It is alleged that USA Track & Field (USATF) is eating itself alive. There are allegations of “abuse of power,” infighting, and the sudden removal of board members. The organization appears to be at a critical juncture in its existence.
According to the Sports Examiner, the USATF has removed two of its board members. They are Kristie Killough-Ali and Jeré Summers-Hall. Both have been voted off the board and have had their memberships suspended. The removal of the two members comes just days before the organization’s annual general meeting.
Summers-Hall was a shot put and hammer throw specialist at the University of Louisville. She was elected as the chair of the USATF Athletes Commission in December 2024. Killough-Ali is a lawyer based in Chicago. She was elected as an independent director to the board in 2018.
At least one person in the know disagrees with the removal and suspensions. Becca Gillespy Peter, who is a cofounder of the Women’s Decathlon Association, wrote in a Facebook thread that the allegations against Summers-Hall are potentially false.
Becca Gillespy Peter’s comments:
According to Gillespy Peter, “Nothing about the allegations against Jeré was an emergency that justified using Reg 21-T to suspend her membership. If the Board athletes were unhappy with her performance, they should have taken that up with the rest of the Athletes Commission (formerly AAC), and the Athletes Commission as a whole should have decided what to do next, if anything.
“Allegations that she harassed and berated others fall under Safe Sport, and are minor violations at best, not something that warrants an emergency membership suspension. If there genuinely was an issue, USATF has the ability to issue temporary measures that function like a restraining order to keep two people separated while the due process plays out.
“I have attended multiple meetings with Jeré this year and absolutely never observed any of the behavior described here. What I did observe is someone who advocated passionately for her constituents, and who wasn’t afraid to ask questions when USATF staff took certain actions in a meeting without the permission or knowledge of the chair of that meeting, such as removing people from the Zoom call and disabling the chat.
“I’ve never been an elite athlete, but IMO Jeré is exactly the type of person you want advocating on your behalf in these meetings. And if the elite athletes she represents feel otherwise, that’s fine, that’s just something that needs to be discussed and decided by the whole group, not the athletes on the Board only.”
USATF response in full:
The USATF responded to the Sports Examiner, the publication that broke the story.
“Earlier this week, communications between the USATF National Office and three suspended members of USATF were published on a sports website. The letters were accompanied by interpretations and commentary from the involved parties. While USATF does not believe in discussing personal business matters in the public forum, we do believe in facts and transparency.
“At a board meeting on November 24, 2025, USATF’s Board of Directors voted to instruct CEO Max Siegel to suspend the memberships of Mike Conley and Kristie Killough-Ali under Regulation 21, Paragraph T of USATF’s bylaws. This regulation grants specific authority to the CEO to intervene in urgent situations involving USATF members or entities. In this case, the board provided the authorization to “protect USATF’s material commercial interests”.
“The actions came after outside counsel representing USATF in a defamation lawsuit brought forth by Jim Estes advised the board that Conley and Killough-Ali are likely to be critical witnesses in the case and their positions may be adverse to USATF’s interest in the litigation. Prior to their suspension, both Conley and Killough-Ali were asked to voluntarily resign from their positions within the organization. However, both declined to do so. Killough-Ali has requested a hearing with the board and it will be held this month.
“At the same board meeting, the board voted to suspend the membership of Jeré Summers-Hall, also under Regulation 21, Paragraph T of USATF’s bylaws and falling under the category of “protecting athletes or other members from the risk of harm.” This suspension is the result of serious concerns raised by athletes – including multiple Olympic medalists – regarding Summers-Hall’s treatment of athletes, volunteers and the national office staff. The athlete voice is paramount in the governance matters of USATF. Thus, it is imperative that the athlete representative displays and commands civility and respect. Summers-Hall will also have a hearing with the Board of Directors.
“These steps were not taken lightly nor without exhaustive efforts to avoid them. However, following failed attempts to intervene, the board had no choice but to act in the best interest of the organization. These decisions were made in near unanimity by a board of directors that, while diverse in their perspectives, remains laser-focused on the business of running a national governing body and putting athletes first.
“The story of these unfortunate matters will be dictated by the due process afforded to all parties involved. As such, USATF will not be issuing further statements or sharing further information while the cases move forward.”
