In this issue:
* Capitalizing on U.S. distance success
* High-altitude devices
* BALCO update
* U.S. indoor track series starts on high note
* Hope and frustrations among LDR community

PUTTIN' ON THE RITZ

DATHAN RITZENHEIN'S win in the Reebok Cross Country Challenge last month in Belfast raised international eyebrows and American spirits.

At a time when American distance running fans are still celebrating the Olympic marathon medals of Meb Keflezighi and Deena Kastor, they're keenly aware that the reservoir is not particularly deep. Alan Webb was running with the big boys in Europe last year before the Olympics but is just now returning to competition after a disappointing and short-lived appearance at the Games. How, then, to maximize the inspiration of the few who are accomplishing the most?

As Fred Finke, the new Long Distance Running chair for USATF, points out in an interview with Running USA, the "window that Deena and Meb have given us is small, and LDR needs to move quickly to take advantage of the time frame." Finke's main concern is financial support for U.S. distance runners, but their visibility is a key factor in pulling in sponsor dollars.

Although American distance runners have been hard-pressed to win medals on the track in recent years, cross-country medals have been slightly less elusive. Lynn Jennings was a dominant figure, winning three straight World Cross titles (1990-92), while Melody Fairchild collected a bronze in the junior race in 1991. During the last 10 years three Americans have made it to the medal stand. Kastor won silver on the long course in 2002 and 2003, Colleen DeReuck was bronze medalist in that race in 2002 and Ritzenhein won the bronze in the 2001 junior race. All three runners went on to compete in the 2004 Olympics.

Success in the mud, it seems, may give Americans the confidence they need to run to win.

FRESH INTEREST

While American fans eagerly anticipate Ritzenhein running at Winter Nationals (the U.S. Cross Country Trials) this month in Vancouver, Wash., and a presumed trip to the the IAAF World Championships in France in March, there's plenty of movement at other levels to signal fresh interest in the sport in this country.

Nike's investment and USATF's involvement in the development of a spectator-friendly, international-style course in Portland is significant. Ditto for Nike's new creation, the national high school team cross country championships, and the new "Best Cross Country Race on the Planet"--directed and won by elite Boulder runner Peter Julian last month in his hometown.

Running Stats suggests that the time is ripe to revive the idea of at least a small winter cross-country circuit in the U.S., laying the groundwork for what Julian says could be part of a vibrant domestic or international circuit. USATF president Bill Roe hopes to see the financial and logistical pieces fall into place to bring the World Championships to the U.S.

Meb, Deena, Ritz and even Webb all run cross country, as do many of the dominant international distance runners. In a country sorely missing competition that really means something at the post-collegiate level, the chance to see top Americans mix it up with the best for a world title is a rarity. Outside of a few major marathons, American distance runners virtually never compete at home against international fields with a significant title or payday on the line.

THE PERFECT STAGE

Cross country could be the perfect stage to showcase top American runners. Unlike the marathon, which runners contest infrequently, a major cross-country meet might have Meb, Webb, Deena and Ritz all competing. Unlike the marathon, spectators would have a chance to see most of the action. And like the good old days of marathoning, when Americans tuned in to watch Alberto Salazar chase another New York title, a live showing of the event would be a rare treat.

While the reality of World Cross in the U.S. may, at the best, be several years away, it's imperative to continue pumping the sport at home. The high school and college ranks are doing fine, but more could be done to promote one gem that's largely ignored: the Winter Cross Country Nationals which select the U.S. teams for World Cross.

An American's road to the medal stand at World Cross always goes through the Winter Nationals.

GOOD NIGHT, AIR

U.S. Speedskating now offers its elite skaters the chance to live in a high-altitude dorm in Milwaukee as part of its push to win more Olympic medals. At a cost of $150,000, six large rooms in a new dormitory at the Tommy G. Thompson Youth Center near the Petit National Ice Center were sealed off to allow oxygen deprivation to simulate altitudes of up to 15,000 feet.

U.S. Speedskating officials offered no qualms about the facility, and the USOC, which struggled for years over the ethics and safety of "artificial altitude," funded 80 percent of the project. U.S. Speedskating is asking its elite athletes to spend two to three months each year in the dorms and hope the stays will produce a 3-5 percent increase in the athletes' maximum oxygen uptake.

