No medal stand (or water handouts) at Olathe nationals
USATF and USADA rules govern masters nationals. Local organizers have a say as well. Examples of both were evident Saturday on Day 3 at Olathe. With temps rising into the 90s and high humidity, I made a ruckus about the lack of a table near the finish line with water jugs and filled cups ready to distribute. (A water dispenser was nearby but not well-marked.) So I was thrilled to see officials set up a table and a young lady medic begin handing cups to finishers of the 1500 finals and first races of the women’s 100s. But after a half-hour, the meet referee ordered the table removed. Why? Because anti-doping rules stipulate that nobody hand a cup to an athlete lest the entrant later tests positive for a banned substance and claims they were given spiked water. You heard me right. My effort to sate the thirst of finalists was against USADA rules. Jeeze.
Loretta Woodward edges Lane 5’s Rita Hanscom for W55 title in 100-meter dash at Olathe in 14.63. They ran into a 3.3 mps wind.
Even though many sprint finals fail to fill all eight lanes (and I’m doubting the organizers’ claims of 1,000 entrants), medalists aren’t getting the usual fanfare and ambience. For the first time in my experience, masters nationals have no podium or medal award ceremonies.
Instead, you go to a tent and claim your prizes. No muss, no fuss — and little to remember in photos and video.
When I mentioned this to an Olathe official in a blue T-shirt, I was told: “The athletes aren’t complaining. It’s only the people on the outside.” (I didn’t tell him I’m an entrant who might win a medal Sunday in the long hurdles.)
Yes, it may be old hat to some athletes, who have climbed the steps for the medal-draping ritual dozens of times. But some (like me) rarely get that experience and will miss it in Olathe.
Is it me or is it them? I’m not asking for events to halt. (The traditional awards ceremonies at masters nationals take place off the track.) But why rob us of a chance to savor our performances and get a snapshot of the moment?
Meanwhile, check out the snapshots I took of the 100-meter finals in my Day 3 gallery of Olathe.
One shot shows the sportsmanship and solidarity that epitomizes masters: Sprint legends Bill Collins and Charles Allie walking beside Dr. Allan Tissenbaum, being carted off the track after he pulled his right hamstring 40 meters into the 100 finals.
11 Responses
I understand the problem with the water. However i think it would be better to err on the side of the athletes health by offering the water. So u might miss a cheater, but with older athletes to not offer water could be dangerous. i think water is needed.
Ouch! I was in a 5,000 (M60-69) today and there was water offered during the race on the track. The thought never occurred to me that this might be either against the rules or that the water might be spiked. Even with water, two of the field DNF’ed. And this was a SHORT race–half the distance of the one tomorrow. This same group (at least the M60) is running the 10000 tomorrow, including me, and if there is no water during the race, it could really be a problem. Simple solution: have a few officials together fill the water into the container used in the race–not likely three officials would conspire to spike a 20-gallon jug with the thousands of dollars of a controlled substance that would be needed to show up in a drug test by someone drinking a few ounces of water. (Another solution: take a water sample from the container and handle it the same way a drug test sample might be handled–just in case one of these 8 runners in the race is tested (UNLIKELY) and comes up positive (EVEN MORE UNLIKELY). Not having any water in these long-distance races is not only dumb, but might even be criminally negligent if the reason is as you state should someone die as a result of this policy. Bottom line: Keep the water available.
Well said, Gary.
Water handouts are OK for races 5K and over, I was told. So that means we have a double standard. It’s OK to risk having your doping test boogered if you are a distance runner, but not for others. Pretty silly stuff for masters track.
I was fortunate enough to earn a medal at NSG a few years ago. The Olympic style medal ceremony seemed a bit much and went on so long as to be embarassing but it was nice to be honored. A national championship should be noted with a little more pomp than an all comers meet.
It is sad indeed that competitors health is held hostage to a very few doping tests. When it is hot- athletes need fluid – it would be terrible indeed if someone fell over because of the heat and denied a cup of water.
As for medal ceremonies – how much effort does it take to have a bit of a ceremony – just handing them out is up there with state senior games meets – although some have a bit of a ceremony – or all comers meets. The standards for putting on the meets seems to be getting lower and lower.
Go to the USATF web site and click on News then Press Releases. Go to 7/12/12 – “Records continue to fall, etc.” Click on link – Here and you will find some of the race videos but not all.
While I agree that there should be a medal stand and some kind of presentation (we did it in Landover for the indoor meet), there is plenty of precedent for not having it — Lisle didn’t (there the medals and ribbons were dispensed from a ticket booth) and Boston hasn’t had it either for any of the indoor meets there.
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