{"id":460,"date":"2011-03-23T16:32:00","date_gmt":"2011-03-23T23:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=460"},"modified":"2011-03-23T16:32:00","modified_gmt":"2011-03-23T23:32:00","slug":"1-billion-for-brazil-yet-we-lack-a-facility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=460","title":{"rendered":"$ 1 Billion for Brazil Yet We Lack a Facility"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"image\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve read this blog for any length of time then you know that I feel a high priority for the sport here in the U.S. is to host the World Championships<\/a> \u2013 as well as serve as host to another Olympics. <\/p>\n

To this point one of the key obstacles that we\u2019ve faced outside of a lack of leadership, has been the lack of a facility capable of hosting such an event! Imagine that here in the United States with sports the huge past time that it is, and this country (one of the wealthiest on the planet) lacks a creditable track and field facility when locations such as Istanbul, Daegu, and Doha can readily apply for host duty.<\/p>\n

I find it such a travesty that I\u2019ve even thrown out suggestions<\/a> as to how to get it done \u2013 including suggesting some sort of partnership with federal and\/or local government entities. So imagine my shock when I \u2018m going through the news<\/a> this morning and find that President Obama has put the wheels in motion for the United States to provide one billion dollars towards infrastructure development for Rio de Janeiro\u2019s facilities for the 2016 Olympics!<\/p>\n

Now, before you think that I am jealous of Rio\u2019s hosting of the Games, I actually supported<\/a> their bid \u2013 even against our own. And I was happy that they won. It\u2019s time for the Games to be held outside of the \u201cusual\u201d group of nations. Having said that, however, I\u2019m sure that one of the reasons they won the bid was that they showed they had the ability to put all of the necessary accoutrements in place \u2013 including their infrastructure. I\u2019m also fairly certain (though it is speculation on my part) that one of the knocks on the US bid was the fact that we should, but don\u2019t, have all of the necessary accoutrements in place \u2013 primarily a facility. <\/p>\n

While that may be speculation with respect to the Games, I know for a fact it is what is holding us back from a World Championships bid! So why are we funding development elsewhere when our need is so great here has me a bit baffled. Yes I know (for those of you politically inclined) that it is couched as \u201cjobs creation\u201d for US companies. That the money is to be used to pay US companies to do the work. But the work is still being done in Brazil with Brazil reaping the end benefit. We could just as easily use that billion dollars to create jobs for US companies to do the work HERE in the US \u2013 creating jobs for Americans AND a viable facility right here in the United States. Because I am sure that while the money may be filtered through US companies, they will be hiring many Brazilian locals to participate in the work that will be done. Doing so in America would guarantee that nearly 100% of the jobs would go to US workers. Not to mention that we will not be participating in any revenue sharing from the hosting of the Games \u2013 tickets, lodging, transportation, etc.<\/p>\n

So while I understand the \u201cpolitical\u201d implications of job creation, I also understand that need would be even more strongly met by developing a facility here in the United States and that the by product (facility) would also benefit us here in the United States \u2013 a double win win! Plus any revenue generated from hosting Worlds and or the Games.<\/p>\n

