From Slowmans article it seems that the ITU is just like the UN; beauracratic, unethical, corrupt, political pandering, and anti-american. That McDonald guy seems like a disaster waiting to happen. Kudos to USAT for not endorsing him!
That would be funny if more multi-millionaires or billionaires started another non drafting tri with a huge prize purse the same day as an ITU event. Cheers to Lifetime Fitness Tri, even though the organizers didnt have a choice on which date to have the race.
Ed, what is funny about the whole sexist lifetime fitness thing is that Triathlon Canada, through the Ontario Association of Triathletes sanctioned pretty well the identical event format at the Muskoka (I wrote about the race on xtri here: http://www.xtri.com/article.asp?id=1223). Of course, MacDonald could care less about a "regional race with a $5K prize purse that competes with no ITU World Cups.
Anyway MacDonald has a axe to grind against Lifetime and he is taking it out on USAT. USAT and all the other federations that don’t support MacDonald should just pull out of the ITU and form the ITF (International Tri Federation). If the USAT were to pull out of the ITU, that would straighten things up in a hurry.
Its kind of bogus that the biggest tri market in the world (US) has the same clout as Zimbabwe or India or Canada for that matter, and MacDonald keeps his seat every election by bribing a whole whack of triathlon countries each with perhaps less then 100 members in their entire federation (and each getting the same 1 vote that USAT does). What is wrong with this picture ? I do agree that it would be bad if it was weighed as directly proportional, but perhaps some weighting factor ie
1 vote <100 members in fed
2 vote , 1000 members in fed
5 votes >10,000 members in fed
You have it pegged just right. The LFT format is nothing but a red herring - his real problem is LFT taking same date as Corner Brook and significantly weakening the Corner Brook field. One thing you can count on: McDonald will fight like hell for whatever he considers “his own”, issues of overall equity and social responsibility be damned.
You are also right about the voting structure of the ITU - and it is even worse than the UN. In the UN General Assembly, it is one nation, one vote - but that body is mostly a debating society. The real power lies in the Security Council, where each of five nations has a permanent right to veto any action.
You are arguing for a voting structure similar to the European Union - with more populous nations getting more votes (though not in direct proportion to population). The problem is, however, that once you have a voting structure in place, the people/nations who benefit by it are going to resist (to the death) any attempt to dilute their influence. The large nations of Europe understood that dynamic and built the weighted voting structure into the creation of the EU. Unfortunately, the people founding the ITU (I was one of them) naively didn’t consider that issue - and getting Monaco, Luxemborg, and Liechtenstein to now cede their three to one hegemony over the U.S. is not going to happen willingly.
I personally believe USAT ought to enlist the support of the major triathlon nations (Six nations: Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the U.S., and Brazil send over 80% of the athletes competing in age group divisions at each world championship) and take a very hard line with the ITU. I would enunciate bottom line positions on a number of key issues, and if the ITU did not meet those bottom line positions, the group would walk from the ITU and form a parallel federation. The IOC would not look kindly on an entity that was not supported by 80% of the underlying sport.
What would be my bottom line positions? I’d concentrate on one: an EU-style revision of voting power. That would provoke a major brawl, of course, and the rebels would undoubtedly have to walk to get the ITU’s attention. But after all the heat, I believe a majority of nations belonging to the current ITU would have no choice but to agree to some sort of revision.
That just sounds like another sore looser statement. In my opinion there is another isde to it:
Maybe USAT could not send people to represent its interests well enough?
Don’t want to put the blame on those brave souls who stick it out there, but if I look at the number of people in the US racing Triathlons, the much smaller number of USAT members and the very few people (you can actually count them on one hand) who run for USAT elections?
Those numbers and what I keep hearing about the organization tell me more than I want to know.
You can love or hate McDonald, but he at least knows what he wants and steers a straight course…
B.T.W.: You comparing the UN with a for profit sport organisation would not speak well for your knowledge of the united nations nor ITU. For your own good I assume you are trolling.
Lew, the bottom line is that the presidents of many of these smaller “emerging” tri nations, get to travel, wine and dine on the coin of their country’s Olympic committee. Why would they rock the boat ? They vote for Les and Les takes care of them. They get to travel to the Olympic games and yearly to the World Champs for a nice boondoggle. Meanwhile the presidents of many “real triathlon nations” (I’m being pretty Black and White here) who represent serious large membership back home with a huge infrastructure of races and tri industry, essentially get shut out.
