HERE’S THIS MONTH’S collection of short takes on generally off-track activities that have gone/will go a long way towards shaping the way the sport is headed.
The Return Of The All-Women League
With Grand Slam Track getting the lion’s share of publicity on the innovation-in-track beat, Athlos has been preparing a big move of its own.
The organization founded by Alexis Ohanian put on a successful women’s meet in New York City last year. Now it has introduced an Athlos Women’s Track & Field League, with Tara Davis-Woodhall, Sha’Carri Richardson and Gabby Thomas named as the founding advisor-owners.
Says entrepreneur Ohanian, “Gabby, Sha’Carri, and Tara represent a new generation of athletes who have put this sport on their shoulders and deserve to be compensated for being the standardbearers. We were focused on bringing them into the League as founding owners to ensure we’re building a League that our athletes will love.”
This year, the Athlos will sponsor a meet — again on Randalls Island in New York City — on October 10, after the World Championships. In ’26, it will expand to multiple meets leading to a final championship.
Another High-End U.S. Meet Canceled
In another sign that its financial troubles are causing it to pull in its horns, USATF has canceled the 2025 New York GP, originally set for June 21. The event, since its inception in 2005, has provided many high-octane moments, including a Usain Bolt 100 WR in ’08.
The meet was organized in conjunction with the Randalls Island Park Alliance, NYC Parks and Asics, and was also a Gold stop on the WA Continental Tour.
The federation distanced itself from the decision, saying, “While USATF does not organize this event, we understand the impact this change may have on athletes seeking critical opportunities to compete, earn prize money, and gain world-ranking points.
“USATF remains committed to supporting elite athletes by actively securing viable alternatives and will continue working with our partners to maximize opportunities across the U.S. track & field landscape.”
As noted in this space last month, June’s scheduled USATF LA Grand Prix had already bitten the dust.
A Spare-No-Cost HS Facility
Plenty of college programs — not to mention many small countries — would aspire to the track & field complex that Crowley, Texas, has on the drawing board. The public school district outside of Ft. Worth counts 2 high schools among its 27 institutions, yet it is planning to install a $140 million indoor/outdoor track facility.
As envisioned, it would have a hydraulic 200m indoor track with seating for 3500, and an outdoor complex with seating for 5000. “This world-class facility is designed to support CISD students’ development,” says the social media post from the architectural firm on the job.
Once completed, it will be the second-most expensive high school facility in the country, after the Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio (which also serves as home of the annual NFL Hall Of Fame Game).
The facility is funded by a bond of $948M that voters approved 2 years ago. The outdoor facility is scheduled to be completed in January, with the indoor facility set for April of ’27.
Collegiate Hall Of Fame Adds A Dozen
USTFCCCA has announced its 12 inductees into the Collegiate Athlete Hall of Fame. This year’s class represents some 55 NCAA titles, 17 CRs, 8 OG/WC medals and 6 WRs set while they were in college. The group includes 6 men and 6 women:
Men
Bert Cameron (UTEP) Sprints, 1980–83
Joaquim Cruz (Oregon) Middle Distance, 1983–84
Joe Falcon (Arkansas) Distance, 1984–89
Larance Jones (Truman, formerly Northeast Missouri) Sprints, 1970–74
Scott Neilson (Washington) Throws, 1976–79
Spec Towns (Georgia) Hurdles, 1934–37.
Women
Amy Acuff (UCLA) High Jump, 1994–97
Cathy Branta (Wisconsin) Distance, 1981–85
Diane Guthrie (George Mason) Jumps, Multi, 1991–95
Madeline Manning (Tennessee State) Middle Distance, 1967–72
Suziann Reid (Texas) Sprints, 1996–99
Gillian Russell (Miami) Hurdles, 1992–95.
A No-Go For Flaming Feet
It might have worked for Maurice Greene, but don’t try it at California’s state meet. Clara Adams (North Salinas) apparently won the 400 title in 53.24, then grabbed a fire extinguisher from her coach/father and sprayed her spikes to put out “the fire.” That got her disqualified.
Said father David Adams, “That was our moment of celebration, and CIF officials made it about them. The crowd went crazy, they loved it, the CIF booth went crazy, they loved it. But those few guys in those jackets took offense to it, didn’t like it, and made a decision based off emotions.”
Greene, who initiated the stunt as the reigning Olympic dash champion at an early-season SoCal meet in ’04, responded, “People just started calling me, ‘This girl who just ran the 400 did your celebration,’ I was like, ‘Huh!? What?’ If it was away from everyone and not interfering with anyone, I would say reinstate her.”
CAS Settles Jeruto Case In Her Favor
Norah Jeruto (née Tanui), the ’22 world champion in the steeple and 5-time World Ranker, is finally past the doping case that first emerged in ’23. She had been charged with doping on the basis of biological passport irregularities and argued that ulcers and a bout with COVID were responsible for her blood test results.
