Posted: July 9, 2004

Athletics: An Olympic Trials Primer: Who’s Who and What’s What at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials

SACRAMENTO – Planning, organizing and executing a meet on the scale of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials is no small undertaking. More than 1,000 athletes will compete in Sacramento in a meet where 120 officials from around the country, scores of administrators and hundreds of local volunteers help operate a meet that is reported on by more than 1,100 members of the media.

To help make sense of it all, the information below provides a basic description of how different USA Track & Field duties are divided in the Olympic Trials flow chart.

Overall Meet Management: Meet director for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials is USATF Director of Events and Broadcasting David Raith. Raith oversees all general operational issues for the meet. He is assisted by USATF Manager of Events Sandy Snow, who handles most logistical and technical issues.

The USATF Men’s and Women’s Track & Field Committees, chaired by John Chaplin and Stephanie Hightower, have jurisdiction over all administrative aspects of the Olympic Trials, including the areas listed below:

Entries: Entry standards for the Olympic Trials were established by USA Track & Field’s Standards subcommittees, chaired by Scott Davis and Bob Podkaminer. The standards were approved by USATF’s Men’s and Women’s Track & Field Committees at the 2002 USATF Annual Meeting in Kansas City, Mo.

For the first time, entries into the Olympic Trials were accepted exclusively online at www.usatf.org. Entries closed on June 23, with athletes allowed to petition for late entry until July 1. All performances submitted by entrants were verified by USATF statistician Glen McMicken. If an athlete did not have the necessary qualifying mark, they could appeal to a sub-committee appointed by USATF women’s track & field chair Stephanie Hightower or men’s track & field chair John Chaplin to gain entry into an event. Hightower oversees all women’s events, while Chaplin performs the same function for the men.

Declarations: After entering online, athletes must “declare” their intention to compete in the meet. For instance, an athlete might enter three events, but “declare” only in one or two, once they’ve decided which events they want to contest. Declarations for each event close 48 hours prior to that event’s first qualifying round, meaning that the meet uses a “rolling declaration” system. Once declarations are closed, seedings and start lists are developed.

Seedings/Start Lists: The seeding and advancement procedures for each event at the Olympic Trials was approved by USATF’s Men’s and Women’s Track & Field Committees, respectively. Seedings are computer-generated, with oversight by Bob Podkaminer.

Scheduling: The event schedule for the Olympic Trials was created by John Chaplin (men’s events) and Stephanie Hightower (women’s events).

Officiating: Officials for the U.S. Olympic Trials were chosen from around the country, by USATF’s Officials selection committee. Chief coordinator of officials at the Olympic Trials is Dick Iwamiya, who is in charge of the roughly 120 officials who conduct every event on the track and in the field, from starting to measuring and judging fouls in field events.

NTOs: National Technical Officials (NTOs) oversee the operation of events to make sure procedure and protocol is followed by officials. Chief Technical Official is Dr. Eric Zemper, who heads up a crew of nine NTOs.

Protests/Referees: If an individual wishes to protest the result of any event, they must do so within 30 minutes of the event’s results being posted. Protests are submitted to the meet referees. As head referee, Bob Podkaminer is in charge of group of referees that addresses all protests: Ed Gorman, Ken Gibson, Shirley Crow, Karen Dennis and Terry Crawford.

Jury Of Appeal: If an individual wishes to appeal a ruling made by the referees, they may appeal to the Jury of Appeal. Five people comprise the jury: Dr. Evie Dennis, Harry Groves, Connie Price-Smith, Vince Peters and Rich Torrellas.

Olympic Team Information

The Olympic Trials is the selection meet for the 2004 Olympic Games. Head coaches for the U.S. Olympic Team are Men’s Head Coach George Williams and Women’s Head Coach Sue Humphrey. For complete bios of all Olympic staff members, see pp.32-34 in the 2004 USATF Media Guide and FAST Annual.

Selection To Team USA: The attached page details the process for being selected to Team USA. USA Track & Field’s roster nominations for the Olympic Team will be submitted to the USOC by Olympic Team Head Managers Stephanie Hightower (women) and Charlie Craig (men) by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, July 18, immediately following the conclusion of the Olympic Trials.

Relay Team Selection: The head coaches of the women’s and men’s Olympic Teams – Sue Humphrey and George Williams –will select who will compete in Team USA’s relays in Athens. Relay selection for the 2004 Olympic Games is different than in past years, due to new restrictions instituted by the IAAF. Because all relays at the Olympic Games will have only semifinal and final rounds, the IAAF is requiring that all three of a team’s 100 and 400-meter runners automatically be named to each country’s 6-person relay pool for each relay. Therefore, the first three finishers in the men’s and women’s 100 meters at the Olympic Trials, and men’s and women’s 400 meters, will automatically be named to the pool. Three additional participants in any event at the Olympic Trials also may be named to the pool listed on the Olympic roster submitted by USATF to the USOC.

