What’s wrong with this picture??
Long Jump Bantam Girls
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Nat’l Youth: N 4.66m 7/28/2007 Ramona Carryl, Knoxville,TN
JO Meet: J 4.66m 7/28/2007 Tiani Reeves, Gothenburg T C
Name Year Team Finals Wind
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Finals
1 Loader, Lauren Highland Lake 5.13mN +0.0 16-10.00
2 Williams, Lauren Quiet Fire 4.53m 1.2 14-10.50
3 Smith, Cynthia Umoja TC 4.31m 1.6 14-01.75
4 Tatum, Alexandra Emerald Vall 4.20m 1.6 13-09.50
5 Byrd, Myisha Phantom TC J4.20m 1.0 13-09.50
6 Austin, Kenyne Durham Stride 4.08m 4.4 13-04.75
7 Oguejifor, Adaugo So Cal Comets J4.08m 1.9 13-04.75
8 Holmberg, Gabrielle Greensburg 4.03m 0.9 13-02.75
Where do I begin? Lauren was so excited about the chance to win a gold medal at the Junior Olympics. For the past 2 years she has jumped at the AAU National Junior Olympic Games winning in 2007 a 4th place medal and 2008 a 7th place.This year she was determined to win Gold even telling me as she left the podium last year “Mom,I gotta have more training for the Long Jump next year okay”. We promised her we would work with her more if she was really going to work hard. Work hard she did.
The day started off with the Long Jump before the 200m semi.Lauren Williams and Saravaughn King due to run the 200m in a few moments, the officials had them jump in the first group all three jumps to get it over quickly. As a mom I felt like it wasn’t that fair to the girls to have to rush,then run since there were so many girls that had to jump after them. But if that is the rule so be it. Lauren was nervous and scratched 2 times.
With one more jump to go I told her “A Champion always finds a way to win” and I saw her take a deep breath and jump her best jump ever 14′-10″. I was so proud of her.She then left and ran the 200m winning her first gold medal of the JO’s. Upon returning (according to her account of the story)she was told by a competitor that there was a girl that had jumped a 16 plus jump and was now the leader.
When the top eight began jumping their final jumps, this account of the story was relayed to me by coaches who where watching from across the pit area.
” The girl who was now in the lead had scratched 2 times before she hit the jump of 16’10″. When the crowd observed the jump the yelled out that the officials weren’t paying attention and had marked the jump from the wrong board.The girl had jumped from the first board( closest to the pit and the measurement was taken from the second board (furthest from the pit) thus giving her a huge almost 5 foot jump measurment added to her jump.
The finals began she scratched two more times and on her last jumped to a 3.52 or 11’5″ last jump. The crowd was upset because the 16’10″ jump would be a new National record that the equivalent jump would be achieved by a very skilled midget boys and girls jump not bantams”.
I came back to watch after hearing the above and watch the final jumps. The leader had just scratched for the second time the other girls were jumping. None matching Lauren’s jump or the said leader.
The crowd was grumbling and asking me what I was going to do and honestly I didn’t know beyond a formal protest 45 minutes after the event finished what could be done. The girls leaving the field didn’t know actually who had won.Lauren was very concerned she wasn’t going to get her gold medal. I told her not to worry that the right thing would be done. I had many concerns, the obvious, Lauren wouldn’t win the gold medal she dreamed about since last season , and from my vantage point deserved and the other was the countless girls that wouldn’t break an almost impossible jump for that age group but would and could if it was the current 4.66
After an almost 3 hour delay it was announced that that the ceremony would begin shortly for the B-Girl Long Jump. As we walked toward the podium stage I was very uneasy feeling the right thing wouldn’t be done. As I watch the girls march on to the stage I realized my Lauren hadn’t been given the gold, but a silver for her hard work and legal long jump.My heart sank. I felt in that moment numb in utter disbelief that this could be happening.I had heard that in the past some suspect things have happened at the JO’s but I never really took them that serious . I just didn’t want to believe that a National Track Meet could have such an obvious error. I was wrong, and the credibilty of these officials was questionable at best to me now.
Sportsmanship and Ethics
After Lauren walked down from the podium she began to cry and hug her dad uncontrollably. Again what do you tell your child that you just told it was going to be okay , and the right thing would be done? All we could say was that some times adults make mistakes and the rules in this case regarding how they came to their decision may prevail.
