Paul Merca joins former World Athletics communications manager Anna Legnani on "Love Athletics" podcast...

Shortly before Sunday's Meeting de Paris, I had the opportunity to go on former World Athletics media relations manager Anna Legnani's (screenshot courtesy YouTube) podcast "Love Athletics".

Anna was the longtime media relations manager at World Athletics before retiring two years ago.  She was the point person for the federation, and the lady who made every journalist covering a world championship event, whether it's the world track & field championships, the old World Cup, world indoors or the world cross country championships, a lot easier.

The role of communications manager for that organization is a thankless one, especially when dealing with journalists and photographers from different countries. 

At events, I've seen her seamlessly answer questions about various matters in several different languages, and translate for athletes speaking on the podium at various press conferences.

When I talked about how I got involved in the sport, I named both the late Steve Prefontaine and Frank Shorter as two of my earliest heroes.

When the name Steve Prefontaine came up, Anna told a fascinating story about meeting Pre in Italy at a meet about a year before his untimely death.

He and 400 hurdler Ralph Mann were doing a workout on the track where she was going to school, and ended up doing some translating for them. 

The meet director was impressed and asked her to work the meet as a translator.

We then delved into how I got started covering the sport, and I referred back to my three months working on the 1984 US Olympic Women's Marathon Trials in Olympia as an assistant to the director of communications, which included writing the media kit, doing statistical research, and other duties as specified.

As I told her on the podcast, nothing I've ever done in this sport is possible without my time working for the Trials, and that, "if it weren't for my time there, I'm not talking to you at all."

We talked about both the US and Jamaican Olympic Trials, who impressed me, who the biggest upsets were, and so on.

She had a stats segment, pointing out the top marks of the week, as well as the top under-20 and under-18 athletes of the last fortnight.

I talk extensively about the breakout star on the men's side, 16-year old Quincy Wilson, as well as twins Hana and Amanda Moll (Paul Merca photo) of the University of Washington.

We finish the show with a preview of the Olympics from an American perspective, as well as some takes on some of the top non-American athletes, including Great Britain's Josh Kerr, who runs for Seattle's Brooks Beasts.

The podcast is embedded into the bottom of the post.

"Love Athletics" is a twice-monthly program featuring athletes and journalists from all over the world.

NOTE: World Athletics contributed to this report.

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