 4×2 relays, the rules state that team members 3 and 4 are placed at the line in the order that their incoming runner is at at the end of the back straightaway. I ran 2nd on our USA team. I was in 2nd position at the end of the backstretch and our 3rd man appropriately put himself in lane 2. For some unknown reason, the official moved him to lane 6. I spotted him with about 20 meters to our handoff, but the confusion led to an athlete from another country stepping in between me and my teammate and I went flying on my face.
Laying on the ground, I stupidly pushed the baton forward to try to get it to my teammate and, for this action, our team was disqualified.
I’m not writing this to complain. In fact, as I reread it, it looks like a script for a 1920s Mack Sennett comedy entitled “The Keystone Kops Put on a Track Meet.” I respect and appreciate those cities that bid for world championships. But WMA has to do a lot more to ensure that officials know the rules and procedures and have thoroughly trained those who are working the meet.

Of course, this isn’t the first indoor worlds to suffer foolish calls and management. (Indeed, world records were lost when distance runners at Linz worlds in 2006 suffered a lap-count disaster.)
Thank goodness that wiser heads prevailed in some of the cases cited.
But the buck stops with WMA and its leadership. They’re main job is making sure world championships are run according to WMA rules. If meets fall short, the proper authorities should be held accountable. Translation: Kick the bums out.
If you witnessed any other nonsense in France, let me know, or post a comment here. I’ll withhold your name upon request. But I need to know who you are.
Meanwhile, here’s an environmental shot by Rick Riddle a day before competition began in France (note M55 sprinter Bill Collins in the stands. He went on to win four golds — 60, 200, 400 and 4×2, dropping down to the M40 group!)