The next question from Lauren was “Mom doesn’t she(Lauren Loader) know that she didn’t jump that far? Why would she lie about that? Is it fair to take my medal? I could only say no Lauren I don’t think she does.
My questions are few but to the point.
I have removed these questions because of new information I recieved on 8.14.09
This will probably be the last thing I will write on this topic because I believe nothing can or will be done. Nope, I don’t think that now. I will update this article with pictures and more eyewitness accounts in a couple of days. I believe that something can be done. I just have to be persistant for what is right and integral.
I believe the officials simply don’t know or worst yet don’t care what they have done to youth track and field this past week and to the 8 girls that worked hard to earn a medal and the one that got push out of contention because of an illegal measurment.
I am rarely at a loss for words and actions that correspond to what I want to express . This situation truly makes me feel helpless to fix it. I can only hope this situation will teach other officials what to do during a National Championship meet, mainly pay attention so you won’t have to defend a decision in the negative later.I can only believe now that I just the officials don’t have all the facts.
Enough said on this topic… For Now more to folllow
Lorraine Williams
Lauren’s MOM
I just wanted to say Lauren is a trooper. Even though she knows who the REAL CHAMPION is she still gave big smile on the podium. THATS SPORTSMANSHIP!
Congrats Lauren on your win!
I would like to commend Lauren for displaying true sportsmanship on the podium. I think it is unfortunate that officials make decisions that have such an enormous effect without taking the time to ensure they are accurate. I would hope that this athlete and her parents and coaches are simply inexperienced and would not knowingly allow her to keep a medal that was not earned. Although I suspect that at least the coaches are aware that there had to be a mistake. If anyone has any pictures of this I would continue to protest, if for no other reason than to preserve the previous National Record.
Wow! i am speechless. the officials, coach of the young girl and parents should be ashamed for not stepping in and up to correct this mistake.
Isn’t that why they have judges there to spot fouls? Do you have concrete evidence that there was a foul or she “cheated”? Two sides to every story, now we know yours.
I agree there are two sides .The coaches and parents that observed the incident stated they weren’t paying the normal attention. She didn’t foul her mark,it was miss marked from the wrong board. Her jump was fair just not as far as recorded.
There doesn’t seem to be a happy ending here unfortunately. Hopefully it will serve as a lesson to the officials to always be paying attention. Yes, that is why they are there.
It’s not like it can’t happen they are human, I corrected an an Official at a recent meet that caused Lauren’ssilver medal to be Bronze but it was the right thing. She had earned Bronze not Silver.
I think most people who are familiar with track and field events know that an athlete doesn’t just happen to jump four feet farther than they have ever jumped. With this being so unusual and the crowd obviously protesting the coach should have checked with the official himself. Again Lauren Williams handled this with true grace.
I didn’t see it, I wasn’t there, I can’t judge whether there was a mistake, but I do know Bob Beamon broke the long jump world record by 2 ‘ ( an unheard of amount) and he never went that far ever again. Surely there is a photo or video from someone to either confirm or deny the mistake? Isn’t the judge watching the take-off board to check for a foul? How in the world could they then measure from a different board?? That also equally does not make sense.
I was present at the bantam girls long jump in North Carolina. I would like to add one more unfortunate event that took place during the controversy. During the 3 to 4 hour delay, after the long jump, we checked several times for some kind of update about the situation. We were told they were working on a decision and one official even hinted that a decision may not be made until the next day. Needless to say, Adaugo Oguejifor (7th place finisher), her mother and myself, missed the announcement, therefore missing the medal presentation. It hurts not to see Adaugo on the podium with the rest of the girls. When we tried to pick up her medal after the fact, we were told it would be mailed. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
The only reason I am writing is because I can’t find anybody else talking about the situation at the JO’s. I appreciate all the accurate reporting, all the updated information and great writing. Thank you.
So I think you can see even if not there previously Bob Beamons 2 ft (24 inches) is more plausible than 5 feet extra on a girl who isn’t even 4″11′
Bob was in the hunt in alttitude and Olympic Gold shining in his mind, this girl was 22nd with no previous effort to say she would even be close.
This athlete had never jumped farther than 12′ 5″ ft ever is a stretch. These are kids not pros who at any time can rise to the ocassion.
