Sanctions Coronavirus Response
These are challenging times! As we all navigate the momentous impact of COVID-19 on our daily lives and the lives of our loved ones, we are also faced with the reality that that it has impacted the sports world (and our sport) significantly. USATF wants to assure you that we take the health, safety, and well-being of our sanctioned event organizers and sanctioned event participants seriously. We are monitoring the situation related to the novel coronavirus COVID-19 very closely. USATF is following guidance issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). For those still hosting sanctioned events, USATF’s COVID-19 Working Group of medical and scientific professionals have established guidance for minimum standards you should strongly consider. Additionally, to protect the safety of your participants, you should follow any guidelines or restrictions issued by your local municipalities, which may be more stringent. Please see the following suggested safety precautions issued by the CDC for mass gathering events. Please know, USATF supports you, our sanctioned event organizers, as you make difficult decisions about the future of your events based on guidance from local authorities and government agencies, but we strongly urge you to err on the side of participant safety. As closures and gathering bans become more common due to COVID-19, we want to do all that we can to support our sanctioned event organizers. If you need to postpone your event, please email sanctions@usatf.org. We will work with you to reschedule your event, as necessary. If it becomes necessary for you to cancel your event entirely, please see the following link where you can log into your event management page using your event ID and password. Once in your event management page, you can submit a request for a cancellation refund by clicking on “Cancel Event”. During these unprecedented times, USATF is electing to waive any administrative fees associated with cancelling a sanction, and instead refund 100% of the amount paid for sanctions cancelled due to the novel coronavirus COVID-19. Refunds will be processed in due course, which usually takes approximately 30 – 45 days following submission of a cancellation request. We will continue to monitor developments and adjust where necessary, and we will work to keep you as informed as possible during these times. We’re committed to supporting our constituents, partners and the running community during this challenging time. Please email sanctions@usatf.org with any questions relating to your event sanction.
A USATF sanction is an official designation issued by USATF, through a local Association, which approves and licenses the holding of a competitive track and field, long distance running, or race walking event in the United States. The sanction is also a contract, which evidences the event's commitment to follow national and international rules and regulations of the sport and to provide a safe environment for the participants and spectators. Once the event has satisfied the sanction requirements, the event's application for sanction is approved.