Yet the IOC has banned altitude tents in the Olympic Village and WADA has appointed a subcommittee to investigate high-altitude chambers and devices. The committee expects to make a recommendation in September as to whether or not such artificial methods should be banned.

WADA head Dick Pound says that if the methods are banned, athletes will not be penalized retroactively.

High-altitude simulating devices are especially popular among athletes in endurance events and are used by elite athletes such as Paula Radcliffe, Lance Armstrong and Khalid Khannouchi. Now they seem to be cropping up in other places, from NFL and NHL players' homes to tents purchased by USA Swimming and the U.S. Figure Skating Association for their athletes. Japan's institute of sports science boasts dozens of dorm rooms outfitted with altitude controls, reports the Washington Post, and the Nike Oregon Project in Portland has an altitude house available to its athletes. Australia, Germany, France, Scotland, China, Canada and Finland have such facilities too.

The Norwegian Olympic Committee, on the other hand, canceled plans for an altitude house at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, citing ethical questions. A new concern is the use of altitude tents among young athletes. For families willing to invest thousands in their child's sports development, spending $6000 for an altitude tent may seem as good an investment as a personal trainer.

GOOD FOR EVERYONE?

Even though research shows that not all athletes will benefit from oxygen deprivation, will parents of young athletes get caught up in the idea that their kid has to have a personal altitude tent in order to be a Foot Locker cross country finalist? Will kids believe they can only succeed if they have a tent? Will they forget all the great runners who did succeed, sleeping soundly each night in a normal bedroom?

Exercise physiologist Jack Daniels, who's been studying the effects of altitude on performance for four decades, says in an e-mail, "We are doing a disservice to our athletes, giving the impression that without altitude you can't compete. Sort of like saying without EPO or any drug, you can't compete, but without any real evidence that altitude makes you better than training at sea level.

"I can argue both sides of the altitude issue...(but) is the altitude group of current (U.S.) distance runners beating what we had in the 60s and 70s before we were told we must train at altitude to make it internationally?" asks Daniels, who's advised scores of elite runners, from Joan Benoit and other Athletics West athletes in the 80s to some Farm Team athletes currently.

TRACKING BALCO

TRACKING the BALCO case has become a national preoccupation for sportswriters. Who's up next? Who's holding the best hand? Who's gonna fold?

After BALCO Lab founder Victor Conte's national television tell-all in December, prognosticators were left scratching their heads. Sean Webby of the Mercury News reports that the chances of the case going to trial are growing slim although none of the defense attorneys will admit that they're working on plea deals. But with a trial looming, writes Webby, "the fate of important evidence still up in the air and a fresh U.S. Supreme Court decision that gives federal judges more leeway in sentencing, the pressure to settle the case is strong."

George Walker, lawyer for track coach Remi Korchemny, one of the four men under indictment in the Balco case, tells Webby that "Conte made a national confession. He's dead. The only reason he would go to trial is he wants a forum, a platform."

Confronted by the extensive evidence gathered by federal agents, most, if not all, the defendants may be looking for a deal to keep them out of prison. Whether they'll be willing to provide information to the government in exchange for their freedom is the unknown.

Webby points out that "vast majority of criminal cases end with a plea deal" because of the expense, time and unpredictable nature of trials for both sides.

Other points to consider:

* District Court Judge Susan Ilston will decide whether or not Conte and Barry Bonds' trainer, Greg Anderson, were "under arrest" when they made statements to investigators. If they were, incriminating statements they made could be thrown out because they had not been read their rights.

* Anderson's attorney, J. Tony Serra, maintains that the case is motivated by national politics. Who's trying to score points, and how many are needed to win the game? Are baseball's tepid moves towards drug testing enough to satisfy the politicos? Do organizations such as the USOC and USADA, which must tend to their political bases, need to bring down Marion Jones? Or need to see maximum sentences slapped on guilty parties?

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that BALCO has "already been a catalyst for initiatives that would have been impossible a year ago," including "a high-profile purge of suspected steroid users from the U.S. Olympic team" and the pressure brought upon baseball.

"Anti-doping advocates say BALCO has given them real traction in their fight to control steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs, both in track and field and and in baseball," write Lance Williams and Mark Fainaru-Wada of the Chronicle.

* And what about money?

