Millrose Games 2005

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Felix, Colander headline women’s 60 at Millrose Games

NEW YORK - When the gun goes off for the women’s 60-meter dash at the 2005 Millrose Games, fans at Madison Square Garden will be treated to watching two of the most exciting American sprinters today.

Allyson Felix, the 19-year-old Olympic silver medalist and world junior record holder at 200 meters, returns to the Millrose Games - part of USA Track & Field’s Visa Championship Series - on February 4 to headline the women’s dash. She will be joined in the spotlight by 2004 Olympic Trials 100m champion and Olympic finalist LaTasha Colander. It’s Colander’s experience and explosive speed taking on Felix’s youth and closing speed.

The second event of USA Track & Field’s 2005 Indoor Visa Championship Series, the 2005 Millrose Games will be televised on NBC from 2-3:30 p.m., Eastern Time on Saturday, February 5.

Teen wunderkind returns to Big Apple

Felix made her New York debut as a professional in 2004, when she ran against the likes of Olympic gold medalists and world champions at the Millrose Games. Now one of the world’s top sprinters in her own right, Felix will again drop down from her 200-meter specialty distance to the 60 meters for Millrose.

The preternaturally gifted teen first caught America’s eye when she won the 2003 USA Indoor 200m crown as a 17-year-old high school senior. Later that year, Felix went on to break Marion Jones’ American junior record in the 200 on two occasions and defeated an elite international field at Mexico City. Garnering national media attention along the way, she also found time to win her fifth California state high school title for Los Angeles Baptist High School.

Becoming a professional after high school, Felix adjusted to the pro circuit in 2004, rounding into form at the perfect time. She easily won the Olympic Trials and went on to win the silver medal in Athens, despite being the youngest member of Team USA. It was in Athens that she officially broke the world junior record with her silver-medal run of 22.18 seconds.

Colander brings winning ways to Millrose

No stranger to international competition, LaTasha Colander is a two-time Olympian, but until 2004 she was unknown in the world of the short sprints.

Colander won the Olympic Trials 400 meters in 2000, adding an Olympic gold medal as the anchor leg of Team USA’s 4x400m relay. But she was the surprise of the 2004 Olympic Trials when she dominated the field in the women’s 100-meter dash, running 10.97 seconds and taking the sprinting world by storm. A 2004 Olympic finalist in the 100 meters, the 28-year-old Colander finished 2004 world ranked in both the 100 and 200 meters by Track & Field News.

Tickets on Sale

Visa, proud sponsor of USATF. USATF welcomes you to purchase 2005 Millrose Games tickets with your Visa card. Tickets may be purchased by visiting the Madison Square Garden Box Office or calling (212) 465-6741; Calling Ticketmaster at (212) 307-7171, (201) 507-8900 or (203) 624-0033; or by visiting the Armory Track & Field Fan Club Box office at 216 Fort Washington Ave (between 168th & 169th street) or calling (212) 923-1803 x12.

USATF members may purchase their tickets at a discount off the box office price. Members of USATF should access the discount code via the USATF Members-Only webpage at www.usatf.org/membership, then phone Ticketmaster to purchase their tickets.

Ticket prices range from $15 to $90. Prices in excess of $15 include a $4.50 facility surcharge. Ticketmaster purchases are subject to a Ticketmaster Service Charge

Surf to the new Visa Championship Series Web site

USA Track & Field on Wednesday unveiled a dynamic new Web site for the Visa Championship series. Found at www.usatf.org/visa, the site provides previews of all meets in the Visa Championship Series, athlete photos and bios, and dynamic viewing that conveys the excitement of the Visa Championships Series. The site sports the series tagline, “Because Nobody Wants To Wait Until Beijing.”

About the Visa Championship Series

The Visa Championship Series features over $1.5 million in prize and promotional dollars, including a $50,000 jackpot and prize package going to the Visa Champions. Visa Champions will be the top male and female performers of the Visa Championship Series. Visa Championship Series events include the Reebok Boston Indoor Games, the Millrose Games on Feb. 4, the Powered by Tyson Invitational Feb. 11, and the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships Feb. 25-27.

For more information on the 2005 Millrose Games and USATF’s Indoor Visa Championship Series, visit www.usatf.org/visa

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Millrose heads-up week of athletics in New York

Tuesday 25 January 2005

The 98th running of the Millrose Games on Friday 4 February will be the centre piece of a week of athletics events in New York City from 31 January through to 6 February. The city’s energy and diversity, as well as its sports institutions, have combined to present a full menu of world-class events that can be enjoyed by nearly everyone throughout the tri-state area.