No one has presented a picture or video. Most likely the video would have come from a coach or parent.Why video tape a child not related that isn’t a potential contender by a stranger.
It is very unfortunate ,but She will in my personal opinion be deluded and wonder why she can’t junp that far next season if every or sad because she knows she didn’t really jump a World Record , National and Junior Olympic Record. You never get something for nothing.there is a price for everything.
No it doesn’t make sense that the officials might have blown this BIG TIME , but because so many parents were watching every jump it makes sense to me their account that the officials weren’t paying the necessary attention makes totally sense.
These are not a mom’s words which could be suspect,but the words of more than 2 dozen coaches and parents.They have no reason to try to aid my child to gold over any other. No honest person would want such a thing.
Its sad that this was allowed to stand, it is obvious that this jump wasn’t legal just looking at it on paper. Every year kids show up on the national stage and surprise us, but a over 4″ improvement on a child that’s previous best mark was 12’5 is ill logical.
I routinely work the LJ pit at local track meets, and know that there can be some confusion with what board kids are jumping from Also since this girls previous best mark was 12’5″ I seriously doubt and coach would have this athlete jumping from the 12″ board to begin with. I also know that on a record breaking jump a metal tape must be used to record the feat, I wonder if that happened at this meet? Also her speed doesn’t correlate into being able to jump that far as well there are just so many factors that make this less then feasible.
Margaux Jones who routinely jumps in the 16′s, Best mark in the 100 is 12.98, now saying a girls who’s best mark in the 100m is 15.43 just jumped 16’10″ is ludicrous! Speed isn’t the only factor in the LJ but it a contributor and the majority of athletes with decent marks do have decent speed. The athlete that supposedly won has sub standard speed for her age group! You would think that more then one person would be looking at this and wondering whats going on! With all the track people involved, who probably have witnessed some amazing things have to know that this is close to being impossible by an athlete of this caliber!
I think until someone can produce so video evidence of this jump, I don’t see the justification of allowing this jump to stand. All factors surrounding this jump point to it not being valid.
While I understand on it’s face that it seems unlikely, unless the official will stand up and say I didn’t see, or I messed up, or even I don’t know – I can’t just pass judgement based on what I expect the outcome to be. I am guessing there was a protest, I am guessing that the officials conferred, I would’ve thought this was all addressed there at the time. It is virtually inconceivable that someone would arbitrarily, for this competitor alone, measure from the wrong block – which should have been the very block the judge watching for fouls is looking right at.
Whether a mistake was made or not, the treatment of the gold medal winner wasn’t deplorable and those in the crowd boo’ing and harassing her were shameful. All she did was the best she could in her event – she wasn’t running the tape.
I do not agree with booing, no resonable parent or coach would nor was I apart of this. I think they were frustrated after 3 hours of discussion onthis topic to come up with a percieved wrong answer. Again no excuse.
Yes it is inconcievable, it’s all inconcievable but why would several coaches (not Lauren’s Coach) protest for nothing .Why wouldn’t (the officials) they consider the other athletes.I personally believe saving face is more important since they didn’t catch such a big mistake.
It could have been handled at the pit. Many people know what happen they saw it. I didn’t but I have a belief that a 12′ athlete jump doesn’t turn into a almost 17′ jump. Now that is inconcievable.
I appreciate your very rational thoughtful discussion of a very touchy ,regretful topic. Thanks for your input.
I’ll admit I have a dog in this hunt, I know the winner very well. She wouldn’t knowingly accept an unearned victory. She is as sweet as they come and only doing her best. If a mistake was made I assure you it wasn’t hers. I do not know all the facts, so I reserve judgement – but I completely understand all your very logical arguments. It’s a shame she had to be escorted in a security vehicle with her mother back to their car while receiving verbal abuse. Again – I completely understand all the rational arguments. Thank you for the forum, and the courtesy of your responses.
Officials are human and they do make mistakes. A mistake of this magnitude should have been researched thoroughly. After all, this incident happened at the USAT&F National Junior Olympic Championships. Each athlete should have the opportunity to compete in a fair game environment. USAT&F has a slogan – WIN WITH
INTEGRITY.