Once in Athens, any athlete competing in any event on the Team USA roster also is considered part of the relay pools. Williams and Humphrey will name a 6-person pool for each relay that will compete in relays’ respective semifinal rounds, 24 hours prior to the start of each semifinal race. The four-athlete lineup for each relay is made official in the call room at Olympic Stadium, shortly before the relay is run.

Two athletes from the semifinal lineups lineup may be replaced by a member of the relay pool or any other member of the Team USA roster, from any event, for the final.

Under the direction of Brooks Johnson, USATF’s year-round National Relay Program has conducted numerous relay camps around the country and the world, working with nearly every sprinter of note in the U.S. The program is designed to ensure that U.S. sprinters are practicing together, using multiple lineups, throughout the year. That program program, in conjunction with individual athlete performance at the Olympic Trials and throughout the year, will help determine final relay lineups for the Olympics. Humprey and Williams make the final decision on all Olympic Team relay lineups.

Olympic Team Administration: The Head Manager of the men’s Olympic Team is Charlie Craig, and women’s Head Manager is Stephanie Hightower. The head managers are responsible for all administrative duties related to the Olympic Team, including team sign-up, roster submission, and all administrative and logistical issues related to the U.S. team.

Drug Testing

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency conducts all drug testing at the Olympic Trials. The top 3 finishers in every event, as well as scores of additional random tests, will be conducted by USADA. For more information, contact USADA’s Director of Communications and Public Affairs, Rich Wanninger, at 719-785-2009.

Cell Phone Contact Information

Sue Humphrey, Women’s Olympic Head Coach: 512-751-4551
George Williams, Men’s Olympic Head Coach: 919-795-5923
Stephanie Hightower, Women’s Olympic Head Manager: 614-774-4736
Charlie Craig, Men’s Olympic Head Manager: 661-301-5781

Selecting Team USA for the 2004 Olympic Games

Countries are allowed to send one athlete per event to the Olympic Games if that athlete has met the Olympic 'B' qualifying standard. To send two or three athletes, those entrants must meet the more stringent Olympic “A” standard. It is the priority of USA Track & Field and the U.S. Olympic Committee to send the largest team possible to the Olympic Games.

USA Track & Field must submit to the USOC an Olympic roster of three athletes and one alternate for each individual event, by 11:59 p.m. on July 18. Those rosters are determined by the order of finish at the U.S. Olympic Trials.

Due to the short turn-around time for submitting a roster, in 2004 a maximum of only four athletes in each event will be able to chase the Olympic “A” standard. This marks a change from past Olympic years. The following selection system is in place in 2004.

Guidelines for selecting Team USA is as follows:

1. The top three finishers at the U.S. Olympic Trials who have already met the Olympic "A" qualifying standard in their event will be named to the Team USA roster for the 2004 Olympic Games. In the vast majority of events, that means the first, second and third-place finishers will go to Athens.

2. If there is an event where two or more finishers have met the Olympic "A" standard, any finisher(s) who have the "A" standard will be named to the Team USA roster. Any remaining spots, as well as the position of alternate, will be filled by the highest-placing finishers who have made the "B" standard.

3. Athletes named to the roster in each event then have until August 9 to achieve the Olympic "A" standard, if they don't already have it. Athletes on the roster must make the Olympic "A" standard by August 9 in order to compete in Athens.

4. If, by August 9, only one athlete in any given event has achieved the "A" standard, then the highest-placing finisher who has a “B” standard will be the only Team USA athlete to compete in that event at the Olympics. If two or more athletes have achieved the “A” standard, those athletes will compete.

Relays:

1. USA Track & Field will submit pools of six athletes for each relay (men’s and women’s 4x100m, men’s and women’s 4x400m) to the USOC on July 18. The top three finishers in the men’s and women’s 100m and men’s and women’s 400m will automatically be chosen for the pool, in accordance with IAAF rules. The remaining three spots in each relay pool may be filled by any athlete competing at the Olympic Trials.

2. At the 2004 Olympic Games, Team USA’s relay pools will include the six athletes named on July 19. Any athlete already on the Team USA roster also may compete in a relay. However, no more than six athletes total can compete in each relay at the Olympic Games, including the rounds and finals.

From USATF.org.