Obsa Ali And The Fight to Save Minnesota Men's Track and Field

"This is a pretty huge East African community. A lot of these Africans don’t play basketball or football so this is their way of getting that opportunity at that highest level...I feel like one of the reasons they were able to bring back outdoor track was that they knew the amount of damage this would cause. But still, we need indoors as well because we want to be equal.”

Obsa Ali is the 2018 NCAA outdoor steeplechase champion out of the University of Minnesota. I wanted to get him on the show because last Friday, the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents voted to approve a resolution to eliminate the men's indoor track and field, men's tennis and men's gymnastics teams at the end of the 2020-21 school year. A revised proposal that was submitted on Friday removed men's outdoor track and field from the cuts that were first announced in September.

The university said the athletic department was facing a projected revenue loss of approximately $75 million and what do these three cuts end up saving? An approximate $1.6 million dollars, which alums and others have already been able to fundraise independently in an effort to save the track team. Obsa was in the room when the decision was made so I wanted to get his account of that day, his feelings and where the fight goes from here.

Follow Obsa on Instagram.

Keep up with the latest from Save Minnesota Track.

Sports Illustrated recap of Friday's Board of Regents meeting.

Episode Artwork Photo by Al Lacey for Youth Runner Magazine.

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