#2 Moment of 2014

#2 Moment of 2014

Dec 26, 2014 by Lincoln Shryack
#2 Moment of 2014


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USATF Women's Indoor 3k
On February 22nd, 2014, the USA track and field community exploded in controversy following the USATF women’s indoor 3k. What started as a race to crown a national champion and send two qualifiers to Worlds ended up shining a light on the much-neglected corruption of USATF. Here are the details in case you missed it:

Gabe Grunewald unleashed a powerful kick to win the race handily, crossing the line in 9:23.15, more than two seconds clear of Shannon Rowbury in 2nd. Grunewald’s joy would be short-lived, however, as she found out hours later that she had been DQ’d by USATF for impeding Jordan Hasay with approximately 300-meters left in the race. The replay of the race shows Hasay stumble as Grunewald passes her on the outside.

Nike Oregon Project coach Alberto Salazar filed a protest on Hasay’s behalf, which was initially denied, but was later accepted by the jury of appeals and led to Grunewald’s disqualification. USATF claimed to have “enlarged, digital footage” that showed the infraction, but of course none of that footage was ever made public.

The backlash to this madness ultimately led Jordan Hasay and NOP to withdraw their petition, reinstating Grunewald as the 3k champion two days after she won the race. Although Grunewald was rightfully reinstated, the damage to USATF’s image had been done, and questions remained as to their legitimacy as a governing body.

USATF's Enhanced Video Evidence: