The state of U.S. Track and Field was examined by Jere
Longman of the N.Y. TIMES, who wrote, "If anything, the
sport at the elite level has moved backward, not forward"
since the Atlanta Olympics. USAT&F's financial problems
"are crushing. Corporate sponsorship is arid. Important
indoor and outdoor meets have been canceled, squandering the
sport's most valuable resources, the athletes themselves, on
American soil." The "most anticipated" event on the North
American calendar is one that USAT&F "had little or nothing
to do with," the "World's Fastest Man" race this Sunday in
Toronto between Michael Johnson and Donovan Bailey. Brad
Hunt, Johnson's agent: "Track and field at the top level
here is at the lowest of lows, on a life-support system."
(N.Y. TIMES, 5/25).....CBS is reportedly paying $75,000 for
the U.S. rights to the "World's Fastest Man" competition.
CBS is also giving six 30-second spots to the event's
promoters (BROADCASTING & CABLE, 5/26). Brad Hunt said he
plans to follow up the Johnson-Bailey event with a decathlon
featuring Olympic gold-medalist Dan O'Brien, and another
event in which O'Brien will compete against an NFL player in
the decathlon's ten disciplines (N.Y. TIMES, 5/25).