I was watching the long jump and with many others protested immediately when the measurement was made from the 8 foot board instead of the 3. As a long jump and triple jump official, I and many others have made the same mistake. The difference is that we saw no shame in addressing and correcting the problem immediately. The officials with arrogance ignored the protests and produced the steel tape for national record purposes. Evidently the officials does not know how special a national record performance is. It was interesting that someone instructed the young lady to move to the 8 foot board in the finals. If anyone needed to be booed, it was the officials, coach and parents who allowed this mistake to make it to the awards stand. It was not her fault and I felt bad that she was subjected to the verbal abuse.
The girls that should be in first is also as sweet as they come and I am sure the parents and supporters of the other 7 girls in this competition will say the same thing about their child or athlete.
I was at the meet, I didn’t see the event but I can say that on paper this girl based of off her result historical results and her speed there is no way that she almost jumped 17 feet. There are to many factors saying she cant then saying she can there obviously is something amiss!
This seems like the most egregious–but not the only mess up– in the Long Jump pit this season. In the Southern California Association I know of at least two meets where girls were placed in the finals for the Bantam Long Jump event who had not jumped farther than other competitors. At one meet the officials allowed the rightful competitor along with the girl who was mistakenly called [10 girls total] to jump in the finals, in another meet, the officials told the rightful girl “too bad”. Bottom line–if we expect our children to be professional and sportsmanlike, then we must also be. A start might be having only the people in the pit who are supposed to be there–no more extra parents, coaches, etc.
Mr.Davis thank-you for your insight to this siuation. As time goes on I am of the belief that My Lauren’s accomplishment and fair and very good jump is not as important to USATF as their being right. After all they are just “Kids” bantams at that.
Mr.Rock, I am very sorry for the “winning families difficulty as they left the stadium,I am sure she is a very nice girl. My question is did her parents actually see what over 50 people didn’t?
I hope if this had to happen that at the very least it will be a stand out situation that will remind the officials that these kids work hard and dream of a National Championship and they hold the responsibilty to uphold fairness and integrity as the standard. We need to trust at National Meet that our chikldren are given correct marks not more not less…..Just FAIR.
We as parents wait all year to see these times and jumps recorded from a credible source USATF National Officials.
It is way to late to revist this siutation but,I know that Doug Logan has read this post and has addressed it with the Youth Chair so maybe it doesn’t have to happen again.
I have a question for an offical. Is it true that the athletes have tell the judge which board they will jump from? If this is the case why didn’t this athlete declare? if she did and didn’t jump from it would it be a scratch? If it was a clear cut case of the spectators not seeing the whole story why did it take 3 hours to do what should have been 2 minutes to decide?
Wow that puts her #1 on the International Age Group world records! Out of no where still very hard to believe!
Interesting I don’t know if it proves anything but action sports has photos up from this event. They have the winner scratching 3 times from the 4 fr board while the cones are at the 8 ft board, Its feasible that she did get a jump in from the 4ft board and jumped a PR of 12’10″ but since her cones on all three of her previous scratches were at the 8ft mark. It is feasible to say they measured from that mark?
Take a look
Check photo 53865-3657-006, 53865-3644-017, 53865-3667-030
These are three photos of this athlete, and all three seem to substantiate that she could of got a measurement from the wrong mark, All three show her scratching on the 4ft board while the cones for her mark measurement are at the 8ft board. Just sayin!
Well here is something interesting, the photos are up from this meet! And there are a series of three photos of this Athlete all three photos show her scratching on the 4ft board while her cones for her mark are at the 8ft board. As I said before it doesn’t add up considering this athletes historical results and now this would seem to substantiate her getting a mark from the wrong board in the advent of her making a legal jump! I could see her jumping a 12’10″ when her pr is a 12’5″ and the 4 ft between the boards would make that 16’10″!
Look for yourself!
http://www.backprint.com/view_event_photos.asp?PID=bp%18yG&EVENTID=53865&PWD=&START=386&SHOW=35&CAT=201823&SUB=0
See Photos they show this athlete scratching from the 4ft board while her cones are clearly at the 8ft board!
Photos > 53865-3667-030, 53865-3657-006 & 53865-3644-017
I also looked at the other athletes in this event to see if there were any anomalies with take off and she is the only one that wasn’t jumping close to where her marking cones were? Just Sayin!
