WMA region snubs LeBourne, picks Mexican walker for IAAF honor

José' at another event.

Walker José’ at another event.

José Luis López Camarena of Mexico is a superb M65 race walker. He won Lyon gold in the 10K and 20K walks and silver in the 5K walk. (He also ran a leg on a 4×400, dropping down to the M60 race. What a stud!) But his times of 25:17.82, 51:47 and 1:53:21 were far off the listed WMA walk records of 24:13.10, 48:39 and 1:40:14. Yet José is the NCCWMA region’s nominee (along with American W80 sprint goddess Irene Obera) for IAAF World’s Best Masters Athlete of 2015. According to a Canadian source, Irene was nominated for her WRs in the 80m hurdles, 200 and indoor pentathlon. José was chosen for records in all three walks. But I can’t for the life of me uncover any records for José — a prerequisite to being considered for IAAF/WMA honors and an all-expenses paid trip to the IAAF Gala in Monaco. On Sept. 23, I wrote to WMA regional president Sandy Pashkin and two others listed as officers. I wanted to know why José was picked over American middle-distance giant Anselm LeBourne, whose M55 world records this year and Lyon/Beijing efforts are well-documented. No responses came in. I also sent a message to José (in Google-translated Spanish) via Facebook. Grillos.

It’s easy to speculate why José’s name was put forward as NCC WMA nominee — diversity.

In other words, two Yanks (no matter how good) just wouldn’t wash with the PC police.

I don’t know whether time exists to challenge the nominees or replace the NCCWMA slate. Given the fact that WMA President Stan Perkins generally has his way anyway, he can do the right thing by adding Anselm’s name back into the mix of nominees from six WMA regions.

If a better male candidate for WMA/IAAF honors can be found, fine. But this outrageous oversight shouldn’t go unremarked.

Do I have to post another dang petition?

Here’s all I’ve found on Jose’s last two seasons:

His mastersrankings.com profile lists only 2014 marks as an M60.

His results from Costa Rica WMA regional meet in August 2014:

XXV NCCWMA MASTERS CHAMPIONSHIPS – 08/21/2014 to 08/24/2014
San Jose, COSTA RICA
ESTADIO NACIONAL

Event 98 M60 5000 Meter Race Walk/Marcha
======================
Name Age Team Finals
======================
1 Jose Luis Lopez Camarena M64 MEXICO 25:28.0h
2 *Fabian Monna M60 COLUMBIA 27:17.2h
3 Jose Guadalupe Lopez Gar M64 MEXICO 28:07.2h
4 Arturo Roldan Veliz M60 GUATEMALA 35:16.8h
5 Albino Moya Barquero M64 COSTA RICA 38:29.5h

Event 311 M60 10000 Meter Race Walk/Marcha en Ruta
======================
Name Age Team Finals
======================
1 Jose Luis Lopez Camarena M64 MEXICO 52:51.00
2 *Fabian Monna M60 COLUMBIA 57:14.00
3 Jose Guadalupe Lopez Gar M64 MEXICO 59:23.00
4 Arturo Roldan Veliz M60 GUATEMALA 1:15:37.00
5 Albino Moya Barquero M64 COSTA RICA 1:17:02.00

Event 309 M60 10000 Meter Run/Planos en Ruta
=============================
Name Age Team Finals
=============================
Results – Men 60
1 Jose Luis Lopez Camarena M64 MEXICO 44:18.50
2 Heriberto Soto Cerdas M62 COSTA RICA 46:24.20
3 Fredy Castaneda M62 GUATEMALA 52:16.10

WMA world records as of June 2015:

Men Race Walk 5000 m Walk
Age group Mark Name Country Age Meet Date Meet Location
M 35 18:30.43 Maurizio Damilano ITA 35 11.06.92 Caserta, ITA
M 40 19:45.65 Willi Sawall AUS 42 31.03.84 Melbourne, AUS
M 45 20:54.4 Gary Little NZL 49 07.12.91 Auckland, NZL
M 50 21:01 Gary Little NZL 50 16.02.92 Christchurch, NZL
M 55 22:11.5 Willi Sawall AUS 55 26.01.97 Ballarat, AUS
M 60 22:38.7 Andrew Jamieson AUS 60 01.03.07 Melbourne, AUS
M 65 24:13.10 Ian Richards GBR 65 18.10.13 Porto Alegre, BRA