USATF sued Mike Conley
The USATF sued former chair Mike Conley for breach of fiduciary duty.
The USATF complaint against Conley alleged that communications between Conley and Jim Estes indicate a high level of coordination and collusion between them. This is with regard to attempting to win the national Olympic marathon trials for Chattanooga, Tennessee. The location lost its bid, and the national championships and Olympic trials went to Orlando, FLA.
“Equally troubling is Conley’s ongoing refusal in the litigation discovery process to comply with USATF’s request for documents and communications relevant to Estes’ lawsuit. Conley’s refusal to comply with USATF’s document requests has impeded USATF’s ability to defend itself in the ongoing litigation and risks subjecting USATF to potential sanctions by the Court. As of the date of the filing of this Third-Party Complaint, Conley still has not provided USATF with any documents and communications relevant to these legal proceedings.”
Becca Peter created and published a timeline of the lawsuit.
A history of USATF controversies
At the 2014 AGM, members voted 392–70 to restore Robert Hersh as the USATF’s nominee to the IAAF Council. At the time, Hersh was the sitting senior vice-president of the IAAF Council and, by virtue of that position, a USATF board member. Interestingly, the Board disregarded the member delegates’ vote and instead went 11–1 to nominate president Stephanie Hightower to the IAAF Council. The Board’s action sparked so much controversy that the USATF sent an email two days later to all its members to explain what happened.
The email read, “This is a different era and a different time. We think Stephanie Hightower provides us with the best chance to move forward as part of that change.”
That summer, at the IAAF Congress, Hightower was elected to the IAAF Council with the most votes of any candidate; all USATF candidates for IAAF positions were elected. In 2018, after serving for four years, Hightower came up for reelection and was defeated by a vote in favour of Willie Banks.
In 2016, Vin Lananna was elected president of USATF. Two years later, Lananna was placed on “temporary administrative leave.” He was put on leave as a federal investigation by the FBI and the IRS into possible criminal conflict of interest regarding the awarding of the 2021 World Championships in Athletics to Eugene, Oregon.
Lananna was the longtime president of TrackTown USA, the hosting organization for the World Championships. He is an Athletic Director at the University of Oregon, the host location of the meet.
At the time, Senegalese Lamine Diack was the IAAF president. He was under house arrest in France on corruption charges. The 2021 Championships were awarded, without the usual bidding process. The selection of the host city was announced on April 16, 2015, in Beijing. Eugene had previously submitted a bid for the 2019 World Championships, losing to Doha, Qatar. Doha had allegedly been subject to a bribe by Diack’s son, Papa Massata Diack and turned down for the 2017 meet. The younger Diack was in marketing for the IAAF (now World Athletics).
Eugene, as a choice, made the 2021 event the first held in the US. The media reported that Eugene’s selection by World Athletics was an “unusual move.” The event was the second held in North America, after the 2001 Edmonton World Athletics Championships. It was also reported that the lack of bidding raised concerns among European bidders. Lamine Diack justified the lack of bidding with the claim that the selection of Eugene to host the event, saying that it “enables us to take advantage of the opportunity to host a financially successful tournament that may never arise again.”
Whatever that means.
The lack of bidding for the 2021 event was not new: the 2007 World Championships were awarded to Osaka, Japan, without bidding. On July 17, 2018, Lananna also resigned as president of TrackTown USA, but remained at the university during that time.
There could be bad blood
In September 2023, USATF board member Estes filed a lawsuit in Marion County, Ind., against the USATF, CEO Max Siegel, and COO Renee Washington. Estes alleged negligence by the USATF and Washington, as well as defamation and invasion of privacy by Siegel.
This was related to the 2024 Trials. On the same day, USATF awarded the Trials to Orlando, Siegel wrote a letter to the Chattanooga Sports Commission — the only other city bidding for the event. This was to let them know they had been disqualified from the bidding process due to conflicts of interest involving Estes.
Allegedly, it was a conflict of interest when Estes was simultaneously a board member and a consultant for Chattanooga’s bid.
In November of 2024, the USATF filed a counterclaim against Estes.