I CAN COMPLETELY BELIEVE THAT THIS OCCURED. THIS YEAR WAS A VERY TRYING YEAR FOR MY DAUGHTHER, WHO IS A BOTTOM MIDGET. SHES ONE OF THE BEST SPRINTERS AND QUALIFIED FOR THE REGIONALS THIS YEAR. SHE RAN GREAT FOR THE 100M, RUNNING A 13.15. SHE WAS VERY EXCITED THAT SHE QUALIFIED GIVEN THAT SHES A BOTTOM MIDGET. WHEN IT CAME TIME TO RUN TO QUALIFY FOR NC CHAMPIONSHIP, SHE WAS READY. SHE CAME IN 3RD, BEHIND 2 OF THE FASTEST TOP MIDGET GIRLS. GUESS WHAT? SHE DID NOT QUALIFY. SHE WAS VERY UPSET AND CRYING AND DID NOT UNDERSTAND WHY SHE DID NOT MAKE IT. ALL I COULD TELL HER WAS SHE RAN HER BEST, LIKE ALWAYS. THE NEXT DAY WE WENT TO WATCH THE 100M FINALS AND TO MY SUPRISE A GIRL IN HER HEAT THAT RAN THE DAY BEFORE WAS RUNNING THE FINAL. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN FINE, BUT THIS GIRL CAME IN 4TH BEHIND MY DAUGHTHER ABOUT 5 TO 10 M. I SAT THERE AND COULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT I WAS SEEING. SO WHEN I WENT HOME I WATCHED MY VIDIO OF THE RACE IN QUESTION. SURE ENOUGH, THE GIRL THAT RAN THE FINALS WAS DIFINATLEY 4TH. SO I HAVE CONCLUDED THAT MY DAUGTHER TIME WAS SWITCHED WITH THE OTHER GIRL. MIND YOU, THIS GIRL CAME IN 6TH OR 7TH IN THE FINALS. MY DAUGHTER WOULD HAVE AT LEAST MADE 3RD OR 4TH. THE WHOLE ORDEAL WAS VERY DIAPPOINTING.
WHAT ARE YOU TO TELL YOUR CHILD WHEN THIS OCCURS?
MY DAUGHTER FELT BETTER KNOWING SHE WAS FAST ENOUGH FOR THE FINALS AND SHE JUST SAID “NEXT YEAR I WELL NOT BE CHEATED BECAUSE IM GOING TO RUN SO FAST THAT THEY CAN NOT SWITCH MY TIMES.”
MY DAUGHTER HAS ONLY BEEN RUNNING FOR 2YRS SO THIS IS ALL NEW TO ME. I AM OFTEN CONFUSED WITH THE POLITICS OF TRACK AND FIELD.
NEXT YEAR WE WELL BE GOING TO SACRAMENTO FOR SURE, IF NOTHING CRAZY HAPPENS.
PS…. LAUREN IS GREAL ALWAYS AND MY DAUGHTER ADORES HER
THIS IS SAD BECAUSE THESE ARE CHILDREN AND ADULTS SHOULD NOT ACT LIKE THIS.
I have spoke with a few people that were there and looked over all the info after doing so it is apparent that USATF made such a huge error in this situation. That is SO awful. Athletes trained hard, dreamed about, planned for, traveled far and spent lots of money and gave their best efforts to come compete at the National JOs. They deserved to have their events handled in a professional and fair manner. It is truly sickening how a mistake like this was made. I know people make mistakes but it is unacceptable at a meet like this……the LJ officials only job at the time was to watch the boards and be sure they knew what was going on. Seems to me that so they did not have to admit a mistake and so that they could save face they just went ahead and stuck with the “no we are right!” Instead of being honest and mature about it and saying “ya know what, we made a mistake and we are sorry and we will make it right” That is sad. I would have expected much better from USATF. And yes I would expect the coach and parents of this athlete to come forward and say that it does not make sense that their athlete/daughter jumped that far and so they want to do the right thing and have this corrected. At least give the gold medal to its rightful owner! Now records have been set with inaccurate information and it will effect athletes for many, many years to come. Makes you lose faith in the system.
First of all, I would like to say congratulations to your daughter Lauren, for all her hard work, determination, and accomplishments.
