Association of Track and Field Statisticians
The Association of Track and Field Statisticians (ATFS) was founded in 1950. It is an international organization run by volunteers whose goal is to collect and disseminate the statistics of track and field athletics.
Yearbook
The association has published an annual yearbook since 1951. The first edition was published in Lugano, Switzerland, and titled The 1951 A.T.F.S. International Athletic Annual. The editors were Fulvio Regli and Roberto Quercetani. It is an authoritative compilation of international athletics statistics and has been known as The International Athletics Annual and "The A.T.F.S. Annual". It is currently published under the title of Athletics: The International Track and Field Annual and the current editor is Peter Matthews.
| Years | Editors | Publishers |
|---|---|---|
| 1951–52 | Regli/Quercetani | Tipografia "La Commerciale" S.A., Lugano |
| 1953–55 | "World Sports" magazine, London | |
| 1956–69 | Roberto Quercetani | |
| 1970–72 | Rooney Magnusson | |
| 1973–74 | Vladimir Visek | Bartels & Wernitz, West Berlin |
| 1975–78 | Don Potts | "Track & Field News", Los Altos, CA |
| 1979–83 | Nejat Kök | Palle Lassen, København |
| 1984 | Richard Hymans | |
| 1985–90 | Peter Matthews | Sports World, London |
| 1991–92 | Burlington Publishing, London | |
| 1993–94 | Harmsworth Active, London | |
| 1995–2012 | SportsBooks, Worcester & Cheltenham |
Founding members
President: Roberto Quercetani (Italy)
Secretary: Fulvio Regli (Switzerland)
Committee: Norris McWhirter (UK), Donald Potts (USA)
Members: Harold Abrahams (UK) - Hon. President, Bruno Bonomelli (Italy), André Greuze (Belgium), Erich Kamper (Austria), Ekkehard zur Megede (Germany), André Senay (France), Björn-Johan Weckman (Finland), Wolfgang Wünsche (Germany)
Roberto Quercetani
Roberto Luigi Quercetani was one of the eleven founding members of the Association of Track and Field Statisticians (ATFS) and was also its first president, remaining in the position for 18 years.[1][2] In addition, he was the editor of the first ATFS annual.[3] and is a renowned historian and writer on athletics
Roberto Quercetani was born in Florence, Italy on May 3, 1922. He was interested in both foreign languages and athletics from an early age, his study in both helped by reading foreign newspapers sent by friends from Switzerland. After World War II, he served as a technical interpreter for the allied forces in Italy. Now fluent in English, French and German he started writing articles for the foreign sporting publications Leichathletik of Germany, World Sports of the UK, and Track and Field News of the United States.[2][4]
In 1948, he wrote his first athletics statistical publication (with Don Potts).[1]
From 1951, Quercetani started as a long-time contributor to the Italian newspapers La Gazzetta dello Sport and La Nazione.[1][2]
In 1964 his first of many books on athletics was published: 'A World History of Track and Field Athletics 1864-1964'.[1] He has since added a number of titles that cover the history of most the events of athletics.[5]
In 1994, he was founder member, and president until 1998, of the Archivo Storico Dell'Atletica Italiana "Bruno Bonomelli", an Italian non-profit-making cultural association dedicated to the history of Italian athletics.[6]
In 2010, under the chairmanship of Mel Watman, Quercetani was invited, as an acknowledged industry expert, to help write the book to celebrate the 2012 centenary of the governing body of athletics, the IAAF.[7][8]
In 2012, in acknowledgement of his life's achievements, Quercetani was awarded by the IAAF their 'IAAF Veteran Pin', their most important award.[9][10]
Executive committee members (until 2016)
President: Paul Jenes (Australia); Vice President: A. Lennart Julin (Sweden); Treasurer: Tom Casacky (USA); Secretary: Michael McLaughlin (Australia) Committee Members: Roberto Quercetani (Italy), Rooney Magnusson (Sweden), Bernard Linley (Trinidad & Tobago), Peter Matthews (UK), Yves Pinaud (France), Riel Hauman (South Africa), Yoshimasa Noguchi (Japan), Eduardo Biscayart (USA), Giuseppe Mappa (Italy), Nejat Kök (Turkey)
References
- 1 2 3 4 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-07-07. Retrieved 2013-07-12. About A.T.F.S., Association of Track and Field Statisticians.
- 1 2 3 http://www.fidal.it/content/I-90-anni-di-Roberto-L-Quercetani/50346 'The 90 Years of Robert L. Quercetani', Federaziona Italiana de Atletica Leggera
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-07-07. Retrieved 2013-07-12. "A.T.F.S. ANNUAL", Association of Track and Field Statisticians.
- ↑ Athletics 2012 - Edited by Peter Matthews. Article - 'RLQ:Ninety and still going strong' by Bernard Linley: Sports Books. 2012. pp. 115–16. ISBN 9781907524233.
- ↑ http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=roberto+quercetani&tag=googhydr-21&index=stripbooks&hvadid=7251400566&hvpos=1t1&hvexid=&hvnetw=s&hvrand=1748201283415622361&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_31ux7ylj5n_e, Books by Roberto Quercetani, amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ↑ http://www.asaibrunobonomelli.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=64&Itemid=91&lang=en "History and goals of the Association", A.S.A.I. "Bruno Bonomelli".
- ↑ http://www.mondotrack.com/Shownews.cfm?action=dettaglio&uid_contenuto=B3B6E285-5056-8F31-550ECA515026F072 "The 2012 IAAF", Mondo News. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ↑ http://www.germanroadraces.de/274-1-26754-a-very-special-birthday-.html "A Very Special Birthday ", German Road Races e.V. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-06-07. Retrieved 2013-07-12. "ROBERTO L. Quercetani AND ATHLETICS HALL OF FAME", Gustavo Pallicca, atleticanet.it, April 7, 2012.
- ↑ http://www.germanroadraces.de/261-1-28992-quercetani-latest-history-book-completed-receives.html "Quercetani – latest history book completed; receives the IAAF Veteran Pin", German Road Races e.V. Retrieved 11 July 2013.