DES
MOINES, Iowa – USA Track & Field on Wednesday introduced the first
athlete recipients of Project 30 funds, designed to help athletes with
high medal potential cover their training costs and living expenses.
Thirty-one
athletes will receive a total of $800,000 in Project 30 funds in 2010,
with $4 million to be spent over the four-year term of the program. The
Class of 2010, listed below, ranges from established medal winners like
Stephanie Brown Trafton, Hyleas Fountain and Chelsea Johnson to young
up-and-comers like shot putter Cory Martin, hurdler Dexter Faulk and
middle-distance runner Evan Jager. Additional athletes may be added in
coming months.
Project
30 athletes sign a contract with USATF and Nike, which sponsors the
program, providing them with between $10,000-$50,000 per year. Project
30 athletes will receive Nike shoes and equipment and will compete
annually at the USA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, Nike Prefontaine
Classic and Penn Relays, and at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials-Track
& Field. They will be asked to participate in press conferences,
public appearances and marketing opportunities.
Officials
from USATF and Nike selected the athletes in an exhaustive process that
took into consideration a host of factors. Athletes who were
“medal-ready” and “finals-ready” for major international championships
were given first consideration, with athlete need also strongly
factoring in. Athletes from all 43 events were evaluated.
“We
looked at all 43 events and first picked athletes who had the greatest
potential through 2013,” USATF Chief of Sport Performance Benita
Fitzgerald-Mosley said. “Our final group is a great mix of veteran
athletes and future stars, but they all have one thing in common, and
that is their potential to land on the medal podium
at the World Championships and Olympic Games. Many athletes were either
losing their shoe contracts or seeing them substantially reduced, and
we are very pleased to be able to step in and assist athletes perform
at their best.”
Athletes
without a pre-existing contract with a shoe company and those with Nike
were considered for the program. Athletes under contract with other
shoe companies are prevented by their contracts from signing with a
competing company and therefore were not eligible for Project 30 funds.
Sport Science at center stage
The
signature program of USATF’s High Performance Department, Project 30 is
one of several new or expanded projects USATF has undertaken in 2010 to
increase athlete support.
Beginning
with the first event for sprints and hurdles held June 3-4 in Dallas,
USATF has instituted a series of Sport Performance Workshops, where
leading sport scientists work one-on-one with top athletes and their
personal coaches. With upwards of 25 being held each year across all
event disciplines, the Workshops are provided to athletes who have been
designated as having viable medal potential in the upcoming World Championships and Olympic Games.
Organized
by and managed by USATF’s new Associate Director of Sports Medicine
& Science Robert Chapman, all Workshops are centered around the
comprehensive on-track biomechanical analysis of the athlete, and are
supported by the areas of nutrition, psychology, medicine, physiology, and strength & conditioning. Results of all of these areas will be documented to track the status, goals, and improvement of the athlete.
Athletes selected for the program participate in three sessions per year, along with frequent
interaction with their coach and the USATF sport science and medicine
professionals. Athletes and coaches can consult with a team of experts
in nutrition, psychology, medicine and physiology.
“In
order to have fact-based decision making, we polled athletes and
coaches to ask what they needed,” Fitzgerald Mosley said. “Their #1
need is medical support and #2 is sport science. They wanted more of
both, and that’s what we are giving them.”
Also
beginning in 2010, USATF has expanded its existing medical
reimbursement program to athletes and is providing more nutritional and
dietary services. USATF is doubling the amount of medical reimbursement
available to athletes ranked in the top 10 in the world to $3,000 per
year, and for the first time will reimburse athletes ranked in the top
11-20 in the world for up to $1,500/year in medical costs.
Coaching
stipends also will be available to the world top 11-20 for the first
time, $1,000/year. World Top 10 receive $2,000 in coaching stipends
annually. USATF is contracting to provide dietary support, including
blood-test evaluations, with a nutritionist. In sport science,
Functional Movement Screenings are being performed at the Sport Science
Workshops to aid athlete performance and prevent injury. On the medical
side, USATF last year partnered with St. Vincent Hospital in
Indianapolis to provide up to $100,000/year in direct medical services
to athletes.
New High Performance web site
To better serve athletes in the virtual world, USATF has created an exclusive High Performance Web site, www.usatfhighperformance.com, that consolidates the vast amount of information important to athletes in a single easy-to-navigate site.
Athletes
and the public can find information on Project 30, High Performance
budgets and strategic planning, and a comprehensive list of athlete
assistance programs, among other information. Visit www.usatfhighperformance.com
2010 Project 30 athletes
by Larry Eder