I myself have a daughter (Chloe Brandon 9yrs-old-Tennessee Cheetahs) that competed that day in the long jump with your daughter Lauren and all the other outstanding athletes. So I was in the stands watching. When I saw that officials marked Lauren Loader’s jump as good, It didn’t surprise me AT ALL. Chloe competed in the regional track meet in Murfreesboro TN. She told us she was going to the nationals. That day she jumped a 3.41 which put her in third place and qualified her to go to the nationals, but the officials marked her down as a 3.21 getting her and another little girl mixed up. They changed it after me, a few coaches, and another little girl that jumped with them, said something. On one hand I was excited and couldn’t be prouder. But on the other hand, I couldn’t help thinking about the other little girl that thought she had gotten third. And how sad she was. It makes me angry that these officials don’t pay more attention to whats going on.
Now I knew what other girls were jumping before we made the nine hour drive to Greensboro NC. But i told Chloe that if she qualified, we would go. She finished in 23rd, but always explain why it should have been 22nd.
Now this controversy doesn’t really affect us that much, but i found myself going through the same feelings and emotions as I had in Mufreesboro at the regional meet.
I feel bad for all those affected by this especially your daughter and the little girl that got bumped out of a medal. Also for Lauren Loader. She will always know she didn’t win that gold medal. Her parents and coach will always know too.
I’ve read your article. I think someone should write the President of USATF and get this record thrown out. I don’t have to be there to see it. It’s obvious a mistake was made. The boys bantam national record is 4.97m. The girls bantam national record is 4.66m. I’m supposed to believe that a female athlete with sub standard sprint speed is going to obliterate both the boys and girls National Youth record with a jump of 5.13M. No Way! No How! All of the arguments for this being a legitimate jump are ludicrous. The girl who won does not even pass the eye ball test. You have to be a truly special young athlete (speed, strength, coordination and flexibility) to have jumped this far. I want to know what the world youth bantam record is for the long jump. Think logically and think rationally and it’s easy to come to the conclusion that a mistake was made.
No, I would never let my kid accept a medal that I knew was not legitimate. Just today I was proud that my son admitted to basketball referees that he knocked the ball out when the official missed the call.
There has to be honor in athletics and life. I share a quote of the week with the young athletes that I coach. This weeks quotes dealt with John Wooden’s famous two sets of three that was given to him when he was a boy by his father.
Honor: Never Lie, Never Cheat, Never Steal
Adversity: Don’t Whine, Don’t Complain, Don’t make excuses
“There is a choice you have to make in everything you do. So keep in mind that in the end, the choice you make, makes you.” John Wooden
Send this note to Lauren Loader’s parents. Doing the right thing will bring more honor to her daughter, than winning a medal that she does not deserve.
Lorraine. Just saw the pictures. There’s your evidence. dug3fresh has just proven your case. Please be an advocate and do not let this die. Not only is Lauren Williams impacted, but all the other medal winners deserve their rightful medal. Not to mention the previous National record holder. Way to go dug3fresh for proving what we already know to be true. Now, I just posted a line from Wooden that said don’t whine, don’t complain and don’t make excuses when you are facing adversity. I don’t consider this adversity. I consider this injustice and I’m outraged that it occurred at a National meet.
I definitely would not give up on this one, upon further examination of this athletes pictures on her jumps all three are obvious and unquestionably scratches. And these appear to be the preliminary jumps, standard championship format is each athlete gets 3 jumps and then the top 8 get 3 more jumps in a final.
A very credible and feasible argument based of the picture evidence of this athlete was not only incorrectly awarded the national championship and also credited with obliterating a national and world record she probably was put in the finals erroneously as well.
This really speaks to the credibility of the USATF and the National Championships as a whole, first and foremost many eyebrows should of been raised over the result of this event, and question should have been posed at that time! Now with these photos further shedding more light unto this situation as well the USATF should step up and do the right thing, admit a mistake was made award the proper medals to the proper kids and move forward. After all the motto is Win with Integrity!
I do know one thing if this was at the AAU JO National Championships you could of just watched the on demand video replay of the event in its whole and the questions would have been exposed and solved sooner!