USADA says it has spent $2.l million on 15 cases emanating from BALCO, according to the Washington Post. Twelve of the cases involving track and field athletes resulted in sanctions, and three are still in process. Four of the 15 were prosecuted without positive drug tests. According to USADA head Terry Madden, the agency spent $1.785 million on legal expenses and $315,000 on research and science related to BALCO over an 18-month period.

In contrast, USADA spent $1.03 million in 2002, before the BALCO scandal, to handle 33 cases (all sports) that resulted in sanctions. USADA receives about 60 percent of its funding from the federal government. What posture on BALCO will most benefit the agency's quest for more funding?

* A recent Supreme Court decision could have an impact, weakening the prosecutors' ability to design a plea bargain because judges now have more flexibility in sentencing. Webby notes that the decision "could increase the possibility that some federal defendants would decline a plea bargain and go to trial, hoping for leniency from a judge when it came time for sentencing."

THE DOCKET

Here's a summary of recent BALCO litigation and related subjects:

* As expected, U.S. District Judge Susan Ilston turned down a request to dismiss BALCO charges, but did order that hearings be held to determine if information had been obtained illegally in the raid on BALCO headquarters.

* Michelle Collins is appealing her eight-year ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Although she never failed a drug test, circumstantial evidence gathered in the BALCO investigation was used to prove her use of THG, EPO and testosterone cream in a case heard by the American Arbitration Association.

* Marion Jones filed a $25 million lawsuit in December against Victor Conte, saying that he falsely accused her of using performance- enhancing drugs in interviews with ABC's 20/20 program and ESPN The Magazine. Jones, who insists she has never used banned drugs, "repeated those denials under oath last year to the grand jury," reports the San Francisco Chronicle.

The defamation lawsuit will be heard before Judge Ilston and will put both Conte and Jones on the hot seat. Conte's lawyer for the demation suit, James Wagstaffe, tells the Associated Press that Jones will "have to prove everything that was said...was false and that it was spoken with malice."

* Tim Montgomery's case will be heard by the Court of Arbitration for Sport the week of June 6-10; Chryste Gaines' will be heard the week of July 11-15.

* Further BALCO indictments are possible if a BALCO defendant agrees to become a prosecution witness in exchange for a reduced sentence, reports the Chronicle. The government could pursue perjury indictments against athletes believed to have lied to the grand jury. A cooperative witness could also give the government ammunition to indict Patrick Arnold, the Illinois supplement promoter believed to have created and/or supplied the drugs at the center of the BALCO case, including "the clear" (THG).

Shaun Assael of ESPN The Magazine reports that investigators are "actively trying to find the chemist who created...THG," with Arnold high on their list. Investigators may be following a trail of money that will lead to a lab in China or India, reports Assael, the kind of place he describes as a "Home Depot for the raw materials used to make designer steroids."

* FBI agents raided Victor Conte's home last month as part of a federal investigation into who leaked BALCO grand jury testimony. According to the Chronicle, the raid came at the same time Conte was reportedly trying to strike a plea bargain to avoid a trial.

The San Jose Mercury said that Conte met with USADA officials "in hopes of laying the groundwork for a possible plea agreement with the government." Neither USADA nor Conte would confirm or deny that a meeting was held. While USADA would like Conte's help in prosecuting its cases, the agency can't arrange a plea bargain with the government. Conte, though, could be looking for lenient treatment if he becomes like "the safecracker who advises the bank on security measures," suggests Duke Law School professor Jim Coleman in a New York Times story.

A Jan. 31 hearing in the federal court was postponed until March "to give prosecutors and Conte more time to try to work out a deal," reports the Chronicle.

ANTI-DOPING NOTEBOOK

* IAAF DRUG TESTING results for 2004, through the end of October: 2,465 tests; 42 offenses. In-competition tests: 975. Out of competition: 1490. EPO tests: 350 (90 pre-competition, 110 in competition and 150 out of competition).

China released its doping controls numbers (all sports) for 2004: 4009 urine tests and 644 blood tests resulting in 17 positives, including three track and field athletes.

USADA's fourth quarter numbers weren't posted by the end of January, but the agency conducted 6547 tests (all sports) through the first three quarters, 3223 out of competition. No figures are given to indicate if blood tests were conducted. USADA does report 45 violations for all of 2004, representing 0.75 percent of the draw. The agency also listed 393 missed tests, or 8.3 percent of the attempted tests.

