Craig Alford Masback was born on 31 March 1955 and is a retired American middle-distance runner who specialized in the mile and 1500 meters, recording 30 sub-four-minute miles, including a best of 3:52.02, winning the US Indoor Championships at the mile distance in 1980, establishing an American record at 2000 meters in 1982, and representing the United States 10 times in international competition between 1976 and 1985.
23 Facts About Craig Masback
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Craig Masback has covered five Olympic Games for NBC Sports as a color commentator in track and field.
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Craig Masback graduated from White Plains Senior High School in 1973.
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Craig Masback attended Princeton University, where he was co-captain of the track and field team and competed on the cross country team.
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In high school, Masback was the New York State Indoor Champion at 600 yards and won the Eastern States and Golden West Invitational track and field meets at 880 yards.
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Craig Masback finished sixth in the NCAA Indoor Championships in the mile run.
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Craig Masback was a two-time IC4A Champion and an eight-time Heptagonal Champion at various distances.
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Craig Masback launched a professional running career while at Oxford, improving his personal best mile time from 4:01.8 to 3:52.02, which when he ran it on July 17,1979, in Oslo's Bislet Stadium established him as the sixth fastest miler in history.
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Craig Masback became US Indoor champion in the mile run in 1980.
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That same year Craig Masback established an American record of 5:00.11 in the 2000 meters in Bordeaux, France.
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Craig Masback represented the United States 10 times in international competition in indoor and outdoor track and field.
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Craig Masback won a bronze medal at the 1985 Pacific Conference Games.
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Craig Masback competed at the 1985 IAAF World Cup as a member of a US team that captured the team title.
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Craig Masback was involved in later efforts to unionize track and field athletes, including in 1985.
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Craig Masback published 12 opinion pieces and profiles in the New York Times, as well as articles for the Miami Herald, Sports Illustrated, The Runner Magazine, Ms.
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Craig Masback has been a sports commentator covering track and field, marathon, and triathlon events for NBC, CBS, ESPN, ABC, PBS, TBS, and BET since 1981, including contributing to numerous Emmy Award-winning events.
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Craig Masback published articles concerning regulatory law and the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
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Craig Masback tripled the organization's revenues and quadrupled sponsor revenues during his time as USATF CEO.
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Craig Masback renewed existing deals with Visa, Xerox, UCS, and Nike and signed General Motors and Verizon as sponsors in the 1998 to 2001 time period.
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Craig Masback oversaw the creation of USATF's High Performance Division, which overhauled USATF's relationship with and services for professional athletes and led to substantial increases in US medals won at Olympic Games and World Championships.
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In 2006, working with organizational sponsor Nike, Craig Masback initiated a rebranding exercise that resulted in the creation of a new USATF logo and imaging system still used today.
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Craig Masback joined Nike as the Director of Business Affairs for the Global Sports Marketing division in March 2008.
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Craig Masback is married to Sarah Vogelsberg and they have two children, a daughter, Grace, and a son, Britton.