Tokyo Gets ’91 World Track Meet : IAAF Invites Los Angeles to Try for ’95 Championships

Tokyo won the bid Sunday over Los Angeles and two other cities for the 1991 World track and field championships.

The 21-member council of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, the governing body of track and field, gave Tokyo a first-ballot victory at a meeting in Rome.

The vote count was not announced, but Times special events manager Will Kern, who made the Los Angeles presentation, said the council invited the city to bid again for the 1995 World championships.

There was speculation that the council might vote to hold the meet every two years instead of every four years, but no action was taken Sunday.

Kern said he believes the council might make the move at its Aug. 24 meeting in Rome, but it probably would not take effect until after the 1995 event.

The 1987 World championships are scheduled for Aug. 29-Sept. 6 at Rome.

In other action, the council re-instated American shotputter Brian Oldfield, 41, for Olympic competition.

Oldfield, who lost his eligibility when he competed in a professional track and field circuit, earlier had been re-instated for other IAAF-sanctioned competitions.

Three former professional football players also were reinstated for all track and field competition, including Stanley Floyd, Mark McNeil and Mel Lattany. All three are sprinters.

The council rejected applications for reinstatement from Henry Ellard, Ram wide receiver; Willie Gault, Chicago Bears wide receiver, and Vince Courville, who was a wide receiver with the Houston Gamblers of the USFL, because they are still considered to be in professional football.

Ellard is a former standout long jumper and triple jumper, Gault was a world-class sprinter and hurdler, and Courville is an ex-sprinter.

It had been reported that Ram wide receiver Ron Brown and Dallas Cowboys running back Herschel Walker, both sprinters, and San Francisco 49ers nose guard Michael Carter, a shotputter, also would seek reinstatement, but the council did not receive applications from them.

The IAAF set a precedent last year when it reinstated Renaldo Nehemiah, the world record-holder in the 110-meter high hurdles, after he severed ties with the 49ers.

Primo Nebiolo, IAAF president, said: “Although there is no written rule, the council decided to accept the applications only of those who have signed a statement confirming that they were leaving football.”

Among seven athletes who will regain their eligibility in May after serving 18-month suspensions for testing positive for drugs is American javelin thrower Duncan Atwood.

Tokyo’s victory over Los Angeles, West Berlin and Perth, Australia, was expected.

“Their show of force was awesome,” Kern said. “They had a 17-member delegation, all of them dressed in uniform. They put on a party Saturday night that was incredible. It made our luncheon look fairly small.”

Kern was accompanied to Rome by Philadelphia’s Frank Greenberg, vice president of The Athletics Congress, which governs the sport in the United States.

Tokyo wanted the championships to honor Hanji Aoki, president of the Japanese Amateur Athletic Federation for 40 years, who is retiring in 1991.

“They made it clear that 1991 was the only year they were interested in bidding for,” Kern said.

Kern described the council’s response to Los Angeles’ bid as polite.

“They did ask whether we were sure the track would remain in the Coliseum,” Kern said. “We assured them that at this time there are no plans to remove it. That was the major thing they were concerned about.

“I don’t think we lost it, as much as Tokyo won it. Their presentation was very detailed. They had everything planned to the most minute detail. They even had every television camera location in place.

“They’d done their homework, and they’d been doing it for a long time.”

Kern said representatives from Perth’s 41-member delegation complained that the decision for Tokyo was made even before the presentations.

“I don’t know if that’s true or not,” he said.