WMA to athletes: Sorry for screwing you out of a record
I have to give World Masters Athletics credit. Or rather Brian Oxley of WMA. As the outgoing records chairman, Brian broke with WMA policy of staying mum on dirty laundry. But lame-duck status may have given him the cojones to publicly admit that three would-be record holders were denied certification due to incompetence. Two cases are posted on the WMA site — both shocking in their own way. One involved Fred O’Connor, a track coach in Australia.
On Sept. 18, 2005, Oxley posted this note:
A cautionary tale
Hi Colleena,
Regarding Fred O’Connor’s 6,130 points for an M80 Decathlon
One of those sad/silly situations.
The decision on Fred O’Connor’s decathlon claim was, and still is, that it cannot be allowed because there was no wind information on the long jump.
We get so many – too many – claims where the unfortunate athlete reports that the wind had dropped or whatever. We even had one where the wind gauge had not been working on the first day of the meet, denying the athlete a record. Then protesting, she was promised that the gauge would be working on the second day – and it wasn’t, for her second record!
Please convey our regrets to Fred.
I will, nevertheless, report his result on the site, but not as a record – more of an example to other athletes and meet directors.
Warm regards,
Brian
And on Sept. 26, Brian posted this note:
San Sebastian Records
The 10,000 metre performances by Melita Czerwenka-Nagel (W75) and Nina Muamenko (W80) cannot be recognised because San Sebastian lap scorers did not follow IAAF rule 131.1, which requires lap times to be listed.
Both these fine athletes will, we can be sure, valid new marks in the near future.
Brian Oxley
Me again:
Uh, OK. Tell that to Fred, Melita and Nina. “I’m sure you’ll get the records another time” is NOT the correct answer. The proper, serious reply should have been: “On behalf of WMA, I apologize for your being robbed of a record. Rest assured, we at WMA will take all steps necessary to prevent these kinds of mistakes from happening in the future.”
In America, USATF has bobbled many records. I’m sure it’s happened in other countries as well. But how long will masters put up with this crap? At the age of 75 and 80, athletes know records are not a surety. Waking up the next day isn’t even a surety.
So WMA owes its athletes more than a flippant “Oops.” It owes athletes a thorough investigation and correction of the circumstances that lead to lost records. Or else what’s WMA for anyway?