* SOME OF THE DRUGS confiscated by federal agents in the BALCO raid in 2003 were hardly designer drugs. Lab founder Victor Conte allegedly doled out drugs used decades ago by communist countries, reports Duncan Mackay of The Guardian. One was a prescription drug, piracetam, used to treat Down's Syndrome. Another was an appetite suppressant, mazindol, "that has similar biological effects to amphetamines...both are easily available on the internet and have been around for several decades," notes Mackay. Piracetam reportedly increases red blood cells but has not been banned by WADA, he adds, while mazindol is banned only in competition.

* GREEK SPRINTERS Kostas Kenteris and Katerina Thanou are challenging provisional two-year bans imposed on them by the IAAF. The Greek track federation is hearing their case and an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport is likely.

* SPORTSLETTER, a publication of the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles reports that in the 12 months between the Sept. 3, 2003 raid on BALCO offices and the close of the Olympic Games Aug. 29, 2004, "more than 250 athletes were reported to have tested positive, were arrested by civil authorities for possession of performance- enhancing drugs or in some other way ran afoul of doping controls. The list of athletes includes world and Olympic champions as well as sub- elite athletes...from every region of the world."

* AMERICAN ERICK WALDER, bronze medalist at the 1999 World Championships long jump, received a two-year suspension for a pair of stimulants found in a sample collected at the IAAF Adidas Oregon Track Classic last June. The case was referred to USADA by the IAAF in October.

* RICHARD MCLAREN, a member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, told a Canadian audience that CAS is prepared to reduce sanctions in cases where a banned stimulant was clearly taken inadvertently, reports the Free Press.

UNDER COVER

DESPITE lack of a title sponsor, the 98th running of the Millrose Games in New York City this month appears healthy. Millrose lost Verizon as sponsor after last year but is vigorously promoting itself as the centerpiece of a week of 14 track and running events in the area.

Athlete agent Renaldo Nehemiah says he'll allow his clients to run Millrose only if they have assurance from USATF that they'll be paid in a timely fashion. He says paychecks weren't sent until July or August last year.

David Woods of the Indianapolis Star writes that "indoor track and field isn't the entertainment property in North America that it used to be. Whereas once there were meets in major cities every weekend throughout January and February, now there are a precious few. Many American stars skip indoors to concentrate on the outdoor season. It is rare for top foreign athletes to compete here."

That said, the opening meet of USATF's 2005 Indoor Visa Championship Series was a memorable affair. It attracted some of the world's best to Boston's Reebok Indoor Games, including a potent crew from Ethiopia. Tirunesh Dibaba produced a world record in the women's 5000 (14:32.93) and countrywoman Meseret Defar missed the world record in the 3000 by less than a second when she was caught in heavy traffic while lapping the field. Superstar Kenenisa Bekele lost a rare race, to Alistair Cragg in the 3000, after apparently misjudging his remaining laps. Laban Rotich upset Olympic silver medalist Bernard Lagat in a fast mile. U.S. shotputters, led by another Olympic silver medalist, Adam Nelson, continued their spirited and crowd-pleasing competition. Outside of the annual Prefontaine Classic at Eugene's Hayward Field, American fans are rarely treated to this level of international competition.

The big draw of Boston's fast 200-meter track, streamlined schedule and intimate setting (a capacity 3,500 fans for a third straight year) at the Reggie Lewis Center recreated the kind of energy that used to characterize indoor track in the U.S.

Millrose, because of its size, is stuck with an 11-laps-to-the-mile track, hardly conducive to record-setting. And Boston, because of the size of its track, may be stuck at the Reggie Lewis Center when it could sell more seats elsewhere. Finding a larger facility that can accommodate the track is the problem.

The remaining meets in the Visa Series are Millrose (Feb. 4), the Tyson Invitational (Feb. 11) and the USA Indoor Championships (Feb. 25-27).

SHORTS

* THE USOC is carefully examining its expenditures and new chairman Peter Ueberroth tells the Denver Post that he's not satisfied that athletes are getting a fair share of the pot: "We need to examine every dollar we spend and ask ourselves, 'Is it being spent efficiently to help the athletes?"