It is definitely horrible for everyone involved that this happened at a national meet. I have routinely seen many weird incidents and number fudging like this at lesser youth events though. Has anybody ever challenged a result at a youth event and had a result changed? The field events in many cases take place in hard to view places with few checks and balances. Experience has shown me that the unwritten rule in field events is that the person with the tape measure determines the winner. Maybe it is time for some type of automatic distance measuring device. We already have FAT and may also need FAD(Fully Automatic Distance) measuring.
Unfortunately this type of error occurs too frequently. I will attempt to write each of the high-level officials of USATF because this is just totally wrong. At the AAU JO, the same thing happened in the Sub-Midget Girls Pentathlon. The difference there was the parent/coach of the athlete would not let it die and insisted it be corrected, which they eventually did. If it were not corrected the athlete would have had a medal but instead ended up just missing out. Her coach or dad (don’t know which), should be commended for displaying such character. Too bad that was not the case in NC. That record must be dropped because it never happened. USATF should have owned up to the mistake of the officials and fixed the situation. I have seen this happen on a number of occasions including my daughter once being listed as a DNS in a 400-m race when their own video showed her finishing in 2nd. We brought it to their attention when the results were posted and they did nothing. It is actually quite embarassing for USATF.
The USATF rules provide for specific protest reqirements. The formal protest in the past had pretty steep money deposit requirements. Was a formal protest and/or appeal with the required monetary deposits filed in the required time in the case of the BG long jump? If noone deposited money with a meet referee then there may effectively have been no formal protest filed and the posted results are effectively valid. By USATF rules is it may be too late to make changes that were not addressed properly at the meet.
I will follow your situation closely. I was sitting right in front of the long jump pit when the “incident” occurred. We were watching the whole event and still cant believe the result which we heard as we left the stadium.
Below is the comment I sent to USATF via Doug Logan’s Blog expressing my
concern.
Long Jump Officiating at the National meet was very inconsistent. Officials were paying attention to the take off point of a bantam girl jumper and gave her a record mark, when she should have either scratched or been 3 feet shorter due to her take off between the 1st and 2nd board. They measured her from the 1st board even though she had stepped past it. The whole crowd tried to get the officials attention to no avail, and they continued with the next jump. This was similar to the incident with our long jumper recieving a short mark. (I misspoke when I said high jumper) This is fast moving sport and we must need more eyes on the jumpers take off and landing points.
Posted by: Seattle Track Mom on 8/1/2009 4:11:07 PM PT
Take care, and bless you for being brave enough to speak out.
Track Mom,
While this situation is still fresh in your head, and probably apart of your daughter’s worst nightmare. I’d like to commend you on the following:
She competed at her best in her event and won the competition despite recieving the medal that she should have, but most importantly (I have three girls) she exhibited the behavior of a true winner, when she stood on the podium and dealt with this “grownup blunder” she was then in my eyes, the true champion. Your daughter, and I have never met her, but on of our team members compete against her regularly is a jewel. Please know that her 3M family is very proud of her and we know she will come back next year and compete for what is truly hers.
My experience says one thing to me, the proof is in the character of the child and not just the competition. Good Job Lauren!
Jamelle Wallace
Mom of Kendall & Sasha Wallace
3M Track Club
This is a really sad situation. Hopefully the USATF has rules or guidelines that allows for correction of errors like this after a track meet has been held. One question that is still burning in my mind is did anyone file a “formal” protest of the bogus results at the meet? The protest, by rule, had to be written. The protest required a $100.00 deposit, and had to be submitted within 30 minutes of results being announced. The protest had to reference a rule from the rule book and judgement calls could not be protested. Once the incorrect measurement was told to the athlete and recorded there may have been no choice but to announce the results as written in the record and wait for a formal protest to help to resolve everything.
Leonard,
I have been told there was a formal written protest but I really can’t say I know for sure. I just can’t beleive they could allow a National record to stand giventhe circumstances.
Unfortunately in our society (it’s a human thing), occasionally…publicity talks, justice walks. Most of us have tolerated officials human boo-boos and taught our children: Thus is life. However, on a ~national scale~, where attention to detail is demanded, and rewards are rare and fair deserved…
Suggestions:
#1. PUBLICIZE the photographs of the present 1st place winner’s 3 LJ fouls. Truth is, Prima Facie evidence–simply put, previous jump lengths of winning LJ competitor, assumptions about her 100m times blah blah blah are all nice…but nothing speaks like the ~~~_facts_~~~ (photos, existent video, etc). YOU NEED BARE FACTS. Do what you have to do. Wake people up. Local media, television, paper, web sites, etc. calling into question the veracity of the FACTS at hand.
