Recent headlines have sparked a discussion about the need for USA Track & Field sanctions at events. As the national governing body for track and field, road running, race walking, ultra and mountain running in the United States, sanctions are fundamental to this organization’s mission. As athletes look to qualify for the 2028 U.S. Olympic Team Trials, USATF wants to ensure all have a clear understanding of the reason for sanctioning, the finances behind it, and the process by which it's done.
Sanctioning is not a fee for permission to hold an event. It is the mechanism through which USATF establishes and maintains standards, protects the integrity of competition and creates a framework for recognizing athletic performances.
Make no mistake. Race and meet directors are essential to the growth of distance running in America. They invest significant time, resources and personal commitment into creating opportunities for hundreds of thousands of runners. Often, they do this job on a volunteer basis. However, there is an important distinction between event production and the governance of sport. Race and meet organizers are responsible for producing events, securing permits, hiring timing companies, coordinating volunteers and ensuring the safety of participants. These tasks are separate from the responsibility to ensure that competitions operate under established national and international rules.
Additionally, course certification, timing accuracy and liability insurance are important components of a quality road race. They do not, independently, establish that a competition complies with all applicable rules and standards. Course certification confirms that a course has been accurately measured. Sanctioning is a complimentary function that establishes the conditions under which a competition is conducted.
There are many excellent events that operate outside the USATF sanctioning structure. That decision by no means diminishes the value of those events or the contributions of their organizers. However, when performances are submitted for recognition within the national and international competitive system, there must be consistent standards governing where and how those performances are achieved.
Sanctioning Provides Direct Value to Athletes
USATF's published qualification procedures for the 2028 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Marathon explicitly require qualifying performances to be achieved on a USATF-certified course at an event sanctioned by USATF or a member federation of World Athletics. This is not an arbitrary administrative requirement. It is part of ensuring that performances used to qualify for the highest level of domestic competition are achieved under established, consistent standards. Sanctioning also provides a framework for recognizing national records, world rankings and other officially designated performances throughout the sport. It helps ensure that athletes competing at every level have confidence that the competitions in which they participate meet specific standards and that the athletes they are competing against did as well.
Sanctioning Revenue Supports Sport at the Local and National Level
USATF sanctioning fees are not exclusively collected for the benefit of the national organization. Every sanction includes both a national fee and a local Association fee. While all national fees go toward the cost of insurance, the local feels support, local, community-based Associations that are essential to the development and administration of the sport throughout the country. USATF's 55 local Associations are the infrastructure of the sport. Often volunteer-lead, they support grassroots competition, work directly with event organizers, develop officials, serve athletes and clubs, and create competitive opportunities. Sanctioning revenue helps sustain that infrastructure.
Reducing the conversation to a national organization collecting fees overlooks the important role these resources play in supporting competition and athlete development across the country.
Insurance and Sanctioning
USATF recognizes that many event organizers already have liability insurance and provides a significantly-reduced sanction fee for events that elect to waive USATF's insurance coverage.
Regardless of whether an event waives the liability insurance, a USATF sanction provides secondary medical insurance coverage to any athlete who is a USATF member and is injured while participating in a sanctioned event. This insurance not only provides valuable coverage to USATF members, but it serves as a valuable deterrent to lawsuits.
Additionally, all other sanctioning benefits including, but not limited to, record-ratification, logo usage and calendar listings.
The Responsibility of a National Governing Body
USATF understands that producing road races and other competitions involves significant expense, and event organizers must make decisions that work for their individual business models and communities. However, the financial considerations of individual event organizers cannot be the sole measure by which the value or necessity of a national sanctioning program is judged. USATFs responsibility to establish and maintain standards that protect athletes and the integrity of competition requires resources, infrastructure and oversight. Sanctioning fees help support those functions nationally and through our local Associations.
Event organizers and USATF should be partners in growing the sport. That partnership is strongest when both recognize their respective responsibilities and the value each brings to the running community.