by Larry EderMichael A. McNees, a former college athlete, but a man who has developed a career in managing City and County administrations, with experience at managing budgets of $600 million and 1,400 employees, was named today Chief Operating Officer for USA Track & Field, effective March 1, 2009, by Doug Logan, CEO of USA Track & Field, and a man who has been in his job since July 2008.
I know nothing about Mr. McNees besides the resume that was quoted in the USATF release today. However, I applaud the appointment of a COO. This means, perhaps, that Mr. Logan will continue to focus on the BIG STUFF, and allow his staff to do what they are supposed to do-make it or break it on their own, within certain parameters.
Logan’s job, in my mind, is to change the basic structure of USA Track & Field so that it can work in a professional manner. His ability to get the changes through the board, without any bloodshed that leaked out, his ability to get the changes through the National meeting without bloodshed is to also be applauded.
This move gives us a bit more insight into Logan: still too early to make a decision, but the guy is delivering change and some positive structure…
EME NEWS (DEC 18, 2008)
GL events for 2009 confirmed
MONTE CARLO (MON): IAAF confirmed AF Golden League events for 2009. There will be 10, one less in comparison to earlier published news. Not included is women 1500 m and men 800 m is changed to long distance combination 3000 m /5000 m. The main candidates are Dayron Robles, Blanka Vlasic and Yelena Isinbayeva. With addition of long distance also Kenenisa Bekele could be a possibility. Other choices to name Asafa Powell at 100 m (Usain Bolt will not run the whole series) and Sanya Richards at 400 m. Same duels as in 2008 could be expected in 400 m (Wariner vs. Merritt) and in javelin (Thorkildsen vs. Pitkamäki). The jackpot structure remains with athletes winning all six events getting 1 million USD, if no one, then 500 000 USD will be given to athletes winning five events. The calendar of Golden League 2009 is different in comparison with 2008 in only one point. In June part only one event will be held (Berlin) as Oslo is returning to July to join Paris and Rome and after the World Championships as usual Zurich and Brussels will be staged. There is a possibility that for 2010 a new Golden League concept will be introduced. The events – men: 100 m, 400 m, 3000/5000 m, 110 m Hurdles, Javelin. Women: 100 m, 400 m, 100 m Hurdles, High Jump, Pole Vault
OTHER NEWS
HOFU (JPN): Last year winner Kazuya Nakamori returns to defend his title as the favorite in the 2008 Hofu Yomiuri Marathon on Sunday. Informs Japan Running News. Hofu is part of Japan’s elite men’s marathon circuit. A 2nd-tier competition following shortly after the 1st-tier Fukuoka International Marathon, Hofu is a development race for young marathoners. Nakamori, who races sockless, won last year’s Hofu in 2:15:40 after overtaking and then dropping Mitsuru Irifune in the final kilometers despite severe blistering on his feet. His strongest competition includes Batochir Serod (Mongolia), who set his PB of 2:14:15 earlier this year in Beijing, along with Japanese runners Manabu Nishida and Tomohiro Minami.
BRISTOL (GBR): Next year’s Bristol half marathon on September 6 will host the trial races for the following month’s IAAF World Championships in Birmingham. The championships on October 11 will mark the third occasion it has been held on British soil, the Bupa Great North Run from Newcastle to South Shields staging the inaugural race in 1992 and Bristol nine years later.
STOCKHOLM (SWE): Retired High Jump star Stefan Holm who in 2006 was voted to the EA Athlete’s Commission and one year later also to the IAAF Athlete’s Commission has now also been voted as member of the Athlete’s Committee of the Swedish Olympic Committee. Just like in the other two cases it was the fellow athletes that chose him. This time it was all athletes from all sports on the Swedish Olympic Team that made the decision. The other two athletes that were selected now were swimmer Therese Alshammar and table tennis player Jörgen Persson.
BIRMINGHAM (GBR): Kelly Sotherton will face reigning Olympic heptathlon champion Natalia Dobrynska in a special three-event challenge at the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham (IAAF Permit) on February 21. The pair in what is expected to be a top notch field, will compete in the 60m hurdles, long jump and the 400m. Sotherton is taking part in all three of the UK Athletics indoor Major Events during indoor season 2009 beginning with the Aviva International Match at Glasgow on January 31 and continuing with the Aviva European Trials on February 14 and 15 in Sheffield. Sotherthon also plans to compete at European Indoor Championships. Dobrynska is still undecided.
LONDON (GBR): England Athletics formed three years ago is aiming to stage its first ever national track and field championships next summer. Informs David Martin. A significant step will see organisers align itself with tradition by resurrecting the name of the world renowned Amateur Athletics Association (AAA) Championships, which ceased in 2006. It now intends organising a two day competition next year and is in talks to establish a memorandum of understanding for Newcastle-based sports company Nova International to market and promote the event. Dates and the venue for the championships are still in the planning stages although they are expected to take place towards the end of the summer season after the World Championships in August.
