Rex Harvey lost the WMA presidential election by a single vote in summer 2009, but he’s still involved with masters track at the highest levels: the IAAF. He’s a member of the IAAF Masters Committee. And his summary of the group’s activities is an eye-opener. The biggest revelation: “Bridget Cushen (GBR) asked that IAAF encourage World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to give WMA a grant to allow out-of-competition testing.” (Oct. 30 update: Bridget said “random.”) This opens a monster can of worms. If masters tracksters were subject to out-of-competition drug-testing (as elites are), then who pays for it? Who oversees it? Who decides who gets tested? It’s a complete disaster-in-waiting.

Here is Rex’s report:

2010 IAAF Masters Committee Report and other Masters Activities

It is my pleasure to again report on the activities of the IAAF Masters Committee and my related Master’s activities since my report of last year. The IAAF Masters Committee’s mandate is to oversee Masters Track & Field Worldwide. As you may know, Committee members are elected by the IAAF World Congress from those nominated from all member Federations all over the World. The Committee is Chaired by longtime IAAF Council member Professor Cesar Moreno Bravo (Mexico) and the current Committee, which was elected in Osaka in 2007, comprises:
Jim Blair (New Zealand)
Bridget Cushen (Great Britain and N.I.)
Danny Daniels (Canada)
Jorge De La Canale (Argentina)
Leonie Paulette Etong (Cameroon)
Rex Harvey (United States)
Marina Hoernecke-Gil (Spain)
Pierluigi Migliorini (Italy)
Vadim Marshev (Russia)
Dieter Massin (Germany)
Shigenobu Murofushi (Japan)
Dawei Wang (P.R. China)
(also directly appointed; Stanley Perkins (Australia)

Elections for four year terms are held each four years and will be held again in 2011at the IAAF Congress to be held in Daegu, Korea in August. Each of the 213 IAAF Member Federations has the right to nominate one person for the IAAF Masters Committee and many do, but some IAAF Areas such as Oceania, South America, and Africa usually nominate no one so they can directly appoint.

All Congress delegates, up to three, from each of the 213 Member Federations, have a vote. Recently, to ensure that there are a minimum number of women on the Committee, there has been a separate election first to select the top two women from those nominated, then the remainder of the women and all of the men are voted upon in the next round.

The top eight vote-getting nominees are elected to the Committee. Incumbency is very important in these elections as people tend to vote for whom they know and the IAAF doesn’t tend to change quickly. Finally, those Area Associations with no one elected get to appoint a person to the Committee because IAAF rules require at least one member from each of its six Area Associations. Also the current President of World Masters Athletics (WMA) is automatically appointed to the Committee. So, for the reasons above, the Committee currently has its appointed Chair and twelve members and the co-opted WMA President.

In my various roles in WMA, and other world masters activities I have worked closely with six of these people for over 20 years, two for 8 years and four for 4 years. We are all dedicated to the Sport and know each other well.

My continuing efforts in Masters Track and Field, and in the sport in general, have two main thrusts. First, I work the details of the rules, organization, and conduct of the sport in general and at as many specific events as time and finances permits. And, by this work, and by other efforts, I work on improving the United State’ image with the rest of the athletics world. There is no doubt that work has to be done in this regard. As I always say, just having the best Track & Field Team in the World is not enough.

The US needs to be a known and trusted partner in all of the undertakings of IAAF and that includes membership and active participation in IAAF Committees as there is no substitute for hard work and person-to-person relationships. In addition to this Committee work, my other specific activities this year are listed below.

This year’s annual meeting of the Masters Committee was held at the end of May in Monaco near the IAAF Headquarters. All members but Danny Daniels of Canada were in attendance. Cesar Moreno Bravo, opened the meeting and the previous minutes were approved with minor corrections.

Pierre Weiss; IAAF Secretary General then spoke on the subjects of the IAAF Congress in Berlin and gave an update of IAAF activities. His main points were that the Berlin Congress’ vote to change the age for the Masters classification for Road Racing from 35 to 40 must be honored although it was strongly objected to by the Committee. Pierre talked at length on the financial situation of the IAAF saying that the IAAF Financial Committee had met just the day before and that the IAAF is making strategic cuts and it needs to continue to be vigilant and prudent.

President Diack had made a recent press release saying that the IAAF has financial solvency for many years to come. Mr. Weiss did mention one important point and that is that there was talk of the reduction in the number of IAAF Committees with the Women’s Committee and the Masters’ Committee being specifically mentioned. The Women’s Committee is perhaps not needed as much as it once was as there are mandated numbers of Women on the Council and on the Committees.

And the fact that the day to day administration of World Masters rests with WMA reduces the responsibilities of the Masters’ Committee. He also mentioned that it was his preference to have the IAAF Federation in each country is the WMA recognized Masters organization. That is true in the United States, it is not true in many countries such as neighbors Canada and Mexico and it causes many problems.

Chairman Moreno gave his report stressing several points. First he pointed out the typing error that incorrectly indicated that the IAAF Council approved of re-changing the Masters age from 35 to 40 for road races and that mistake had most likely strongly influenced the voting outcome as most delegates usually tend to agree with the Council. And he discussed the delicate issue of International Masters Games Association and their obvious disregard for WMA schedules. This coupled with their aggressive expansion into Winter Games and Regional Masters Games in addition to their quadrennial world games.

He thanked the IAAF for including two Masters in the honors at the Annual IAF Gala in Monaco (Nov.2009). Guido Muller of Germany and Rita Hanscom of the USA were honored by Council member Lord Sebastian Coe. He concluded by pointing out that the IAAF World Plan is focused on athletics at all ages (Masters being the largest age group) and he asked the Committee to think about what it could do to further the sport.