Men Race Walk 10 K Walk
Age group Mark Name Country Age Meet Date Meet Location
M 35 38:39 Robert Korzeniowski POL 35 12.06.04 Krakow, POL
M 40 40:08 Willi Sawall AUS 40 28.08.82
M 45 42:18 Willi Sawall AUS 46 02.04.88
M 50 42:20 Gary Little NZL 16.02.92 Christchurch, NZL
M 55 46:32 Granziano Morotti ITA 59 24.10.10 Grottammare, ITA
M 60 46:23 Andrew Jamieson AUS 61 21.07.07 Melbourne, AUS
M 65 48:39 Andrew Jamieson AUS 65 19.05.12 Melbourne, AUS

Men Race Walk 20 K Walk
Age group Mark Name Country Age Meet Date Meet Location
M 35 1:17:02 Johann Diniz FRA 37 08.03.15 Arles, FRA
M 40 1:21:36 Willi Sawall AUS 40 04.07.82 Melbourne, AUS
M 45 1:25:03 Willi Sawall AUS 46 27.08.88 Canberra, AUS
M 50 1:26:32 Gary Little NZL 16.02.92 Christchurch, NZL
M 55 1:33:38 Granziano Morotti ITA 55 02.04.06 Lugano, ITA
M 60 1:35:39 Andrew Jamieson AUS 62 24.08.08 Melbourne,
M 65 1:40:14 Andrew Jamieson AUS 66 29.07.12 Middle Park, AUS

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September 26, 2015

13 Responses

  1. EM - September 26, 2015

    Personally, I think race walking should not be a part of track and field and should exist in it’s own category as a road race. It is seldom included in meets and is a specialty event.

  2. Quick Silver - September 26, 2015

    In the WMA system, racewalking, even a 5000 on the track, is always non-stadia (i.e., technically a road race).

    Quick Silver
    Hong Kong

  3. KP - September 27, 2015

    To not select Track Athlete, Double World Champion, and Record Breaker Anselm LeBourne is just plain silly.

  4. Gary - September 27, 2015

    I agree with everyone here. LeBourne should know he deserved this award. He shouldn’t base any of his success on achieving this award but it would have been nice. He knows he is awesome..that should be enough.

  5. bert bergen - September 28, 2015

    There is so much of this process I don’t understand .Why doesn’t an official announcement of these awards come from the U.S.T.A.? Why are situations like the one described above coming ” from a Canadian source ?Again how is the U.S.T.A. Athlete of the Year and Athlete of the Week chosen ? Is it by committee and , if so, who is on that committee?Does the process narrow it down to say the five top candidates and a final vote taken ?It is ridiculous that the whole process is veiled in secrecy . What’s to hide ?

  6. bert bergen - September 28, 2015

    Oops. I meant USATF.

  7. Rob Jerome - September 28, 2015

    Here are the just-named nominees from the European Region for the World Athletes of the Year:

    http://www.evaa.ch/news-overview/1305-european-best-masters-athletes-of-2015.html

  8. Tony Echeandia - September 28, 2015

    Ridiculous to under mind the efforts and sacrifice of an athlete like Anselm LeBourne to be what they believe is politically correct. It makes you wonder who’s in charge and what their efforts have been on the track.

  9. Ken Stone - September 29, 2015

    Here is procedure used by Eurovets to pick World Best Masters nominees:
    http://www.evaa.ch/news-overview/1298-world-best-master-2015.html

  10. george haywood - October 2, 2015

    No question, Lopez Camarena had a fine year. But masters track is an objectively measured sport. The stats don’t lie. Anselm LeBourne had the greatest year of any athlete from our region. His consistent dominance, competitive results, and world records clearly show that Anselm deserved to be the nominee.

  11. Paul Murphy - October 3, 2015

    Race walking is a joke.

  12. Mike - October 5, 2015

    If you read the Qualifications page, it clearly states that this award is NOT solely based on performance. Although world class performance is required, it is not the only criteria.

    Paul Murphy- while I am no fan of race walking..it is hardly a joke. Try racewalking 20k sometime then tell us its a joke.

  13. Ty Brown - October 5, 2015

    I’m a hurdler/sprinter and tried a one mile race walk a couple of years back. It is extremely difficult. It is no joke.

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