You are correct, It is time for a large block of the countries to walk from the ITU. Imagine an ITU with no US, GB, NZ, OZ, GER, FR etc. It would be quite toothless. Sadly my country Canada would never walk from the ITU since the guys running triathlon Canada have close ties to Les and his circle.
" . . . Sadly my country Canada would never walk from the ITU since the guys running triathlon Canada have close ties to Les and his circle."
And right now, neither would Oz. I think Sarah initially counted on the Aussies to support her candidacy - but the people making the decision apparently got a “better offer”. In this respect, I note that Bill Walker was McDonald’s handpicked choice to succeed Mark Sisson as the ITU’s second in command.
We also have to keep in mind that McDonald and his crew HAVE done a lot of positive things for the sport. Like building a major world race series with damn near $2,500,000 in prize money each year, distributing the money quite broadly, paying the athletes immediately, putting very high quality races, insisting on full gender equality, and vigorously pushing an anti-doping culture. His rule tends to be autocratic and unsympathetic - or even vindictive - to those who disagree with his decisions. And he is clearly afflicted with a rather severe case of megalomania. But you can easily see how his accomplishments alone might attract a substantial base of support.
DRAFTING SUCKS!!!and so Does the UN!!!
We must welcome Newt Gingrich’s second cousin to the forum. The level of discourse is so much enhanced.
His rule tends to be autocratic and unsympathetic - or even vindictive - to those who disagree with his decisions. And he is clearly afflicted with a rather severe case of megalomania.
I met both Sarah and Les in Cancun, 2002. Sarah struck me as someone who cared about the sport AND the athletes. Les appeared… well, you said it so well, Lew.
I do not want to get into a debate about clydesdale being a valid category and understand criticism against them being included in ITU World’s (exhibition only for I believe 3 years ending in 2002) however, they were there and should have been treated as any other group category should have. They were not, and neither were the citizens, but that was probably not Les’s fault.
There was a meeting in Cancun that decided the clydesdale fate in future ITU races. As many of you know, clydesdales are not a category in world’s. Again, I can understand. However, I cannot understand the reasoning that a clydesdale “should just lose weight if he wants to be competitive” which is apparently what Les argued regarding the issue.
Sarah, on the other hand, IS a clydesdale. She rocks. When do they vote again?
Yes - do it the American way. Kill and torture the people we don’t like.
You are right, it is unfortunate, cause it allows Les to manipulate the ITU congress every four years and get reelected.
The ITU is as far as anything can be from being democratic.
I met and talked briefly to Sarah Springman in Athens during both the women and men’s races. She was strongly backed by the swiss federation (she’s living in Zurich). Apparently, Les McDonald did everything he could to prevent her from being there. Unfortunately for him, she got invited by the swiss federation and swiss olympic committee, and there’s nothing he could do to prevent this. So she was there as an olympic committee guest, and not as candidate to the IOC presidency. Talk about democracy.
ACK, some more messy resolutions (pdf):
res. 1: this is really crazy
res. 6: appearance fee: athletes don’t need money?
res. 7: agents: athletes don’t need professionell care in marketing?
res. 8: the only accepted trainer should be from nf/itu.
res. 10: itu is not responsible for drug testings? who shall do it and PAY for it?
some stuff in german and the next upcoming hassle (now with wtc; german only) could be the new itu half-series, planned for 2005/2006.
devashish paul : GER won’t walk away: the board is so “happy” with their world championships 2007 and election into executive board (dr. klaus müller-ott)…
That just sounds like another sore looser statement. In my opinion there is another isde to it:
Maybe USAT could not send people to represent its interests well enough?
Don’t want to put the blame on those brave souls who stick it out there, but if I look at the number of people in the US racing Triathlons, the much smaller number of USAT members and the very few people (you can actually count them on one hand) who run for USAT elections?
Those numbers and what I keep hearing about the organization tell me more than I want to know.
You can love or hate McDonald, but he at least knows what he wants and steers a straight course…
B.T.W.: You comparing the UN with a for profit sport organisation would not speak well for your knowledge of the united nations nor ITU. For your own good I assume you are trolling.
