USATF Announces Outdoor Golden Spike Tour
4-10-2003
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – USA Track & Field’s 2003 Outdoor Golden Spike Tour (GST) will feature four world-class international meets, plus the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, as America’s best athletes compete in Oregon and California.
Including USATF’s special “USA vs. The World” relay event at the Penn Relays, six domestic USATF events will be broadcast on seven national television shows – all but one of them live – this spring and summer. NBC will air three broadcasts, with three shows on ESPN2 and one on ESPN.
The Tour begins May 17 with the adidas Oregon Track Classic in Portland, Oregon. It continues May 24 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, Oregon; on June 1 it moves to the Home Depot Track & Field Invitational in Carson, California; and on June 7 it hits the Oracle U.S. Open in Palo Alto, Calif., on the campus of Stanford University.
The final stop returns the Tour to Stanford for the 2003 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, held June 19-22 at Cobb Track and Angell Field. Known for standing-room-only crowds for USATF events, Stanford will host the Outdoor Championships for the second straight year.
The Golden Spike Tour was announced Thursday by USA Track & Field CEO Craig A. Masback at the Home Depot Center, whose new track facility will host the GST on June 1 as well as the 2006 IAAF World Cup in Athletics. Masback was joined at the press conference by Olympic and world 100-meter champion Maurice Greene, AEG President and CEO Tim Leiweke, Home Depot Track & Field Invitational Meet Director Rich Perelman, and Hall of Fame high jumper and current TV commentator Dwight Stones.
“Our Outdoor Golden Spike Tour has shown tremendous growth in five years, and the West Coast emphasis of the Tour has been a key part of that expansion,” Masback said. “The Nike Prefontaine Classic has long been the most heralded invitational track and field meet on U.S. soil, and its Oregon cousin, the adidas Oregon Track Classic is now a respected top-tier IAAF event as well. The Oracle U.S. Open has shown perhaps the most explosive growth – in terms of quality of competition, crowd size and ‘buzz’ – of any new meet in the last five years.
“We’re especially pleased this year to welcome world-class invitational track and field back to Southern California for the inaugural Home Depot Track & Field Invitational. This area is rich with track and field history, and it produces some of our biggest current stars. We welcome the Home Depot Invitational to the Golden Spike Tour, and we are confident the meet will be a key force in our continued growth.”
The elite USATF outdoor season kicks off on April 26 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. The Penn Relays have set attendance records each of the three years that USA vs. The World has been held, beginning in 2000. Last year’s Penn Relays were attended by more than 112,000 spectators, a record for this 108-year-old event.
Sponsors of the 2003 Outdoor Golden Spike Tour are Verizon, Nike and Visa.
For more information on USA Track & Field and the Golden Spike Tour, visit the “Events” section of the USATF Web site, www.usatf.org
2003 USATF Outdoor Golden Spike Tour Schedule
Date Event Site
April 26 USA vs. The World, Presented by Verizon Philadelphia, Pa. (Franklin Field)
May 17 adidas Oregon Track Classic Portland, Ore. (Mt. Hood CC)
May 24 Prefontaine Classic Eugene, Ore. (Hayward Field)
June 1 Home Depot Track & Field Invitational Carson, Calif. (Home Depot Center)
June 7 Oracle U.S. Open Palo Alto, Calif. (Cobb Track and
Angell Field)
June 19-22 USA Outdoor Championships Palo Alto, Calif. (Cobb Track and
Angell Field)
2003 USA Track & Field TV Schedule (All times Eastern; check local listings)
Event Network Time Date
USA vs. The World NBC 4:30-6 p.m. LIVE April 26
adidas Oregon Track Classic ESPN 5-6 p.m. LIVE May 17
Prefontaine Classic NBC 2-3:30 p.m. May 25
Home Depot Invitational ESPN2 3:30-5 p.m. LIVE June 1
Oracle U.S. Open ESPN2 5-6 p.m. LIVE June 7
USA Outdoor Champs NBC 4-6 p.m. LIVE June 21
ESPN2 4-5:30 p.m. LIVE June 22
2003 Outdoor Golden Spike Tour Ticket Information
adidas Oregon Track Classic: $10 in advance; $15 at the door; children under 12 free with adult. Tickets may be purchased online at www.oregontrackclassic.com.
Prefontaine Classic: $22.50 reserved; $16.50 general admission; $12.50 seniors and students general admission; $2 children 2-10; children under 2 admitted free. Discounts available for groups of 20 or more. 1-800-WEBFOOT.
Home Depot Track & Field Invitational: VIP seats $40; homestretch seats $23; backstretch seats $17. Groups of ten or more receive $5 discount per ticket. Phone Ticketmaster at 213-480-3232.
Oracle U.S. Open: “Bronze” seats $15; “Silver” seats $25; “Gold” seats $35. Tickets available April 17 by calling 1-800-STANFORD.
USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships: “Bronze” seats $10-$15; “Silver” seats $15-25; “Gold” $25-$35. Four-day ticket packages $50/$80/$120. Tickets available April 17 by calling 1-800-STANFORD.