The President of WMA, and honorary member of the IAAF Masters Committee; Stanley Perkins gave a WMA report to the Committee. He listed the new WMA Council in which 5 of the 7 elected posts are filled with Europeans. He said that WMA was working on a proposal for reorganization of WMA. He mentioned the two WMA Championships recently completed in Lahti, Finland, and Kamloops, Canada and the upcoming Championships:

World Outdoor: Sacramento, USA (6-17July2011
Indoor: Jyvaskyla, Finland (26-31Mar2012)
Outdoor: Porto Alegre, Brazil (24Jul-4Aug2013).
He also listed the WMA Regional Championships held (or to be held) in 2010.
Africa: Biskra, Algeria (30Oct-1Nov2010
Asia: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (7-12Dec2010)
Europe: Nyiregyhaza, Hungary (15-24Jul2010)
North/Central/Caribbean:
Oceania: Papeete, Tahiti (3-10Jul2010)
South America: Santiago, Chile (22-27Nov2010)

He also said that there has been a $5 per athlete added to entry fees for WMA World Championships to help pay for Anti-doping education and testing and that there is now a panel considering and issuing Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUE) for Masters. As to the age change for Masters road races from 35 to 40, he said that “…after each Congress WMA makes decisions on whether to implement competition and other rule changes that have been made at the Congress, based simply on their relevance and application to Masters age competitors and competitions.” Implying that had not yet been done.

Concerning IMGA, he asked for IAAF help in insuring that IMGA consults with WMA/IAAF concerning championship dates which was not done concerning the next IMGA World Games in Torino, Italy (2013) directly interfering with WMA World Championships in Porto Alegre, Brazil and next year’s European Masters Games in Lignano, Italy (2011) which will reduce attendance at the WMA World Championships in Sacramento. He said that neither the Lignano nor Torino events had been sanctioned by WMA yet, but that the Council would decide. Stanley stated that he thought that IAAF Members should be automatically WMA affiliates and that he will propose major changes in the WMA affiliations procedure.

The six Area reports were given:

Africa: Leonie Paulette Etong-first African Masters Road race championships was held and pointed out that the economic situations hits Africa especially hard.

Asia: Shigenobu Murofushi-pointed out that many affiliates in his Area send athletes to World Masters competitions without involving the IAAF Member Federations in those nations. He pointed out that only 7 of the 25 WMA Affiliates in Asia hold regular National Championships.

Europe: Dieter Massin-EVAA Academy has been active with 14 seminars being given since 2007. New entry record in Ancona, Italy Indoor Championships (2009), and preparations for 3000 in Hungary for outdoor.

North/Central/Caribbean: Rex Harvey-Kamloops WMA World Indoor Championships great success, but less than 1500 entries from 60 countries. Canada still is trying to solve the Masters organizational problem where two organizations exist: Athletics Canada and Canadian Masters Athletic Association. . The same problem exists in Mexico where the WMA recognized Masters Organization is challenged by the IAAF Federation there. Thanks were given for allowing WMA to have a Masters booth at Berlin World Championships.

Oceania: Jim Blair-discussed this year’s Regional Championship in Tahiti, and pointed out the ongoing problem of Island members too poor and too far for participation although an ongoing development program is in place for those members beyond Australia and New Zealand.

South America: Jorge De La Canale-extensive report containing upcoming championships in South American including the WMA Regional Championship to be held in Santiago, Chile.

Two proposals were brought before the Committee:

Bridget Cushen (GBR) asked that IAAF encourage World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to give WMA a grant to allow (fixed to say) random testing.

Danny Daniels (CAN) asked the Committee to request WMA to either resurrect the WMA Non-Stadia World Championships or include more non-stadia events in the current championship format.

Wang Dawei (David Wang) of China made the following comments concerning the need for an ongoing Masters Committee. First IAAF is a member of WADA, not WMA and second IAAF is a member of IMGA, not WMA. WMA is not permitted, and/or cannot afford to be a member of either so WMA alone would not be able to deal with these organizations which are very influential to the future of Masters Athletics.

A continuing IAAF Masters Committee is important to coordinate all the anti-doping, affiliations, games and championships problems as were discussed as WMA does not have the authority, only IAAF.

In addition to this IAAF work, my individual Athletic activities since my last report include:

Attend USATF Annual Conv: Masters, Officials, Off. Train., Intl.Relations, Diversity
Serve on USATF Masters T&F Executive Committee as Chair appointee
Serve on USATF Masters T&F Games Cmte. for Nat. Champ.in Boston & Sacramento
Serve as USATF National Officials Training Chair (resigned at end of May)
Serve as Technical Delegate for planning of Kamloops WMA World Indoor Champ.
Serve as Referee NCAA Division I Eugene outdoors and Division III DePauw indoors
Serve as Combined Events Coordinator for USATF Sr. & Jr. Champ., Drake Des Moines
Serve as official for North, Central, & Caribbean Regional WMA Champ., Puerto Rico
Serve as official for 14 other misc. meets from local to national champ. in various positions
Attended European Regional Masters Championships in Hungary, observed & promoted Sacramento WMA Championships
Formulated updated Throwing event Age Grading table and programs in conjunction with national committee members
Will attend South American Regional WMA Champ. Santiago, Chile to observe, help with Hy-Tek software, and promote Sacramento WMA Championships
Will be inducted into the Official’s Hall of Fame at Virginia Beach convention.
If you have a question or suggestion concerning the Masters program (at any level), please do not hesitate to contact me.

Respectfully submitted,
Rex Harvey, IAAF Masters Committee Member