At 342 athletes registered for the WMA Outdoor Stadia Championships in Tampere, Finland in June-July 2022, Team USATF Masters represented the second largest national contingent signed up for the meet (host Finland was first with 1135 entered; Great Britain and Northern Ireland was third at 336; and Germany was fourth at 319). Of the 342 registered Americans, 240 actually competed, with 125 of them each winning at least one medal.
To maximize the number of medals won by Team USATF Masters athletes, the Masters Track & Field Committee (MTF) partnered with the USATF Foundation to offer Travel Grants to athletes with financial need who were seen as strong medal contenders. Of the 93 applicants for grants, the selection committee chose 47 to receive grants ranging from $250 to $1000. The total amount awarded was $25,950. Four of the recipients withdrew prior to the beginning of the meet, reducing the amount disbursed to $24,300. Of the 43 athletes who received grants, 38 won medals (and one suffered an injury just before the finish line as he was about to medal in the 100m). They won a total of 87 of the Team USATF Masters total of 175 medals – one less than half!
Gloria Krug and Lynne Hurrell were WMA Travel Grant Recipients who won a total of 14 medals (11 gold, 2 silver, and 1 bronze)
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In addition to the WMA Travel Grants, support for Team USATF Masters athletes also included prize money for medal winners. Gold medalists (including each member of gold medal winning relay and non-stadia teams) were paid $400 for each gold medal; silver medalists (including each member of silver medal winning relay and non-stadia teams) received $200 for each silver medal; and bronze medalists (including each member of bronze medal winning relay and non-stadia teams) received $100 for each bronze medal – in all cases no individual athlete received no more than $1000. The total amount of medal prize money for which Team USATF Masters athletes qualified is $55,900, though two of them have not turned in the required paperwork, reducing the total amount to be paid out to $54,900.
In addition to the WMA Travel Grant funds and medal prize money, support for Team USATF Masters in Tampere also included a kit for each athlete (consisting of a competition top and bottom, t-shirt, and warm up top and bottom), a team management team, and two physiotherapists.
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The team management group was busy all day, every day responding to athlete needs and interacting with meet management about a myriad of issues. It consisted of MTF Chair Jerry Bookin-Weiner as leader of the delegation, Phil Greenwald as Team Manager, Mary Rosado as Team Manager for the Non-Stadia events (cross country, road races, and road race walk), MTF Vice Chair Robert Thomas, MLDR Chair Perry Jenkins, and MTF Active Athlete Representative Colleen Barney.
When Team USATF Masters athletes picked up their packets they also received a letter from USATF CEO Max Siegel, a Team USATF Masters Tampere Journey to Gold pin, and, for those who paid for physiotherapy treatments, a letter and punch card to track their usage.
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The two physiotherapists, Marie Valdez and Kristin Cardin, treated athletes who had registered and paid for their treatments during the meet registration process. Athletes who sustained injuries also were given first aid treatment by the physiotherapists, both of whom also have training as athletic trainers. We were fortunate to secure the use of a locker room on the second floor of the stadium for the exclusive use of Team USATF; in the room masks were required, and athletes could sign up for 20-minute treatment appointments on easels near the door. The physiotherapists also oversaw athlete use of the four Normatec recovery devices and one Game Ready system MTF owns for use by Team USATF athletes at WMA events. Both the physiotherapists and the equipment were in use constantly from early each morning to the end of the day’s competition each day (sometimes even in the evenings in the team hotel). The subscription system, used for the first time in Tampere, worked quite well and the funds collected helped to defray the costs of the services. Some modifications will be made to the system for the indoor championships in Poland in 2023 to improve its efficiency.
MTF officers arranged for a block of 75 rooms for Team USATF Masters at the Courtyard Tampere City hotel, a relatively short walk from the main stadium. The block was full during most of the 12 day period of the meet, making the Courtyard a main gathering place for team members. Hotel management also provided the team managers with a meeting room to use two evenings for the relay selection panel to make and create the Team USATF relay teams.
On the evening of the 4th of July there was a team reception/party on the terrace of the restaurant at Tampere Hall, adjacent to the Courtyard Tampere City. The team managers arranged for a buffet of hot and cold hors d’oeuvres as well as a cash bar. Approximately 125 people attended, including not only athletes and team managers, but also several of the American international officials who were in Tampere to work at the meet.
Below is the final medal table from Tampere, showing the top 15 countries with their number of actual competitors in the Championships and the number of gold, silver, and bronze medals each nation won:
| Country | Athletes | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| Finland | 954 | 128 | 134 | 121 | 383 |
| Germany | 253 | 79 | 61 | 43 | 183 |
| USA | 240 | 72 | 60 | 43 | 175 |
| GB and No Ireland | 272 | 70 | 54 | 46 | 170 |
| Spain | 175 | 40 | 39 | 23 | 102 |
| France | 149 | 38 | 28 | 27 | 93 |
| Italy | 133 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 69 |
| Sweden | 142 | 19 | 17 | 27 | 63 |
| Australia | 49 | 23 | 20 | 21 | 64 |
| Ireland | 74 | 25 | 15 | 17 | 57 |
| Poland | 83 | 13 | 18 | 21 | 52 |
| Estonia | 81 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 39 |
| Norway | 50 | 17 | 8 | 11 | 36 |
| Canada | 65 | 7 | 13 | 10 | 30 |
| Netherlands | 43 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 30 |
In addition to the overall medal count, eight American Age Group records were set by Team USATF athletes:
Roxanne Brockner (W55) – 200m and 400m
Carol Finsrud (W65) – Discus (since eclipsed)
Lynne Hurrell (W85) – 800m
Nat Larson (M60) – 5000m
Emma McGowan (W50) – 400m (since eclipsed)
Michelle Rohl (W55) – 800m and 5000m
Three other Team USATF athletes had a total of four World and or American Age Group records invalidated in Tampere by facilities and/or equipment that did not comply with WMA Rules:
Carol Finsrud (W65) – Discus (identical to mark above)
Tami Graf (W85) – Heptathlon (World Age Group mark, since eclipsed)
Tami Graf (W85) – 200m hurdles (World Age Group mark)
Nonie Hudnall (W70) – Heptathlon
In sum, the 2022 WMA Championships in Tampere were quite successful from a Team USATF Masters perspective. Finishing first on the medal table in a country like Finland with their much higher athlete number would have been impossible, but we came very close to achieving our goal of finishing second. Our nearly 30% no-show rate was far higher than normal (10-15% is typical), for a myriad of reasons including last minute health issues for athletes and family members, injuries, fear of traveling during the Omicron wave of COVID, and fear of political instability in the region because of the war in Ukraine. The no-show rate depressed our medal count significantly and hopefully will be less of an issue for future WMA Championships.
As with any such endeavor, there were lessons learned that will result in changes – some significant and others simple tweaks – in the team management processes. For example, the subscription system for athletic training staff usage will be revised and simplified, the relay selection process will be tweaked and the goal of winning the largest number of medals made more explicit, more explicit delineation of the roles of the members of the team management team will be developed, and an athlete code of conduct will be drafted. We also plan to revise the application process for the WMA Travel Grants, including a new application form, and possibly some revision of the medal prize money allocation, particularly for relays.
