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(Photo: Paralympic Games)
2. When athletes are led off-course at a national championship, what's to be done? 🏃♀️
At the USA Track & Field Half-Marathon National Championships this past Sunday, held in Atlanta, Jess McClain appeared headed to the win with less than one mile to go. She had opened up a gap over Emma Grace Hurley and Ednah Kurgat — and had a national title, $20,000, and a spot on the worlds team in sight.
Then they were led off course by the lead vehicles.
What followed was chaos. After about 80 seconds, they were told to turn around and go back. You can see the confusion on their faces. But it was too far to make up the distance back to the front of the race.
Molly Born, who had been in 5th, crossed the line first and — since she hadn't seen the athletes ahead make the wrong turn — didn't know why they were holding up the winner's banner for her. McClain ultimately finished in 9th.
It should be noted: All of the athletes involved have been gracious about the situation. And it now sounds like, according to organizers, that what happened involved a police officer being struck by a car and a substitute officer missing the final turn in the chaotic moments that followed.
The race organizers have now said they will also pay out the $20,000 winner's prize to McClain, and Hurley and Kurgat will also split additional combined second and third place prize money. However, it's not yet clear what USATF will do about world's team selection, given selection criteria are pre-determined.
What should be done in these situations? While it's an athlete's responsibility to know the course, it's also within the rules that they have to comply with officials' instructions.
3. WNBA needs a new contract by March 10 🏀
Will the 2026 basketball season start on time? The league has told teams and the players association that if a new contract deal can be reached by next week, then the 2026 season won't be delayed.
But if not...?
The league submitted its latest counterproposal to the players association on March 1. The proposal increases max salaries and makes rookies eligible for those max salaries sooner — but the major sticking point remains how revenue-sharing should be structured.
Players want to receive a portion of gross revenue (ie. revenue before expenses is subtracted) but the league is offering a larger portion of net revenue (ie. revenue after expenses), which amounts to less overall. Under the previous contract model, revenue was only shared after certain targets were hit — and 2025 was the first year that those targets triggered shared revenue.
Whether players will strike is now up for debate. Although they voted to authorize a strike back in the fall, a contentious players' meeting this past week had athletes divided.
“I want to play and players want to play,” WNBPA vice president Kelsey Plum.
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