* HUNGARIAN THROWERS Adrian Annus (hammer) and Robert Fazekas (discus) may have been stripped of their Athens Olympic gold medals because of doping violations, but their loyal fans donated money to present them with replica medals at their training center. The pair will have their cases heard this month by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

* THE HONOLULU Marathon is a popular event in Japan. Close to 16,000 of the 25,600 entrants last year were Japanese and a 55-minute taped broadcast of the race reached 2.4 million households in Japan.

* DISPARATE state high school federation rules continue to cause problems for the Penn Relays. Last year Massachusetts schools threatened to boycott the prestigious meet unless events were redrawn so that non-sanctioned teams would not compete against sanctioned teams in heat races, reports the Daily Pennsylvanian. This year New York is raising the same issue, which could "lead to splitting the renowned Championships of America races if New York schools refuse to race non-sanctioned schools from other states," notes the University of Pennsylvania student newspaper.

Relays director Dave Johnson says that because of discrepancies in policy interpretation from state to state, the national high school federation has asked all states to review their sanctioning policies. Johnson hopes to see member schools (those that belong to their state federations) "essentially give a blanket endorsement to nonmember schools, as long as nonmember schools are willing to sign on agreeing that they will participate with the same standards of eligibility that the member schools have."

Some differences in rules include the age at which athletes may compete for a high school, the distance teams are allowed to travel to compete and how much money they can spend, reports the Daily.

* USATF closed out 2004 with revenues of $15.5 million and net income of $2.5 million, its best year ever. "The organization has completed a remarkable comeback from its near financial collapse at the time of former Executive Director Ollan Cassell's departure in 1997...All of the pre-1997 debt has been retired," notes Road Race Management, crediting current CEO Craig Masback's leadership.

The picture for 2005 may not be as bright because Xerox will no longer be sponsoring Olympic National Governing Bodies including USATF, and because a renewal of Verizon's sponsorship looks unlikely, according to RRM.

* WITH THE 2012 Olympic site yet to be selected, potential hosts are already making noise for the 2016 Summer Games bid. Among the interested: Nairobi, Prague, Madrid and San Diego.

* NEW ZEALAND'S LEGENDARY distance coach Arthur Lydiard died in December, at the age of 87, while on a lecture tour in the U.S. Lydiard coached Olympic champions using a stamina-based training program. He inspired the concept of jogging for fitness that led to a worldwide boom in recreational distance running.

* SANTA CLARA University is adding men's and women's outdoor track, beginning this spring.

* THE RUNNING NETWORK reports that 20-year participation figures for NCAA men's cross country are up 12 percent compared to 86 percent for women. For outdoor track, the increase was 7 percent for men and 49 percent for women.

* THE IOC RECOMMENDED late last year that all athletes under the age of 35 be screened regularly for heart problems that could lead to sudden death on the playing field. Less than a month later Alem Techale, the 18-year-old fiancee of Olympic champion Kenenisa Bekele, died during a training run with Bekele in Ethiopia. The 2003 World Youth 1500-meter champion may have died of a heart problem, but it's unclear whether an autopsy was conducted.

Patrick Schamasch of the IOC Medical Commission said the screening is important for all athletes, not just the elite. "These recommendations are mainly to detect potential undiagnosed cardiac abnormalities which may lead to a fatal issue," he told the Agence France Presse.

* DISTANCE legends Moses Tanui and John Ngugi are leading a campaign to nullify recent elections held by Athletics Kenya and to hold a new election..

Kenya's national coach, Mike Kosgei has been dismissed for a second time by AK. Kosgei coached for 10 years before the Kenyan federation forced him out in 1995. He was reinstated in 2001 but never overcame an acrimonious relationship with AK.

* NIKE is making a major move in Kenya, taking over the Discovery Kenya program started in 1991, supported by Fila since 1993, and headed by Dr. Gabriele Rosa, coach of many elite Kenyans, including Paul Tergat. Discovery Kenya sponsors a cross-country championship and half marathon, both in Eldoret, and designed to promote running and encourage development of local runners. The program also has high-altitude training facilities in Kapsait for both elite runners and beginners, reports Isa Omok for Reuters.

