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≡ USA TRACK & FIELD ≡
Although not publicly announced by USA Track & Field, three-time Olympic race walker Curt Clausen was elected as President of the federation at its Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida on Saturday (7th), with 56.7% of the vote to 43.3% for 1992 Olympic triple jump champion Michael Conley.
The result was posted on the X platform by PoleVaultPower (Becca Peter) and by running writer Jeff Benjamin on Threads, but not on the USATF Web site, or on X, and no vote totals have been reported. Peter noted that a protest was filed, but was denied for being made too late. Perhaps there is another challenge coming. The election result as posted by Peter and Benjamin:
So, Clausen, the General Counsel for Tickets.com in New York will apparently be the new President as of 1 January 2025, but not necessarily the Chair of the USATF Board of Directors. Article 10.C. of the USATF Governance Manual specifies:
“the Board shall select one of its members to serve as Chair at the Board’s first meeting after January 1st. … The President shall be the Chair of the Board unless the Board elects another of its members to serve as Chair by two-thirds (2/3) vote of the full membership of the Board.”
In fact, current President Vin Lananna – elected in 2017 and re-elected in 2021 – was removed as Board Chair and Conley, the current Chair of the High Performance Division, has served as USATF Board Chair for most of Lananna’s time in office.
Peter was the only one to post other election results, with Joel Brown selected as the High Performance Division representative to the Board; Clif McKenzie selected as the head of the Men’s Track & Field Committee; Greg Hipp for Long Distance Running; Allen James for Race Walking, and Jere Summers-Hall for the Athletes’ Commission, among many offices on the ballot. They and others will form a 21-member board in January.
Clausen, now 57, was one of the best American walkers ever, competing in the 1996-2000-2004 Olympic Games in the 20 km (Atlanta) and 50 km (Sydney and Athens) races, with a best of 22nd in Sydney. He won a bronze medal in the 50 km at the 1999 World Championships and was an 11-time U.S. champion.
His 20 km best of 1:23:34 in 1999 still ranks no. 8 on the all-time U.S. list, and his 35 km time of 2:38:45 from 2001 ranks him no. 2 all-time U.S. He has gone on to a lengthy career in the law; he would be the first attorney to serve as USATF President since Frank Greenberg from 1988-92. He previously served on the USATF Board from 2014-18.
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A report from the Associations Committee reviewed the federation’s membership totals, showing a continuing recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, but with membership still not back to pre-pandemic levels.
In 2019, individual membership was 123,444, down from its high of 130,877 in 2016. The pandemic plunged the member totals down to 71,810, but there has been a recovery since:
● 2020: 83,619
● 2021: 104.787
● 2022: 115,240
● 2023: 120,870
This is still less than in 2016, but the rebuilding of the membership total is encouraging. The number USATF-registered clubs is now back to 3,324, ahead of the 3.131 in 2019, but less than the 2016 high of 3,438.
Registered officials are back up to 6,783, close to the 2018 high of 6.,816.
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Less encouraging, apparently, are USATF’s finances. Due to a $9.9 million payment to support the 2022 World Athletics Championships held in Eugene, Oregon, USATF’s end-of-year financial statements for 2022 showed cash and investments of $12.74 million, but reserves of only $548,002. The cash and investments were down from a combined $26.08 million at the end of 2021.
USATF has not posted its financial statements or its IRS Form 990 tax documents for 2023 as yet; these are usually posted by the time that the USATF Annual Meeting takes place.
However, Conley confirmed to Runner’s World that the 2023 financials will also show a loss, further draining the financial base of the organization.
Of its $36.54 million in revenue for 2022, $25.02 million (68.5%) came from the landmark Nike sponsorship of about $20 million per year that will continue to 2040, and a $5.76 million grant from the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. There was another $5.15 million in “nonfinancial assets,” which appeared to be explained in the notes as in-kind contributions, primarily of uniforms and equipment. Added in, those three categories accounted for 82.6% of all USATF revenue reported for 2022.
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USATF announced three special honors at the Annual Meeting, with 400 m hurdles superstar Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone awarded a Wing Award for “most dominant performance” at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, 100 m hurdles gold medalist Masai Russell as “breakthrough performer” and men’s 400 m winner Quincy Hall recognized as “most inspirational.”
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