How Goodwill Became a Run-Down Track Meet

Frustrated organizers of the track and field competition in the Goodwill Games announced only moments before the women’s javelin throw Wednesday that world record-holder Petra Felke of East Germany had withdrawn.

That was not news to U.S. champion Karin Smith, who said Felke told her at a meet in Finland more than three weeks ago that she would not compete.

Perhaps this is true, said a spokesman for The Athletics Congress, which governs the sport in the United States and organized the competition here. But he added that, earlier this week, Felke picked up the prepaid airline ticket for the flight that was supposed to deliver her to Sea-Tac Airport.

That is only one example of the confusion that, like the seemingly ever-present rain clouds above Husky Stadium, hovered ominously over the track and field competition, which ended Thursday night.

In several events, the organizers did not know until days--or even hours--before the scheduled starting times which athletes would or would not compete. Often, the would-nots had better credentials than the woulds.

About 30 top athletes who, according to TAC, committed to this meet and had their names used to promote the Goodwill Games telecasts by the Turner Broadcasting System did not compete.

Among the missing were East German shotputter Ulf Timmermann, Soviet pole vaulter Sergei Bubka, U.S. quarter-milers Butch Reynolds and Steve Lewis, British miler Steve Cram, Somalian miler Abdi Bile, Romanian middle-distance runners Paula Ivan and Doina Melinte, Kenyan distance runners Peter Koech and Julius Kariuki and Jamaican sprinter Merlene Ottey. Most said they were injured.

Before the track and field competition began Saturday, TBS officials boasted that only the Olympic Games and the World Championships attracted more talent.

By Thursday, TBS officials were privately acknowledging that the meet, while unquestionably still one of the best in the United States since the 1984 Olympics, would be considered no better than average on the European summer invitational circuit.

While unwilling to speak for the record, they clearly feel the responsibility for the field rests with Ollan Cassell, who, as TAC’s executive director and a vice president of the International Amateur Athletic Federation, was enlisted by TBS to provide a world-class field.

There were disappointments for TBS officials in other sports. Romania’s women’s gymnastics officials withdrew all but one athlete; Cuba sent its junior women’s volleyball team; Yugoslavia entered a men’s basketball team without its two best players, including Laker center Vlade Divac; East German and Australian swimmers arrived in less than peak condition.

Still, TBS officials said they were satisfied with the performances of those responsible for providing athletes in sports other than track and field.

In an interview Wednesday night during the competition at Husky Stadium, Cassell described the meet as “one of the best in the world this year” despite the withdrawals--many of which, he said, were the result of legitimate injuries.

He said that timing also was a problem because some athletes decided to remain home and train for the European Championships next month at Split, Yugoslavia.

Another factor, he said, was the political turmoil in Eastern Europe that has changed the rules for procuring athletes from those countries, particularly East Germany.

In the past, meet organizers made deals for athletes through the East German track and field federation. But although the federation still claims to control the athletes, many of them now make their own deals through agents.

Cassell said the East German federation committed several athletes to appear in Seattle, but only one, discus thrower Ilke Wyludda, competed. Another, 400-meter intermediate hurdler Petra Krug, injured herself in a workout Wednesday.

TBS officials said Cassell should have been aware that he could no longer rely on East German federation promises.

But one official from an athletic apparel company who frequently deals with Eastern Bloc countries said Cassell would have had difficulty with the East Germans regardless of his approach.

“You take Christine Wachtel and Sigrun Wodars,” he said, referring to two East German half-milers. “Each has three different agents, not counting the federation, claiming to represent them. How is anyone supposed to know how to deal with them?”

Because of various problems within the sport in the United States, Cassell’s position as executive director of TAC is believed to be in jeopardy. But even longtime critics said it is unfair to blame Cassell for the problems.

“The buck stops with Ollan because he’s the meet director,” said one agent, who has feuded with Cassell in the past. “But most of the things that have happened here are out of his control.”

For instance, one Romanian runner got as far as London, where she was supposed to change planes for Seattle. Instead, she booked a return flight to Bucharest to settle a marital conflict.

The apparel company official said that one agent, who works with many of the best British athletes, led Cassell to believe that his clients would compete, then withdrew them in an attempt to embarrass the controversial TAC executive director. He said another agent, who represents several Africans, asked for extremely high appearance fees.

TBS paid $12 million to U.S. sports federations, which were supposed to use the money to procure athletes. Cassell reportedly received the largest amount, estimated at about $750,000, for track and field. That is only a little more than half the budget for the summer’s most prestigious invitational meet in Zurich.

But Cassell said he had no complaints with his budget. While most athletes received a standard $3,000, he said that $25,000 to $30,000 was available to a few Olympic champions and world record-holders. Carl Lewis was believed to have received more because he competed in two individual events and also helped promote the Goodwill Games.

If Cassell had been unable to make a deal with Lewis, TBS would have lost the headliner in two of its featured events--the 100 meters and the long jump.

“The Turner people would like for this to be considered a major event,” the agent said. “But the athletes don’t see it that way. It might be the world’s biggest invitational meet, but it’s still just an invitational meet.”