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YES!!!

http://www.usatf.org/news/view.aspx?DUI ... 4_22_17_56

Eugene awarded 2008 Olympic Track & Field Trials
10-14-2005

Contact:
Tom Surber
Media Information Manager
USA Track & Field
317-261-0478 x317

INDIANAPOLIS - Returning the country's most prestigious pre-Olympic event to one of the most hallowed sites in the sport, USA Track & Field on Friday awarded the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials to Eugene, Ore.

The host of the 1972, '76 and '80 Olympic Trials and the 1999 and 2001 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, the University of Oregon's Hayward Field will be the site of the 2008 Olympic Trials, where the roster for Team USA will be selected for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. The Olympic Trials will be held from June 27-July 6, 2008.

"Eugene's bid proposes an unprecedented focus on athletes, and plans for celebrating the sport that will make it a great fan experience," said USATF CEO Craig Masback. "Hayward Field is hallowed ground in our sport and Eugene's vision for what they can do to connect track's past, present and future won the day."All of us at USA Track & Field congratulate John McCasey and the Sacramento Sports Commission for offering a tremendous bid to host the 2008 Olympic Trials. Deciding betweenSacramento andEugene was a very difficult task, and we'll always be grateful to John and his group for their intense interestand enthusiasm forour sport, and for raising the bar in the staging of this event in 2000 and 2004," Masback added.

Submitted by the Oregon Track Club, Eugene's bid for the Olympic Trials stressed an athlete-friendly focus and deep community support. Key elements of Eugene's bid included expanding seating at Hayward Field to up to 17,000 spectators, upgrading the entire warm-up and competition area, implementing an upgrade to media facilities and staging expansive new athlete programs over the next four years.

"We are ecstatic, yet humbled by this tremendous opportunity," said Oregon Track club President Greg Erwin. " We will do everything in our power to make this the most unforgettable experience for the athletes, the spectators and the people of Oregon."

The site of the most prestigious invitational track meet in the country, the Nike Prefontaine Classic, Eugene has long been dubbed "Track Town, USA" for its rich track and field history and the community's appreciation of the sport. The Nike Prefontaine Classic regularly draws standing-room-only crowds, while athletes consistently rate Hayward Field as having one of the most compelling atmospheres of any stadium in the world.

The largest national championship track meet in the world, the U.S. Olympic Trials hosts more than 1,000 athletes as they compete for the right to represent Team USA at the Olympic Games. More than 350,000 fans attended the last two Olympic Trials in Sacramento, and at each edition of the meet, more than 1,000 members of the media from around the world cover the event while thousands of volunteers and officials provide support.

Other finalists to host the 2008 Olympic Trials were Sacramento, Los Angeles/Carson, Calif., and Columbus, Ohio.

Sweet! Maybe i can go and watch!

i thought they had real crappy winds though.. isn't that what happened at the west coast regionals this year?? could make things interesting

VTechVaulter wrote:i thought they had real crappy winds though.. isn't that what happened at the west coast regionals this year?? could make things interesting

I don't think they normally do, and I think the wind is usually better for the pole vault in Eugene since the runway runs parallel to the backstretch, instead of prependicular like at Sac State.

should make for an awesome comp. cant wait to go!

The winds can be pretty bad but they have runways going both directions the wind usually goes so as long as the wind doesn't change directions it is a great place to vault. I am so excited that i might actually get to go

FlyerChick4 wrote:The winds can be pretty bad but they have runways going both directions the wind usually goes so as long as the wind doesn't change directions it is a great place to vault. I am so excited that i might actually get to go

isn't that exactly what happened at regionals last year, ending the season for some extremely talented vaulters?

yes it is but the winds don't change like that all the time. I have never had a problem like that. But anyway it is part of vaulting and unless you go jump indoors there will always be the possibility of having problems with the wind.

And Trials will be at least a month later in to the summer. The weather is more likely to be nicer.

ME = see you guys there... i'll try not to NH this time

Summertime winds at Hayward field are the most consistent tailwinds in the nation. The only place I've ever been that has better winds is Texas, but i'm not sure if they're as consistent. What happened at regionals was a complete abberation. A storm system rolled in in mid may and screwed everything up. That was the most swirly, down right crappy wind day i've ever seen here at Hayward field in 4 years. But as becca said, trials will be a month later. This past July I don't remember a single drop of rain. Highs ranged from 85 - 95 and EVERY afternoon the north winds kicked in a blew right down the pipe.

Obviously I'm a bit biased, but I feel Eugene is the best place in the nation to have the trials at. Hayward Field has character. It has history. You can feel it everytime you enter the stadium. Maybe its not as big as sac state and not located in a metropolis, but thats all sac state has. It's just a big, boring stadium. At Hayward Field you can feel the 80 year old grand stands shake under your feet like they did for Tarpening and Pre and Slazar as people stomp and clap in unison trying to get a vaulter over that next bar or a distance runner to throw everything he has into his last kilometer. It's gonna be magical and I won't miss it for anything.

I would love to be in Oregon, in the summer, with the Olympic Trials,
but I have important plans already...

June 2008... I'll be graduating!!!