Florian Schwarthoff competing at the 2002 European Championships (© Getty Images)
Meeting directors of the ISTAF seem to get taller from year to year. Once again Berlin’s IAAF Golden League Meeting has announced a change in management, which is due to a re-structuring of the organisation.
The new head will be 34-year-old Florian Schwarthoff, the former sprint hurdler, who measures a towering 2.01 metres, exactly one centimetre taller than Schenk. Schwarthoff had recently announced the end of his athletics career.
In 2003, ISTAF will be the fourth meeting of the IAAF Golden League series and will be staged on 10 August, and for one more year the venue will be the Friedrich-Ludwig-Jahn-Stadium, because building work still continues on the home straight in the 1936 Olympic Stadium.
Schwarthoff's role as Director will not be in the classic mould of a ‘meeting director’ who used to be responsible for the whole organisation of the ISTAF, instead the functions of the meeting will be split between a director of organisation and a director of sport, with Schwarthoff taking the latter title.
Former decathlete Christian Schenk, the 1988 Olympic champion – who was successfully in charge from May last year guiding the ISTAF to a brighter future after the former owners of the Golden League Meeting had gone bankrupt – did not want to solely take the job as director of sport. As a result, 34-year-old Florian Schwarthoff was appointed with a three year contract.
“It was always my aim to somehow keep in contact with athletics after finishing my career. So I am very happy with this job at the ISTAF. And I am optimistic about the future of the meeting, because we have a capable team working for the event”, commented Schwarthoff.
In the space of two and a half years the ISTAF has now had fourth meeting directors. Following Rudi Thiel, who guided the meeting for more than three decades, Stéphane Franke was announced to be the new meeting director two years ago. Then after bankruptcy in April 2002, the new owners of the ISTAF, the Leichtathletik-Veranstaltungs-GmbH (LVG), appointed Christian Schenk.
“I think to restructure the organisation makes sense. But for me and my company it was no longer the right job. I would like to continue working for the ISTAF”, said Schenk. His company has offices in Berlin and Rostock and organises various sports events. It will be decided within the next few weeks, as to what sort of role Schenk will play in the future of ISTAF, and of course, the job of director of the organisation still has to be filled as well.
It is ironic that it was in fact Rudi Thiel who had first arranged for Florian Schwarthoff to move from Heppenheim to Berlin some two years ago, and that during the last two years of his career he competed for Thiel’s club, the Olympischer SC.
“When I came to Berlin two years ago it was only for the sport. I was happy to train here and be able to run for a local club”, confirmed Schwarthoff. He then started to work as an architect for Gerkan, Merg and Partner. It is that company that redesigned and planned the new Olympic Stadium. And there is of course another parallel between Thiel and Schwarthoff – both are architects.
“I know, this is funny. But of course it is pure coincidence. An event like the ISTAF needs persons who can organise and put together the right experts – this is a major task for every architect in his job, but of course there are many other jobs, where you have to do this”, answered Schwarthoff when asked if the ISTAF is in need of architects.
His position at the ISTAF will allow him to continue working full time in his job. “I don’t get a problem with my work and I will be available for the ISTAF when it matters.”
Schwarthoff, who still holds the national record for 110 m hurdles (13.05) and was the 1996 Olympic bronze medallist, further explained, “it will be my job to choose the events and the athletes and to put together the timetable.”
As per last year, the paperwork concerning the signing of the athletes will be done by Askan Brehm and Svein Arne Hansen, the director of Oslo’s IAAF Golden League meeting.
Schwarthoff concluded by saying that, “ISTAF is the most important athletics meeting in Germany and one of the outstanding meetings in the world – we want to strengthen this position.”
Jörg Wenig for the IAAF