USAT has 50,000+ members. I dont think ITU is for profit, governing bodies are usually non profit and the members are the actual owners. I am comparing the politics not the structures. I am not trolling, I dont have any respect for either organization and am just comparing the similarities.
Yes - do it the American way. Kill and torture the people we don’t like.
No, thats another region of the world. Americans pay to get what they want and we also defend ourselves which is what the USAT needs to do.
“His rule tends to be autocratic and unsympathetic - or even vindictive - to those who disagree with his decisions”
Well, that sure sounds like Les. However, without his work and effort, I suspect that triathlon would NOT be on the Olympic program. Now, I know that there are those out there that would say, “So what, that’s not real triathlon . . blah, blah blah”. The fact of the matter is that with triathlon on the Olympic program, it has significantly elevated the sports profile and has allowed national triathlon organizations access to funding that they otherwise could not reach. In Canada due to a lag in funding and the newness of the sport we had the odd situation of having an Olympic Champion who had no government funding before or even after the Sydney Olympic Games. The situation is much better, now and my feeling is that the long term development potential in the high performance area will be much better.
Fleck
I think there is very little question triathlon would not be in the Olympic Games without the leadership of McDonald. Fidel Castro and Robert Mugabwe had significant accomplishments as well, especially in the early years . . . but in the end, hanging on to power was more important to them than anything else. Do we have our very own “president for life” - and if we do, what does that portend for the sport?
My, how interesting it is to see the volte face - by at least 90 degrees, if not the full 180 - taken by friend Lew Kidder.
Actually, from a European perspective, it is profoundly unfair to compare the UN to the ITU!
In the case of Lew, his comments here represent a considerable - and welcome - change of stance since a couple of years ago when a group of honest, earnest triathlon officials were trying to let the world know - through the courts - what a nine-carat, self-serving crook Les McDonald is, particularly in the manner in which he subverts the democratic process for his own ends.
Back then, Kidder was the self(?)-appointed unofficial spokesman for McDonald’s ITU. Back then, the ITU had the full support of this website.
But back then, Mark Sisson, the best buddy of publisher Dan Empfield, was the ITU’s secretary general (having once sought election by being nominated by Mexico because USAT would not nominate him).
So, may I ask a question: is this change of editorial stance and Mr Kidder’s personal view because they have unearthed new evidence about McDonald’s ITU that has no been in the public domain for the past decade?
But hey, it is far better that Lew and Dan have finally, belatedly (regrettably, too late) come around to a more objective point of view on the issues of governance of McDonald’s ITU, in which Mark Sisson has been entirely complicit.
A couple of points from Lew’s post:
We also have to keep in mind that McDonald and his crew HAVE done a lot of positive things for the sport. Like building a major world race series with damn near $2,500,000 in prize money each year
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McDonald’s team does virtually NOTHING towards raising this sum. The ITU has fouled up several commercial deals and scared off decent commercial partners.
The $2.5m (or whatever actual figure) is raised by the various race organisers and their own individual sponsors. The organisers do the selling to their sponsors, and they also pay a pretty heavy levy to the ITU for the privilege of being included in this series.
The athletes are obliged to compete in these races over a four-year term because of the ITU’s arcane Olympic qualification rules.
There remains no major, worldwide, bluechip ITU sponsor, as McDonald promised in 2000. There remains no valid, useful television exposure for the ITU series or even their world championships. Even the cobbled together ITU.tv web coverage has now been made free access because there had been so few subscribers.
This is all symptomatic of decline under the iron rul of McDonald - in which Sisson was a cloe participant.
The state of the sport in Europe, since McDonald and Sisson attacked and drove away their opponents, is the worst it has been in a decade, with the ETU basically insolvent, sponsorless and its European race circuit now threadbare.
So much for the contributions of McDonald and his team.
vigorously pushing an anti-doping culture.
<<<<
Sorry, Lew, this is far from the truth. Have a look at the resolution put forward at the recent congress in which McDonald sought to abrogate the ITU’s responsibilities for doping control from Ironman events.
Have a look at the number of drug tests ordered, organised and paid for by the ITU (if you check with the World Ati-Doping Agency, they will tell you that the ITU’s performance is far below what is expected. See http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9079-1193969,00.html).
