News & Notes, Volume 7, Number 24
04-11-2006
Contact:
Tom Surber
Media Information Manager
USA Track & Field
317-713-4690
Gatlin to headline Reebok Grand Prix
Reigning Olympic and world 100m champion Justin Gatlin will headline the 2006 Reebok Grand Prix on June 3 at Icahn Stadium in New York City, organizers announced on Tuesday.
“The first time I was in Icahn Stadium, I knew you could run sub-10 on that track,” said Gatlin in a media teleconference, referring to his appearance at the grand opening of the stadium last spring.
“It’s New York, hey. It’s where I was born, where I was raised. There’s not a lot of tracks I can call home, that have a home feel about them, and I think this can be one of those places for me.”
During the teleconference, Gatlin also said that he hopes to run 9.75 sometime this season. The world record, held by Asafa Powell of Jamaica, is 9.77. “If Asafa can do it, I can do it,” he said.
The Reebok Grand Prix, which in its debut last year was the first international competition held in the new Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island, is managed by Global Athletics & Marketing, Inc., and is the only outdoor East Coast meet that offers head-to-head competition among world-class athletes.
Tickets, at $30 and $20, are now on sale at www.ReebokGrandPrix.com or by calling 1-877-TIX-TRAC. Group discounts are available.
The event, which begins at 5:30 p.m., will be broadcast live on ESPN2 from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. ET, and is the fourth stop in USA Track & Field’s Visa Championship Series.
As a triple medalist at the 2004 Olympics (100m gold, 4x100m silver, 200m bronze) and 2005 World champion at both 100m and 200m, Gatlin is the most dominant sprinter in the world.
His winning time in Athens of 9.85 seconds led the fastest 100-meter race in Olympic history, with five men breaking the 10-second barrier, and was the second-fastest Olympic winning time in history.
Last year, he solidified his position on the top of the sprint world by becoming just the second man ever to win both the 100 and 200 at the same World Championships, and his margin of victory in the 100 was the biggest ever at the event.
In its inaugural year, the Reebok Grand Prix featured more than two dozen Olympic and World Championship medalists, including Athens gold medalists Liu Xiang (China), Meseret Defar (Ethiopia) and Joanna Hayes (USA).
Several others, including Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia) and Adam Nelson (USA) would go on to triumph at the World Championships last summer.
For more information on the 2006 Reebok Grand Prix and USATF’s Visa Championship Series, visit www.usatf.org.
Minor, Suttle elected to Drake Relays Hall of Fame
Dion Minor, who led Baylor to three straight titles in the men’s university 4x400 relay, and two-time Olympian Kellie Suttle, a four-time Drake Relays champion in the women’s invitational pole vault, will be inducted to the Drake Relays Athletes Hall of Fame during a Thursday, April 27 reception at the Drake Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa.
The induction of Minor and Suttle will increase membership in the Drake Relays Athletes Hall of Fame to 198.
The Athletes Hall of Fame was established in 1959 during the Golden Anniversary of the Drake Relays with 72 charter members, including Jesse Owens who was named the outstanding performer during the first half century of the Drake Relays.
Suttle, who competed in the 2000 and 2004 Olympics, captured the pole vault title at the 2006 USA Indoor Championships in Boston, soaring 4.55m/14 feet 11 inches.
She went on to finish seventh (4.39m/14-5) at the 2006 World Indoor Championships in Moscow, Russia, March 12.
Minor was a 14-time NCAA All-American in track at Baylor from 1992-95, winning the 400 at the 1995 NCAA Indoor Championships.
He also ran the third leg on Baylor’s 4x400 relay which won the 1992 NCAA indoor crown as well as the anchor leg on the Bears’ 4x400 relay which won the 1996 NCAA outdoor title.
He led Baylor to Drake Relays victories in the men’s university-college 4x400 relays in 1992, 1993 and 1994. He also won the men’s invitational 400-meter dash at the 1994 Drake Relays.
Minor also won the 400 at the 1994 and 1995 Big 12 Indoor Championships as well as the 1992 Big 12 Outdoor Championships. He also ran legs on Baylor’s 4x400 relays, which swept both Big 12 indoor and outdoor titles from 1992-94.
He was ranked #9 in the U.S. in the 400 in 1992 as a freshman at Baylor as well as in 1997. He also was ranked #10 in the U.S. in the 400 in 1999. Minor ran the opening leg on the U.S. 4x400 relay, which finished third at the 1999 Pan American Games.
For more information on the 2006 Drake Relays, visit www.drakerelays.com