USATF Release: USATF announces 2004 Golden Spike Tour schedu

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Monday, March 22, 2004

USATF announces 2004 Outdoor Golden Spike Tour schedule

INDIANAPOLIS – USA Track & Field’s 2004 Outdoor Golden Spike Tour will

feature events at the world’s premiere relay carnival and four world-class

invitational meets as part of the U.S. domestic season that reaches its

zenith at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials.

Including the Olympic Trials, six domestic USATF events will be

broadcast

on

12 nationwide shows this spring and summer. NBC will air six broadcasts

throughout the year, with NBC and its cable partner airing 14 hours of

coverage from the Olympic Trials alone.

The elite USATF outdoor season kicks off on April 24 with USA vs. The

World,

Presented by Verizon, a special event within the Penn Relays that pits

Team

USA’s top talent against relay teams from around the world. Crowds of

40,000-50,000 have typically attended the Penn Relays in Philadelphia

each

year on the meet’s final day of competition, supporting USA vs. The

World

and all of the 110-year-old Penn Relays’ Championship of America events,

held at Franklin Field.

The Golden Spike Tour’s invitational meetings begin May 22 with the Home

Depot Invitational in Carson, Calif. In its first year in 2003, the meet

drew a capacity crowd of nearly 11,000 fans. In 2004, meet organizers

are

expanding the facility to hold 12,000.

The Tour continues May 31 with the U.S. Track & Field Open May 31 in

Stanford, California, where sell-out crowds have supported the Golden

Spike

Tour since 2000; on June 5 it moves to the adidas Oregon Track Classic

in

Portland, Oregon for a fast-growing event; and on June 19 it hits the

Nike

Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Ore., for the country’s most prestigious

and

historic invitational meet.

American athletes will conclude their domestic outdoor schedule with the

U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field, held July 9-18 on the campus

of

California State University – Sacramento. More than 1,000 athletes will

compete in front of sell-out crowds for the right to represent Team USA

at

the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Each of the eights days of

competition at the 2000 Olympic Trials in Sacramento sold out, with more

than 187,000 fans attending the meet to set a new Olympic Trials record.

Now in its sixth year, the Golden Spike Tour provides America’s best

athletes the opportunity to compete in the United States, against fellow

Americans and top international competition, and earn substantial prize

money in front of a nationally televised audience. Sponsors of the 2004

Outdoor Golden Spike Tour are Nike, Verizon, Visa, Sunny D Intense Sport

Drink, General Motors and Bengay.

For more information on USA Track & Field and the Golden Spike Tour,

visit

http://www.usatf.org

2004 USA Track & Field Outdoor Schedule

Date Event

Site

April 24 *USA vs. The World Presented by Verizon

Philadelphia, Pa. (Franklin Field)

May 22 *Home Depot Invitational

Carson, Calif. (Home Depot Center)

May 31 *U.S. Open

Stanford, Calif. (Cobb Track and Angell Field)

June 5 *adidas Oregon Track Classic

Portland, Ore. (Mt. Hood CC)

June 19 * Nike Prefontaine Classic

Eugene, Ore. (Hayward Field)

July 9-18 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field

Sacramento,

Calif. (Alex G. Spanos Complex)

* Denotes Golden Spike Tour meet

2004 USATF Outdoor TV schedule

(All Times Eastern; check local listings)

Event

Network Time Date

USA vs. The World, Presented by Verizon NBC 4:30-6 p.m.

LIVE April 24

Home Depot Invitational NBC

4-6 p.m. LIVE May 22

U.S. Open

ESPN2

9-10 p.m. June 1

adidas Oregon Track Classic ESPN2 6-7

p.m. LIVE June 5

Nike Prefontaine Classic ESPN2

9:30-11 p.m. June 19

U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field

NBC/cable

partner July 9-12, 15-18

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