By Popular Demand

The year, the event. That remains a mystery, but Bob Hersh remembers that his first time behind the mike as a public address announcer took place at The Armory. To say that things took off from there is a huge understatement as he would later serve as a stadium announcer at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Seoul, Barcelona, Atlanta, Athens and Beijing.

But Hersh's biggest challenge yet came down over the weekend as he was installed as the second-in-command when it comes to global track & field. Voted to the post by acclamation at the IAAF Congress in Daegu, South Korea, Hersh replaces Sergey Bubka as President Lamine Diack's official deputy, Senior Vice-President of the International Association of Athletics Federations.

A Council Member since 1999, Hersh has been active in track and field since his youth when he became the team manager at Midwood High in Brooklyn, where he grew up. After serving in a manager capacity as an undergraduate at Columbia University, he headed off for Harvard Law School. After graduation, he began his legal career and also began serving as a track & field official, which led to increasingly important roles in the administration of the sport.

He has also maintained connections with events that have been his passion. Hersh served as an announcer at the Millrose Games and the Penn Relays until his duties with the IAAF forced him to cut back on his commitments. Yet he has remained a member of the Relays' statistical crew through the years.