So I hope that the next CEO of USATF \u2013 whomever he or she may be \u2013 is paying attention. I said this could be done and the proof is in the pudding \u2013 even if that pudding is going to be eaten in Brazil. We need to be pushing to have the same done right here at home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019ve read this blog for any length of time then you know that I feel a high priority for the sport here in the U.S. is to host the World Championships \u2013 as well as serve as host to another Olympics. To this point one of the key obstacles that we\u2019ve faced outside of a lack of leadership, has been the lack of a facility capable of hosting such an event! Imagine that here in the United States with sports the huge past time that it is, and this country (one of the wealthiest on the planet) lacks a creditable track and field facility when locations such as Istanbul, Daegu, and Doha can readily apply for host duty. I find it such a travesty that I\u2019ve even thrown out suggestions as to how to get it done \u2013 including suggesting some sort of partnership with federal and\/or local government entities. So imagine my shock when I \u2018m going through the news this morning and find that President Obama has put the wheels in motion for the United States to provide one billion dollars towards infrastructure development for Rio de Janeiro\u2019s facilities for the 2016 Olympics! Now, before you think that I am jealous of Rio\u2019s hosting of the Games, I actually supported their bid \u2013 even against our own. And I was happy that they won. It\u2019s time for the Games to be held outside of the \u201cusual\u201d group of nations. Having said that, however, I\u2019m sure that one of the reasons they won the bid was that they showed they had the ability to put all of the necessary accoutrements in place \u2013 including their infrastructure. I\u2019m also fairly certain (though it is speculation on my part) that one of the knocks on the US bid was the fact that we should, but don\u2019t, have all of the necessary accoutrements in place \u2013 primarily a facility. While that may be speculation with respect to the Games, I know for a fact it is what is holding us back from a World Championships bid! So why are we funding development elsewhere when our need is so great here has me a bit baffled. Yes I know (for those of you politically inclined) that it is couched as \u201cjobs creation\u201d for US companies. That the money is to be used to pay US companies to do the work. But the work is still being done in Brazil with Brazil reaping the end benefit. We could just as easily use that billion dollars to create jobs for US companies to do the work HERE in the US \u2013 creating jobs for Americans AND a viable facility right here in the United States. Because I am sure that while the money may be filtered through US companies, they will be hiring many Brazilian locals to participate in the work that will be done. Doing so in America would guarantee that nearly 100% of the jobs would go to US workers. Not to mention that we will not be participating in any revenue sharing from the hosting of the Games \u2013 tickets, lodging, transportation, etc. So while I understand the \u201cpolitical\u201d implications of job creation, I also understand that need would be even more strongly met by developing a facility here in the United States and that the by product (facility) would also benefit us here in the United States \u2013 a double win win! Plus any revenue generated from hosting Worlds and or the Games. So I hope that the next CEO of USATF \u2013 whomever he or she may be \u2013 is paying attention. I said this could be done and the proof is in the pudding \u2013 even if that pudding is going to be eaten in Brazil. We need to be pushing to have the same done right here at home.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa3DCY-7q","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":435,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=435","url_meta":{"origin":460,"position":0},"title":"Olympic Tracks Must Be Preserved","author":"CHill","date":"January 17, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"There is a\u00a0 discussion on the table as to what will happen to London\u2019s new Olympic track once the games are over. Apparently a soccer league wants to take over the facility, tear it down and rebuild it without the track \u2013 and that is drawing criticism from some corners.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"london-2012-olympic-park-progress","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/lh6.ggpht.com\/_q69RXDGKhjE\/TTR3N_Zqu7I\/AAAAAAAAAGQ\/q4X0iEZWYFc\/london-2012-olympic-park-progress_thumb%5B1%5D.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2483,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=2483","url_meta":{"origin":460,"position":1},"title":"Why the Decline?","author":"CHill","date":"December 3, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Once upon a time, not that long ago, the US was a true power in the sport of track and field. By true power, I mean beyond just having many of the world's best athletes. That is almost a right of birth - a conversation for another day. Not that\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/trackchill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/06\/Track-Section-1-129x150.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":417,"url":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=417","url_meta":{"origin":460,"position":2},"title":"The United States Needs a Venue","author":"CHill","date":"November 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019ve talked before about what I feel is the need for the United States to be host to a World Championships. The sport\u2019s biggest event has been around since 1983 and not once has the United States served as host. A travesty IMHO that the world\u2019s greatest power in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"With 2 comments","block_context":{"text":"With 2 comments","link":"http:\/\/trackchill.com\/?p=417#comments"},"img":{"alt_text":"28 Jun 1996: General view of a heat of the men's 1500m in the Olympic stadium at the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games at Atlanta, Georgia. Mandatory credit: Gary M. 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