In WMA, Friedel Schunk makes it three’s-an-illegal-crowd
Friedel Schunk of USA?
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Intrigue! Citizenship mysteries! Hints of lawbreaking! WMA politics has it all. When Annette and Robert Koop of Germany picked up the news of Tom Jordan’s appointment as acting president of World Masters Athletics, they added some insider spin. The Koops note that Friedel Schunk, acting executive VP of WMA, is a naturalized U.S. citizen who lived in America for many years before retiring to Lower Saxony and ascending various posts in the DLV (Germany’s version of USATF). The Koops write that Friedel, 70, lacks a German passport, and constitutes a third U.S. citizen on the governing WMA Council (after Jordan and VP-Stadia Rex Harvey) and thus violates the WMA Constitution, which says: “Not more than two members of the Council . . . may come from the same affiliate (nation).” Of course, this is temporary since Tom will leave the council after Lahti’s General Assembly. Still, say the Koops: “Experts wonder (about) this situation with the WMA statute in question.”
Meanwhile, the Lahti Web site is reporting that the 18th World Masters Athletic Championships has 5,250 entrants (with the oldest being a 101-year-old Austrian thrower) and 80 nations taking part.
But the Lahti turnout is down from Riccione’s nearly 9,000 entrants. And nearly a third of the athetes are Finns. (No sign of an entrants list yet, however.)
“The size of . . . Team Finland is over ten times bigger than in the previous World Championships of Master Athletics organized in Italy 2007,” the site says. “Also, the goal of 1,000 Finnish athletes set by the Finnish Veteran Athletic Association (SVU) was exceeded one and a half-fold,” meaning 1,500, I presume.
How do you say, “Best of luck!” in Finnish? (Don’t worry. Many Finns speak English.)
4 Responses
Ken – have your spies discovered a way to see the entry list for Lahti? Is it going to be a big secret until everyone shows up or are they going to post it on the LOC website.
and re – thousands of Finns – mostly in the marathon – that is par for the course – those who went to the WAVA meet in Japan can testify to the crowd of Japanese in the marathon.
My experience is that the locals turn out for the x-c and the marathon in very large numbers. No so large numbers for the track and field events.
Just noticed something else: Friedel is running for TWO offices at Lahti — executive VP and his current office, treasurer. That can’t be right.
Also, Marilyn Mitchell of New York is running for women’s rep on the WMA Council. This means that if Rex wins president, Sandy wins VP-stadia and Marilyn wins her race, we’ll have three Americans on the council — against the rules, as noted.
And yes, the women’s rep is listed on the WMA Council:
a) The Council shall consist of the following Officers:
i The President
ii The Executive Vice-President
iii The Vice-President Stadia
iv The Vice-President Non-Stadia
v The Secretary
vi The Treasurer
vii The Women’s Representative
viii The Regional Delegates, one appointed by each Regional Association
ix The IAAF Delegate appointed by the IAAF
x The immediate past-President, limited to a period of two years after the election of a new President.
How will WMA deal with all this? Stay tooned.
Mary,
The entry lists for Lahti will be posted July 16 on the LOC’s website. So stay tuned. Yes, you’re right about Finland. The host country has a huge team, with over 1,500 (1,200 men & 300 women) out of a total of 5,250 registered competitors.
They’re over 2,000 officials coming so maybe a couple of lap counters too.
See you there,
Larry
An authoritative WMA source tells me that if Rex and Sandy win their elections, Marilyn Mitchell will not be eligible for the women’s rep position on the WMA Council. “She is aware of that,” I’m told.
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