Hayward Field's reported $200M rebuild will include 12,500 seats and is projected to be finished by April '20 getty images
The '20 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials "will be staged" at the new Hayward Field, with USA Track & Field giving Eugene the meet for the "fourth straight Olympic cycle and seventh time overall," according to a front-page piece by Chris Hansen of the Eugene REGISTER-GUARD. The 10-day meet "will be held June 19-28, 2020, one year before Eugene becomes the first American city to host the IAAF World Outdoor Track & Field Championships." USATF Chair Steve Miller said that having the Olympic Trials and World Outdoor Championships at the same location "was a factor in the decision to give Eugene the meet again." The announcement "ended a tumultuous few months after bidding for the meet was reopened in May when USATF determined its original selection, Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, Calif., was no longer a suitable site for the Olympic Trials." Mt. SAC had "promised a renovated Hilmer Lodge Stadium when it was awarded the meet in June 2017, but litigation surrounding stadium construction caused concern within USATF and the meet was pulled May 2." Hayward Field was "razed earlier this summer in preparation" for a reported $200M rebuild that "will include 12,500 seats." It is "projected to be finished" by April '20 -- less than "three full months before the expected start of the Olympic Trials." From an operational standpoint, TrackTown USA CEO Michael Reilly said that getting the Olympic Trials prep on track on such short notice "won’t be an issue because a system is already in place from previous years" (Eugene REGISTER-GUARD, 8/3).