LONG DISTANCE DISHARMONY

LONG DISTANCE RUNNING has a newly created administrative post within USATF, filled by programs manager Jim Estes (former chair of Men's LDR), but lack of funding may force LDR folks to cut their ties with USATF and consider greater involvement with Running USA. With the addition of Estes' position came the subtraction of funding ($100,000) for the Road Running Information Center and reduced funding for the Men's and Women's LDR committees.

Road Race Management suggests that "lack of LDR funding may result from the fact that no significant USATF sponsorships have come directly from the distance running community (about 60% of the organization's revenues come from sponsors). The bottom line is that the frequently touted 30 million U.S. distance runners haven't put much money into USATF's coffers." Consequently, other factions of USATF view LDR with skepticism.

Running USA, "the distance running trade group spun off by USATF...now appears to be spinning away on its own," reports RRM. This group receives no financial support from USATF (other than dues) and "is seeking its own sponsorships from the distance running community." It also plans to sell race liability insurance, which would put it in direct competition with both USATF and the Road Runners Club of America.

RRM also reports that "representatives from a number of the 'Team USA' training centers were discouraged to find no funds available from USATF or Running USA, which has put its dollars into the Mammoth Lakes Training Center," which supported Olympic marathon medal winners Meb Keflezighi and Deena Kastor.

The RRCA, meanwhile, is just getting its family back together, having merged with the American Association of Running Clubs. The AARC was formed in reaction to leadership issues, now resolved, at the RRCA.

And in other distance running development news, Nike's Alberto Salazar spoke to the LDR group at the USATF annual meeting in December, outlining plans for an elite training program for young runners to prepare them for international level competition by age 20, notes RRM. Salazar's Nike Oregon Project recently added new runners, including Adam and Kara Goucher, to its base in Portland, but comprehensive plans for junior and senior elite programs remain fluid. The program's junior component currently includes Caitlin Chock and Galen Rupp, the fastest 5000-meter runners of the U.S. prep class of '04.

IAAF ROUNDUP

* THE IAAF will continue to make the final decision in changes of nationality of athletes. The three-year waiting period will start from the date of acquisition of new citizenship. Reduction of the waiting period to 12 months will require the consent of the athlete's old and new national federations.

* SHANGHAI will be the site of an IAAF Permit meet, beginning this year, to help promote the sport leading into the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

* IAAF spokesman Nick Davies writes in a Runner's World Daily column that he hopes the federation can take "the mystery out of our anti-doping campaign but also, and this is the hard part, (make) sure that the subject of doping is not a synonym for track and field to the extent that you can't write about one, without mentioning the other." He proposes using the IAAF website to publish extensive information about who's been drug tested and when (all athletes, not just those testing positive), case management of positives ("B" tests, hearings, appeals) and final outcome).

"We need to demystify our case management, so that you can see quickly which cases are pending and where athletes stand in terms of the complex procedures," he notes.

* WORLD CROSS will officially switch back to a one-day format in 2007, although the traditional 12K men's and 8K women's race distances may be changed.

* THE MARATHON ROUTE for the World Championships this summer in Helsinki will feature a 10K loop that will be run three-and-a-half times. The course starts near the waterfront in downtown Helsinki and finishes at the Olympic Stadium. The men's race is Aug. 13, the women's Aug. 14.

* TELEVISION coverage of Golden League meets last year garnered more than 160 million viewers. The 2005 GL schedule begins July 1 in Paris, followed by Rome (July 8), Oslo (July 29), Zurich (Aug. 19), Brussels (Aug. 26) and Berlin (Sept. 4). Men's GL events will be the 100, 800, 1500/mile, 3000/5000, high jump and javelin. Women's events are the 100, 800, 3000/5000, 400 hurdles and triple jump.

British viewers placed track and field second only to soccer last year. Olympic track events drew seven of the top 10 non-soccer British sports audiences, with the women's 10,000, women's 1500 and men's 4 x 100 in the top three slots, reports Athletics Weekly. Paula Radcliffe's bid in the 10,000 drew 12.8 million viewers.

* THE IAAF'S WORLD RANKINGS now include the women's steeplechase.

* IN THE WAKE of the Asian tsunami, the IAAF will help reconstruct a two-story school building in Sri Lanka. The IAAF has contacted all its member federations hit by the tsunami to encourage specific requests for assistance. The IAAF also will help with IOC efforts to aid the reconstruction of damaged areas in those countries.