A disciplinary tribunal overturned the charges in October ’23. The AIU appealed and in June ’24 CAS backed the athlete. Then WA made an appeal of its own, seeking a 4-year ban. Last month CAS issued its final decision, clearing the Kenyan-turned Kazakhstani once again.
The court has released a 46pp document detailing its deliberations and concluding that the ulcer was legitimate and that she underwent an endoscopy to diagnose it. Calling it a “unique case,” the Court cited “persuasive” evidence backing Jeruto’s account, her “clear lack of medical sophistication” and the limited testing that was available in Kenya “at a peak time for the COVID-19 virus.” The tribunal concluded that “World Athletics did not put forward a credible and specific doping scenario.”
Retirement For Clayton Murphy
After a career that saw him World Rank 5 times in the 800 and win the ’16 Olympic bronze, Clayton Murphy has called it quits on his competitive career at age 30.
“I poured everything I had into this sport, and I’m walking away with pride, gratitude, and a heart full of memories,” he posted.
“A decade on the global stage is more than most pros will ever get to experience and I’m so grateful for what every year has taught me…
“To everyone who supported me from the stands or from a screen… whether it was asking for an autograph at Hayward Field or commenting on one of my YouTube videos — thank you. The ways I got to interact with fans was one of my favorite parts of our sport.
“I might be done running 50s around the track but I know I’ll always be a part of this sport one way or another. Can’t wait to share with you what’s next!”
Demus Wants Testing At HS Level
It took Lashinda Demus more than a decade to get the gold medal that was stolen from her by doped athletes. Understandably, then, the former hurdler has earned some strong opinions on the subject. Now working as a high school coach, she thinks that some of the anti-doping efforts need to be focused on the younger set.
“Majority of people believe that high school athletes should be drug tested,” she said in an Instagram video. “This is me watching all the great performances and I just recall not seeing so many fast times, and I’m talking about people that could step into the professional realm and be able to compete — like I’ve never seen this many people do that in high school.”
She went on, “If we have all these kids that are pretty much capable of running professional and have these professional marks, we probably need to start testing earlier because they potentially could be people that can make the national teams.
“This is the most I’ve seen out-of-this-world talents in high school in my whole life. You might have seen talents like this once every 10–15 years, this is every single year… I think now is the time to put this into action because we have more and more high school athletes that are becoming professionally faster.”
Testo Burgers Not Really A Thing?
If anyone on the sketchy side is planning to use the “steroids were in the meat I ate” defense of a doping positive, that route may recently have become more difficult. A study by Texas Tech has shown that there are virtually no banned performance enhancers in U.S. beef, pork or chicken.
The study, supported by USADA, was based on a year-long surveillance of meat samples purchased in 8 major cities. The samples were tested for 13 substances by UCLA’s Olympic Analytical Laboratory, using the same high-resolution testing methods that are employed by the anti-doping organizations.
While some banned substances including Ractopamine and Trenbolone were detected, they were at levels too low to trigger a positive test in an athlete. The study, incidentally, is ongoing, with the sample pool being expanded to cover imported meats.
One conclusion of the author might be tenuous: that U.S. food safety regulations are responsible for keeping the meat supply “clean.” In light of massive recent cutbacks in government regulations, there have been reports that the FDA will be outsourcing most of its food safety inspections to state and local authorities, leading to fears of inconsistent inspections.
WADA Leaders Elected for Third Time
The leadership of WADA was reelected to an unprecedented third term at the end of May in a move that has sparked criticism. President Witold Bańka of Poland and VP Yang Tang of China will now serve through the end of ’28.
USADA, under the leadership of frequent WADA critic Travis Tygart, attacked the move in a social media post:
“With this election, WADA has pulled the ultimate bait and switch, first promising governance reforms following the Russian anti-doping scandal and then quietly changing the rules the second the world looked away. Not only did WADA agree to an unprecedented third term for the current government/sport-appointed WADA President and Vice President, but it has made a mockery of meaningful independence by further protecting the incumbents, using sport to block a viable candidate and turning the election into a coronation.
“All this at a time when athletes’ and the public’s confidence in the global anti-doping system is at its lowest in 25 years due to WADA’s inconsistent and uneven enforcement of the rules in the China swimming cases and others.”
OT Marathon Q Back To Old System
USATF has announced that it is returning to A and B qualifying standards for the ’28 Olympic Marathon Trials. While the A standards will be determined at a later date, the men’s B standard will be lowered from last year’s 2:18:00 to 2:16:00 and the women’s B will remain at 2:37:00.
While those who achieve the A standard will have their expenses paid, B qualifiers have to travel on their own dime. One change for ’28 is that all qualifying marks will be from chip times, as opposed to the gun times. According to the release, “The shift is designed to standardize marks, improve accuracy and provide a more equitable qualification process for runners who don’t have access to an elite starting line.” ◻︎
