The day after both U.S. 400-meter relay teams dropped batons in prelims at the Beijing Olympics, USA Track & Field chief executive Doug Logan happened to have a lunch scheduled with Olympic great Carl Lewis.
“I was really angry,” Logan said this week, recalling the “great baton drop” that came to symbolize a subpar U.S. track performance in Beijing.
Only a month into his tenure, Logan heard Lewis tear apart American track with painstaking detail. Lewis was so full of observations and ideas, he still had a full plate of food in front of him 2 1/2 hours after they sat down to eat.
“My mind was boggled,” Logan said before traveling to Eugene, Ore., for this week’s U.S. Outdoor Championships. “I reached the conclusion that I wanted a bottom-up review of what we were doing, and (Lewis) was the first person I went to.”
Logan formed the “Project 30 Task Force,” involving Lewis (“the passion and soul of that task force,” Logan said), former hurdler Benita Fitzgerald Mosley and five others charged with formulating recommendations to modernize the organization and create a support system capable of producing 30 “clean medals” at the 2012 London Olympics — seven more than the U.S. won on the track in Beijing.
The panel made 10 recommendations, including the hiring of a high-performance manager. Other recommendations include shortening the Olympic Trials from 10 days to five, offering performance bonuses at the Olympics and establishing a European training base in the weeks leading up to the London Games. One of the most troubling aspects about the Beijing Games, Logan said, was that few Americans posted seasonal or personal bests there.
“We needed to examine the sport from a bottom-up perspective,” Logan said, “and say, ‘What are the things we’re doing that need to be corrected? What are the things we need to put in place so we can take this grand potential we have — the best talent in the world — and feel satisfied that we have maximized our potential?’ We are well on our way. There is a plan; we’re making progress on that plan.”
Board member Evie Dennis, the former Denver Public Schools superintendent who has a long history of involvement with USATF and the U.S. Olympic Committee, believes USATF is headed in the right direction.
“I am very optimistic,” Dennis said. “I’m very impressed with Doug and what he’s doing. He’s come in and looked at the organization from top to bottom and has been able to weed out some of the things that needed to go. He is very straightforward and sharp in seeking out people to do the job that needs to be done. Most of all, he listens.”
He also entertains. He writes a blog on the USATF website where he has outlined his vision, taken supplement manufacturers to task, described his first marathon in the late 1970s (he was a smoker at the time and lit a cigarette at the finish line), recommended the new Green Day album and pronounced Justin Timberlake “one of the most talented performers of his generation.”
Now the 66-year-old Logan is excited to be at outdoor nationals, which will determine the composition of the U.S. team at the world championships to be held in Berlin, Aug. 15-23. The meet began Thursday at historic Hayward Field.
“It’s a cathedral for our sport,” Logan said. “I love places with history — Fenway, Wrigley Field. There are ghosts, and I love going to places where there are ghosts.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
