In awarding the '20 U.S. Olympic Trials to Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif., USA Track & Field yesterday "showed its determination to regain a foothold in a major market," according to Scott Reid of the ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER. USATF BOD Chair Steve Miller said, "The board, and especially our active athletes, were clear in their desire to take the Olympic Trials back to Los Angeles." The meet will be held June 19-28 at Hilmer Lodge Stadium, which will be "expanded to seat 21,000 fans" through a $62M renovation project that is scheduled to be completed in '19. The project promises to turn the stadium into a "world-class facility." Sources said that whether the move will "re-establish the sport in terms of commercial success and spectator interest" in the L.A. market "remains open for debate." In recent years, an Adidas-sponsored meet at StubHub Center "struggled to draw fans despite world-class fields." Still, USATF is "convinced the sport can still be [a] hit beyond Tracktown" in Eugene, Ore. While the Oregon track remains a venue "without equal," the question that has been "increasingly asked even in Tracktown is that for all of the financial success and athletic excellence generated by Eugene, is it really in the best interest of U.S. track to hold so many major meets at Hayward Field?" (
ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 6/29). In L.A., Helene Elliott notes the last three Olympic trials were held at Hayward Field, while the '00 and '04 trials were held at Hornet Stadium in Sacramento. Attendance was "robust in both cities and both made bids" for the '20 trials (
L.A. TIMES, 6/29).
MAYBE NEXT TIME: In Oregon, Chris Hansen writes Mt. San Antonio College will have "big shoes to fill." The Trials in Eugene were "widely viewed as a success." Total attendance for the eight days of competition was 167,123 in '08, 173,153 in '12 and 176,972 in '16. The free fan festival on the "backside of Hayward Field also was well attended" (Eugene REGISTER-GUARD, 6/29). Sacramento Sports Commission Dir Mike Sophia said, "We wanted to bring this back to Sacramento. We knew going in we had good competition, and at the end of the day, the No. 2 media market and the $62 million won the day. I know USA Track & Field was talking about needing new markets and new places to go, and those are some of the things we couldn't overcome" (SACRAMENTO BEE, 6/29).
UNDER INVESTIGATION: The BBC's Daly & McKay noted the "controversial decision to award" the '21 IAAF World Athletics Championships to Eugene is being "investigated by the FBI," as well as the IRS' Criminal Division. Eugene was awarded the event in '15 with the IAAF "bypassing the usual formal bidding process." Eugene was "handed the event despite strong interest" from Gothenburg, Sweden. Eugene is "closely associated with Nike." In November '15, a BBC story suggested that IAAF President Sebastian Coe may have "lobbied his predecessor over the bid, and revealed he had discussed it with a senior Nike executive." The Eugene bid was led by TrackTown USA President Vin Lananna, another organization with "close links to Nike" (BBC.com, 6/28). The REGISTER-GUARD's Hansen notes the decision to award Eugene the '21 event came "just months after Eugene lost its bid" to host the '19 event, which ended up going to Doha, Qatar. TrackTown USA CEO Michael Reilly said that he "had no knowledge of an investigation until reading the BBC report" yesterday. He added that "neither the FBI nor the IRS has contacted him" (Eugene REGISTER-GUARD, 6/29).