Forget #2 & #3. In consideration of #1, nothing else at this point will have any bearing.
And for those IGNORANT and OBTUSE enough to denigrate the ~present~ 1st place LJ winner: Y’all, we’re dealing with 9 & 10 year olds here. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE OFFICIALS TO OFFICIATE CORRECTLY. Don’t take it out on the kid, or the parents…or even the coach. YOU DO NOT KNOW IF THEY WERE WATCHING _OR_ IF THEY OR the KID HAD _KNOWLEDGE_ OF THE EVENTS. Don’t assume.
Remember, kids trust the officials. SO do most of us, until…
It is incumbent on those who a) were WITNESSES, or 2) have EVIDENCE (video, photographic) to do what is right. Speak to the facts. SENT YOUR 411 to the USATF HQ.
THE REACTION — DELAYED OR OTHERWISE of THE OFFICIALS of THE USATF WILL TELL US EVERYTHING WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE WORTHINESS OF THE USATF AS A FUTURE VENUE FOR OUR KIDS.
P.S.; I’m not sure what you were getting at w/ the photo & your “What’s wrong with this picture?” quote….are we to assume that because the winner was short and eh, rather…pale, her victory was impossible? Oy! Don’t shoot the mangy messenger (me)… Please rethink this…How about a picture of Lauren’s good jump vs. Three Fouls? A much clearer picture will emerge, pocketbook withstanding. You have our piques ears and wary eyes.
Best of luck. The present facts suggest that your position is the correct one.
Respectfully,
Coyote1
Hi Coyote1,
Thanks for all of your comments.
I was not trying to compare the Lauren’s height or any other comparison some may make at all….What is wrong with this picture is that Lauren Williams is stand in the second place spot and with a silver medal not gold around her neck.
I guess a picture speaks thousands of words and interpreted differently. I am not sure what the awarded winner can do performance wise ,but I know what she did do. That day.
Thank you for clarifying the comment w/ photo… now that you’ve stated thus, nobody can accuse you of anything else
Clearly an injustice has occured. I still say we can’t blame the girl. We cannot be certain of the awareness or culpability of the second victim, Lauren Loader. She did not steal 1st (though I know it feels like it!). This is an ADULT-CREATED PROBLEM that has effected two children in a terrible way (more if you consider the impossibility of resetting an age-group record). ADULTS MUST FIX THE PROBLEM.
I know you are both doing your part as far as protesting through your local USATF office and nationally.
PLEASE consider the legal ramifications of your situation as well. The USATF has a legal duty to act in good faith on behalf of its dues-paying members. As dues paying members it is reasonable for us to expect that the USATF will hold up their end of the bargain, i.e. providing a safe venue, fair judging, and when mistakes are made, swift remedies.
Simply because the USATF is a big organization and the Laurens (Williams and Loader) are two little people does not mean that the USATF may do as they please with no consequences. You have evidence to prove your case.
1. Willing witness statements (you have started to gather these, right? Get notarized copies from as many individuals as possible who witnessed the event)
2. Photographic evidence! (Purchase those photos before they disappear!)
3. Prima Facie evidence: that is, data on Lauren Loader’s previous performances, the likelihood that she was or was not capable of such a performance (not nearly as important as the first two). Experts have already weighed in on this elsewhere on your site.
4. Anything that has not yet come to light. Someone somewhere must have a video… wasn’t there a company selling dvd’s? Let’s get the word out.
Consider that on occasion athletes must resolve issues through the courts when officials are too stubborn to act. It has happened before in track, though rarely, thankfully…
I strongly suggest you consult with an attorney (maybe I should just have written that in the first place
)
One more note: IF the USATF’s excuse for failing to remedy the situation was that ~you~ failed to submit a protest in the alotted time frame, that STILL would not justify allowing what was obviously (unarguably when one sees three photo sequences of fouled jumps) a bad jump to stand as a record. Take away the record based upon factual evidence, and the 1st place cannot stand either.
Now…How can we as (occasional)activist track parents be of help to you?
Respectfully,
Coyote1