“For the 98th year, New York City is privileged to host the Millrose Games and the world’s finest track and field athletes,” said Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg . “The Millrose Games are a sports institution in New York City, made possible by a standard of athletic excellence that has earned these games acclaim around the globe.”

The Millrose Games, Madison Square Garden’s longest-running event, is a part of a week that will bring no fewer than 14 track and running-related events and more than 7000 athletes to the city. All told, it promises to be one of the greatest Millrose weeks in history.

Among the highlights of New York’s Super “Week of Track & Running”, are the 28th Bank of America Empire State Building Run Up which will be hosted by the New York Road Runners on Tuesday, 1 February. There will also be a motivational seminar when Team USA athletes speak to New York middle-school students, encouraging young people to live a healthy, fit, and drug-free lifestyle. Then as well as the competition at the Millrose meet itself, The Millrose Hall of Fame will induct its 2004 Class, as Kenya’s legendary Kip Keino receives recognition for his remarkable humanitarian work.

But that’s not where it ends, as on Friday and Saturday, 4 - 5 February, the New Balance College Invitational will be held in The Armory in Washington Heights playing host to 2000 of the world’s best young athletes and the most established track programmes in the country. With the meet being held from 9am until 4pm on Friday, at the conclusion of the day’s events fans can head from the Armory to the Garden for the Millrose Games.

The Armory hosts the sport’s past as well as its future. The athletes who compete each year at the historic track also have the rare opportunity to tour the National Track & Field Hall of Fame, which reopened at the Armory in January 2004. A modern, interactive space that celebrates the legacy of the most celebrated Olympic sport also is a teaching centre and a source of inspiration for its visitors.

Then finally, on Saturday 5 February, more than 11,000 female athletes from around the East Coast will fill the Madison Square Garden for the finals of the Colgate Women’s Games, so completing New York’s Super “Week of Track & Running.”

USATF

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Olympic medallists head to Millrose Games

Tuesday 18 January 2005

New York, USA - The 98th Millrose Games on 4 February will feature two 2004 Olympic medallists in the women’s 60m Hurdles, while the men’s Pole Vault, will include at least one Olympic medallist and the last two Millrose Games and U.S. indoor champions.

The meet which takes place in New York City’s Madison is the second stop on USA Track & Field’s 2005 Indoor Visa Championship Series, featuring over $1 million in prize and athlete support dollars, including a $50,000 jackpot and prize package.

Hayes versus Morrison

Olympic gold medallist and 2004 Jesse Owens Award winner Joanna Hayes will go head-to-head with two-time Olympic bronze medalist Melissa Morrison in the women’s 60m hurdles. Gail Devers’ Millrose Games record, a then-American record of 7.78 seconds set at the 2003 Millrose Games, could be in jeopardy as two of the world’s hottest hurdlers hit the track.

The 2003 Pan Am Games gold medallist in the 400 hurdles and 1995 USA Junior and Pan Am Junior champion in the 100 hurdles, Hayes ran a stunning 12.37 seconds in the 2004 Olympic final to break the 16-year-old Olympic record of 12.38, previously held by World record holder Yordanka Donkova, to become only the second American ever to win Olympic gold in the event. Hayes went on to win the World Athletics Final (12.58), and she had three of the six fastest times in the world in 2004, including four clockings of 12.50 or faster. Indoors in 2004, Hayes posted a personal best of 7.83 seconds in the semi-finals of the World Indoor Championships.

Morrison is a four-time U.S. indoor champion, winning crowns in 1998-2000 and 2002, who is the only American woman to win two Olympic medals in the sprint hurdles. The 2003 World Indoor bronze medallist and 1997 U.S. outdoor champion was a surprise Olympic bronze medallist in 2000, and took that same prize again in Athens last summer.

Stevenson heads Pole Vault line-up

Olympic silver medallist Toby Stevenson returns to defend his 2004 Millrose title in the men’s Pole Vault. His 2004 Millrose title was the first hint Stevenson gave to the U.S. public that even bigger things were to come for the 2003 Pan Am Games champion. Stevenson’s astounding 2004 season included winning the USA indoor title in March. Outdoors, he cleared the magical 6-metre barrier at the Modesto Relays (6.0m/19-8.25) in May, then finished second at the U.S. Olympic Trials and the Olympic Games in Athens. His outstanding vaulting, unique showmanship and signature “crash” helmet has made him a fan favourite and a threat to win any competition.

Stevenson will encounter competition from his predecessor in 2003 Millrose and U.S. indoor champion, Derek Miles. The seventh-place finisher in Athens and sixth at the 2003 World Outdoor Championships, Miles has consistently cleared 19 feet each year since 2001.

USATF