Courtesy USATF media relations. Paul Merca -------------
> >Contact: Jill M. Geer > USATF Director of Communications > In Mobile: 251-208-2186 > http://www.usatf.org > >FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE >Thursday, November 29, 2001 > >St. Louis to host Women's Olympic Marathon Trials > >MOBILE - St. Louis will host the 2004 Olympic Team Trials - Women's >Marathon, USA Track & Field announced Thursday at its 2001 Annual >Meeting. The 2003 USA women's marathon champions also will be held >in St. Louis. > >A century after hosting the first Olympics on American soil and the >first marathon west of the Mississippi River, St. Louis will again >welcome the nation's top women's distance runners as a gateway to >Olympic glory on April 4, 2004. The Olympic Games will be held in >Athens, Greece, in August, 2004. > >The St. Louis Sports Commission, Spirit of St. Louis Marathon, and >St. Louis 2004 partnered on the successful bid, casting the race as >a cornerstone to the region's yearlong civic celebration marking the >centennial of the 1904 Olympics and World's Fair, and the >bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase treaty signing and the Lewis >and Clark expedition. > >"Competition for hosting the Olympic Trials was intense," said USATF >CEO Craig Masback. "St. Louis put together an attractive bid package >that incorporated all the elements that our athletes have said are >important to them: prize money, a fast and fair course and their own >race. All of us at USA Track & Field are looking forward to coming >to St. Louis in 2003 and 2004 for a great event." > >St. Louis beat out competing bids from Birmingham, Ala.; Washington, >D.C.; and New York City in a selection process conducted by USATF's >Women's Long Distance Running Committee. As part of the selection >process, the Committee surveyed athletes to determine their >priorities for the Olympic Trials. The rank order of priorities were >prize money, a separate start if the race was to be held in a >mixed-gender race, a moderate course and television coverage. > >St. Louis will provide $250,000 in prize money in addition to paying >travel and lodging costs for athletes who achieve the Olympic Trials >"A" qualifying standard of 2:39:59. In 2000, 25 met the Olympic >Trials "A" standard. Athletes who qualify with a time faster than >2:48:00 may compete in the race but do not receive funding. The >qualifying window for athletes to achieve their qualifying times is >November 4, 2001 (at the New York City Marathon) and January 1, 2002 >through early March, 2004. Olympic qualifying standards have not yet >been set by the International Association of Athletics Federations. > >"This is a tremendously special day for all of us in St. Louis," >said Sports Commission President Frank Viverito. "Our region is very >proud of its rich history and there is perhaps no better event that >connects 2004 with 1904 than the Women's Olympic Marathon Trials. >We genuinely tried to impress upon the Women's Long Distance Running >Committee how much the Marathon Trials will mean to our community. >In no other city but St. Louis will the 2004 Trials carry as much >significance or historical relevance." > >In 2004, women's marathoners competing in the Olympic Trials will >run on a four-lap criterium course in Forest Park, site of the 1904 >World's Fair. A well-shaded course of moderate hills, it provides >the "fair" course requested by USA women's runners. The Women's >Olympic Marathon Trials will be held on the same day as the Spirit >of St. Louis Marathon, which will be held on a different course. >Nearly 3,300 people took part in the 2001 Spirit of St. Louis >marathon and its affiliated events, with participation expected to >as much as double by 2004. > >"In 2004, St. Louis will host a series of community-wide events that >showcase our recent revitalization accomplishments and mark our rich >history and promising future," said former U.S. Senator Jack >Danforth, chairman of St. Louis 2004. "It is with great pride and >enthusiasm that the Women's Olympic Marathon Trials will be among >the highlights of a spectacular year in St. Louis. The Trials will >create a wonderful excitement in our region. And in return, we look >forward to providing the event a one-of-a-kind experience that only >St. Louis can offer in 2004." > ># # #
