Plans to upgrade the “Golden League” to a new “Diamond League” were announce this past week. Beginning in 2010, it will expand the current race series to include meets outside of Europe with stops in China, the United States and perhaps Doha, Qatar. With locations still to be solidified the Diamond League could have anywhere from 12 to 15 meets. Each meet is scheduled to offer over $400,000 in prize money with the stated goal of tieing the sports biggest stars to multi meet contracts to encourage head to head competition. Nice to see this “Circuit” of meets extend beyond Europe. If the sport is to grow the worlds top…

A championship weekend of sorts, but I have to say it really didn’t feel like one. Several collegiate conferences had their championships, the most notable being the SEC. Competitive as always, I was most taken by the fact that as deep and strong as the SEC is, it is being dominated this year by FRESHMEN! Second (Ryan Fleck, AUB, 7′ .50″), third, fourth AND fifth in the men’s high jump, all freshmen. Winner of the women’s pole vault (Rachel Laurent, LSU, 14′ .50″); runner up in the men’s heptathlon (Gray Horn, Florida, 5586); double winner in the long jump and triple jump (Christian Taylor, Florida, 25′ 3.5″ & 52′ 10.25″);…

I was informed by a friend earlier today that USATF CEO, Doug Logan, has sent out an invitation to athletes attending this weekends Indoor National Championships inviting them to meet with him on Friday to discuss concerns they have about the sport. Follow up calls confirmed that indeed athletes have been receiving invitations. I’m excited to hear that Mr. Logan is reaching out to athletes in this manner. This will be a good first step in addressing the needs of the athletes, who are truly the life blood of the sport. I look forward to hearing the outcome of this meeting. A great start to Indoor Nationals!

The following text is a letter (reprinted with permission and unedited) to USATF from an elite athlete. It provides an insight into the athlete’s view of the sport and why change is needed. +++++++++ Hello Mr Logan, As I sit back and look at all the transitions of power in USATF and read the findings of Project 30, I find myself still questioning the real benefit of being an “elite” athlete. First, let me address the title of “elite.” What exactly is that label? Beginning with the intangibles, “Elite” athletes sacrifice time, effort, pride, sweat, tears, just to name a few. Tangibly, I can list from the weekly massages, agent and coaching fees, medical…

Lead by Yelena Isinbayeva’s(RUS) indoor debut with TWO raisings of her own indoor WR in the Pole Vault, pole vaulters and high jumpers continue to turn in the top performances this indoor season. Isinbayeva made her debut in Donetsk memorable as she cleared 4.97m (16′ 3.5″) for her first record before vaulting over 5.00m (16′ 4.75″) for record number two. With such an auspicious debut it appears this could be quite the season for Yelena. Speaking of quite a season, Steven Hooker (AUS) continues his domination of the indoor pole vault with his fourth win of the season with a clearance of 5.92m (19′ 5.25″) in Donetsk – a rather…

USATF CEO Doug Logan recently released the Task Force Report on the state of Track and Field in the United States. This report was created by a nine member task force that included former athlete Carl Lewis, current athlete Deena Kastor, and longtime coach Mel Rosen, among others, and had some very harsh criticism of the operation of the sport here in the United States. After examining the sixty nine page report I have some mixed feelings regarding its findings. While I am in favor of the overall position of the report – that the sport needs serious reworking here in the US – I think there are some fundamental…

Another solid weekend of track and field saw Aussie Steven Hooker take another shot at 20 feet and Sergei Bubka at the Boston Indoor Games. Hooker took over the #2 spot on the All Time list with his 6.06m (19′ 10.5″) clearance to win the event in Boston. He then took three solid tries at 6.16m, a centimeter above Bubka’s record set back in 1993. Hooker was a full foot above his competition as Derek Miles was second with a 5.72m (18′ 9.25″) mark. Boston was clearly the venue for vaulting as Jenn Stuczynski set an American Record of 4.82m (15′ 9.75″) improving Stacy Dragila’s previous record by a centimeter.…

During the recent Armory Meet in New York, USATF’s new CEO, Doug Logan gave an interview on various topics concerning Track and Field. During this interview Logan touched on issues such as “Drugs in the Sport”, the performance of the US Team at last year’s Beijing Olympic Games, and “The marketing of the sport here in the United States”. While I have an interest in all of the areas he discussed, I found his words on the marketing of the sport most interesting, as he mentioned a topic that I myself have looked at – the idea of creating an actual League for the sport of Track and Field. Now…

The 2009 Indoor season has started off in fine fashion. The highlight of this past weekend being the 19’8.5″ pole vault of Aussie Steven Hooker at the Millrose Games. Hooker’s metric 6.01 vault made him the #4 all time performer indoors and left him only .01cm from #2’s Jeff Hartwig and Rodion Gautaulin. More importantly he had some very strong attempts at 6.15m which would have broken the venerable Sergei Bubka’s Indoor World Record. Hooker looks ready to challenge that rarified air on a consistent basis this year, if this past weekend was any indication. Another athlete that appeared quite sharp at Millrose was hurdler Terrance Trammell. After sizzling to…