SAN GIORGIO SU LEGNANO (ITA): The 52nd EA Permit Cross Country race named “Campaccio” (January 6) will be highlighted by last year’s re-match between Kenyan Edwin Soi and fresh 8th time European Champion Sergiy Lebid of Ukraine. Lebid prevailed by a very close margin in a dramatic sprint into the finish-line. The other big names are headed by Olympic steeple winner Birmin Kipruto, Moses Mosop, Ibrahim Jeylan Gashu, fresh european under 23 cross country champion Andrea Lalli and Daniele Meucci. The women’s race features Olympic steeple gold medalist Gulnara Samitova-Galkina, Hungarian Aniko Kalovics, Romanian Cristina Casandra, former European CC Champion Tetyana Holovchenko from Ukraine and home top runners Elena Romagnolo and Silvia Weissteiner.
LONDON (GBR): European 2006 800 m bronze medallist Becky Lyne is upbeat even after another recent minor accident in her battle to regain full fitness for next year’s world championships. As David Martin informs, Lyne was proceeding well after a full recovery from the calf injury which has wrecked her career since her breakthrough into world class when third in Gothenburg in August 2006. But four weeks ago the Sheffield born star suffered a broken wrist which has prevented her running, although she has continued to maintain her fitness with plenty of gym work.
BOLZANO (ITA): The Boclassic organizers announced today that Ukrainian terrain star Sergiy Lebid will be bidding to win for the sixth time in Bolzano on 31 December. He will face former olympic marathon champion Stefano Baldini. Other names will follow soon.
MOSCOW (RUS): Russian sports journalists named top ten sports personalities of 2008. From athletes Olympic gold medalists Yelena Isinbayeva and Andrey Silnov are included. There is no ranking within the best ten.
TALLINN (EST): High Jumper Tatyana Kivimyagi was granted Estonian citizenship. The Russian athlete is having high class 198 bests (indoor 2008 and outdoor 2004). Estonia is giving around ten citizenships per year for special services in science, sports or other areas. The husband Mikhial Kivimyagi is a Estonian. She is European U23 Champion 2005 and competed for Russia at Olympic Games 2004 and World Championships 2005. She twice missed this year the big event as third at national indoor championships and fourth at national outdoor event. She is not planning to jump indoors because of injury.
BRATISLAVA (SVK): In the Slovak Sports Journalists vote for 2008 from athletes the hammer thrower Martina Hrasnova was 13th, 800 m runner Lucia Klocova 15th and hammer thrower Libor Charfreitag 25th. In the teams ranking the Spartak Dubnica men club which was 3rd in European Champion Clubs Cup in Portugal was number 11.
MELBOURNE (AUS): Athletics Australia is pleased to announce that Eric Hollingsworth has been appointed as its new High Performance Manager and will lead Athletics Australia’s High Performance Program. Hollingsworth has an extensive employment history specialising in coaching, senior level sports administration, program management and sports consultancy. He is also an active elite coach having coached several international athletes including Australian 400m runner Sean Wroe who competed at the recent Beijing Olympic Games. Athletics Australia and the Australian Institute of Sport also announce that Tudor Bidder has been re-appointed to the role of AIS Athletics Performance Manager and will lead the AIS track and field program in Canberra.
BRUSSELS (BEL): Retired European sprint champion Kim Geveart will support the Belgian-Netherlands bid for Soccer World Cup 2018. That was said by Belgian media. She will be the official face of the bid along with top tennis player Justine Henin among others.
KINGSTON (JAM): The Jamaica Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) will carry out its first doping tests on athletes before the end of the year, the Jamaica Observer has learnt. JADCO’s executive director, Dr Patrece Charles Freeman, told the Observer that the Commission, which was officially established by an act of parliament in August, was now ready to fulfil its mandate of conducting testing on national athletes. There is no accredited testing laboratory in Jamaica and the samples will be sent overseas.
LUSAKA (ZAM): International media are reporting that Zambia has withdrawn as organiser of the next All-Africa Games in 2011 because of the global financial crisis. Zambia information minister Ronnie Shikapwasha cited predictions the government would not earn as much from copper and cobalt mining as had been anticipated two years ago when Lusaka was awarded the games. Samuel Matete, a 1996 Olympic silver medalist in the 400 m Hurdles and 1991 world champion from Zambia, expressed disappointment but said the decision makes sense given the state of the global economy. The 2007 All-Africa Games were held in Algiers, Algeria. There was no immediate decision on which country would take over to host the 2011 event.
INDIANAPOLIS (USA): USA Track & Field CEO Doug Logan on Thursday named Michael A. McNees the Chief Operating Officer of the organization. As COO, McNees will be the principal deputy to the CEO; supervise USATF’s administration, operations and marketing departments; coordinate long-range planning; act as the principal staff coordinator and advocate to the masters community; and be the chief staff liaison to the new Board of Directors, assisting in the establishment of procedures and policies and coordinating Board training. He will officially join USATF on March 1. Currently the County Administrator of Blaine County, Idaho, McNees has two decades of experience as a high-level administrator and COO, overseeing budgets in excess of $600 million and managing organizations with as many as 1,400 employees. He was former 400 m Hurdles runner. USATF informs.
Special thanks to Alfons Juck, EME NEws.
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