But check out some of the private e-mails from McDonald to ITU board members in which he seemed to encourage the covering up of any troublesome positive drug tests on triathletes. Indeed, there is at least one former member of the ITU’s medical committee who is convinced that, in the pre-WADA days, McDonald pesonally intervened to ensure that a Canadian was not embarrassed by the findings of a drug test conducted in France.
Of course, it would be wrong to expect any overt criticism of the ITU’s anti-drugs programme from Mr Kidder, since the architect of the ITU policy and its implementation was none other than Mark Sisson. See this: http://news.scotsman.com/archive.cfm?id=908892004
Back to McDonald:
His rule tends to be autocratic and unsympathetic - or even vindictive - to those who disagree with his decisions. And he is clearly afflicted with a rather severe case of megalomania.
<<<<
Master of the understatement, Lew. Indeed, it may be interesting to see how you, Messrs Sisson and Empfield are regarded and treated by the ITU hierarchy in future.
But you can easily see how his accomplishments alone might attract a substantial base of support.
<<<
The ends justifying the means? Next, you’ll be commending George W for the Nobel Peace prize for his services to humanity in Iraq.
The alternative theory, discussed in this thread, has more foundation in the real politik that goes on in the ITU: self-serving and self-interest.
McD has annexed widespread support from many of the smaller National Feds, whose officials are flattered to be wined, dined and treated like minor royalty, usually at the ITU’s expense (athorised by McDonald) or that of the sponsors of World Cup events.
Why does Germany not oppose McD, and why did they withdraw from the court case against him three years ago? Because McD dangled the carrot of staging the World Champs. Cleverly, the Germans are kep on a tight lease for five years, waiting for their big moment.
Why does Australia support McD unfailingly? Because Bill Walker was offered the bon bon of the Sec Gen’s job, and possibly the ultimate succession once 72-year-old McDonald finally does hang up his ITU blazer.
And how many smaller nations turned up for the Congress in Vancouver because their officials had their fares and expenses “looked after” out of the ITU’s Olympic income?
What any of that has to do with furthering the interests of the athletes and growing the sport worldwide, there are many who would like to know.
Talk about ghosts of Christmas past. A big SW welcome to the self-appointed shill for Erica Koenig-Zenz, mistress of the e-mail coup. Steven: The U.S. (and Great Britain, your home base) supported Les McDonald in his 2000 presidential bid, not because he was the best candidate possible - he clearly wasn’t - but because the alternative presented would have been a freakin’ disaster. In 2004, Sarah Springman presented a much more compelling alternative.
The local race committees do raise all of the money allocated to prize purses in the ITU series. But they do it with eyes wide open - and they do it because there IS a credible world-wide series. Do you really believe there would be Olympic distance races in Cancun, Rio, and Ishigaki with a $70,000 purses if there was no ITU world cup series?
What’s more, I can tell you from the athletes’ perspective, it doesn’t matter. The prize money is good (and getting better), the races are expertly run, and payment is made the day of the event. Elite athletes from all over the world can now make a career out of the Olympic distance end of the sport. All this has happened on McDonald’s watch, and as much fault as we can find with him on other fronts, we have to give him credit for that.
Touch of the pot calling there kettle, eh, Lew? (For the sake of accuracy, I was never self-appointed, but hired as a professional PRO by the ETU)
Indeed: when presenting your personal views as facts, Lew, it might be as well if you could get your facts straight.
In 2000, the US supported McDonald for no other reason than the fear of the ITU powerbase moving away from North America. In addition, USAT also had Sisson “on the team”. How has USAT, American triathletes and triathlon in the US benefited from that decision?
As far as Britain is concerned, in 2000 they took the route of supporting McD in return for influence on the board (through Mick English - now was he any better than the McD alternatives?! I believe he has since been barred from the sport for assaulting another coach) and the promise of a World Cup race in London. So that worked then, didn’t it?
Yes, you’re right, the World Cup tag does help bring in sponsors for World Cup races. But many sponsors are short-term and never come back to the sport because they feel short-changed by the lack of return they get for their cash. The law of diminishing returns.
And as for the concept that there’s a more thriving professional, Olympic-distance circuit out there now than there was maybe five or six years ago, then Lew, you need to get out more. The facts, and the vast majority of the athletes (who in Europe subsist on grants from national federations, rather than World Cup prize cash), do not confirm our assertions.
There were several questions posed to you in my earlier mail, and one that can be repeated here: do the ends ever justify the means?