Contact: Jill M. Geer
Director of Communications
(317) 261-0500 x360
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.usatf.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, January 25, 2002
Olympic and World Championship stars to compete at Boston
INDIANAPOLIS – With $85,000 in bonus money on the line, more than 20 Olympic
or World Championship medalists will compete when USA Track & Field’s 2002
Indoor Golden Spike Tour kicks off Sunday at the adidas Boston Indoor Games.
Held at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center, the meet will be broadcast
February 2 from 3-4 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2.
Competitors’ resumes are especially long and deep for the Verizon men’s 60m
dash, SoBe Sports System women’s 60m, adidas women’s 2 mile, US Airways men’
s pole vault and BAA college distance medley relay.
Multiple American record holder Regina Jacobs will lead fellow Americans Amy
Rudolph, Cheri Kenah, Carrie Tollefson and others in pursuit of a $10,000
bonus for an American or World record in the women’s 2-mile. Spurring the
pace on will be Meseret Defar of Ethiopia. The current records are held by
American Lynn Jennings, who ran 9:28.15 in 1986.
In the men’s 60m, defending world indoor champion Tim Harden will face a
talent-rich field, including world indoor 200m champion and Goodwill Games
200m champion Shawn Crawford; world indoor 60m hurdles champion Terrence
Trammell; J.J. Johnson, the fastest man in the world in 2001 at 200m; 2001
World Championships 4x100m gold medalist Mickey Grimes; and Olympic 4x100m
gold medalist Ken Brokenburr.
The men’s pole vault is a Who’s Who of stars, with world indoor champion and
American indoor record holder Lawrence Johnson; Olympic gold medalist Nick
Hysong; American outdoor record holder Jeff Hartwig; world indoor silver
medalist Tye Harvey; and 2001 Goodwill Games champion Tim Mack all scheduled
to compete.
The women’s 60m is a star-studded affair as well. American Chryste Gaines,
the world indoor bronze medalist and World Championships relay gold
medalist, will go against the best of the Caribbean. Also on the starting
line will be Beverly McDonald and Juliet Campbell of Jamaica and Sevatheda
Fynes and Chandra Sturrup of the Bahamas, which won the 2000 Olympic gold
medal in the 4x100m relay. The USA was third in that race. McDonald is a
four-time 4x100m relay World Championships medalist and 2000 Olympic relay
silver medalist. She teamed up with Campbell, a three-time Olympian, on
Jamaica’s 4x100m relay squad that finished fourth at the 2001 World Outdoor
Championships in Edmonton. Sturrup was fourth in the 100m at the 2001 World
Championships, and sixth in that event at the 2000 Olympic Games. Fynes was
seventh in the 100m in Sydney.
Other athletes to watch include World Championships 1,500m silver medalist
Bernard Lagat of Kenya, Olympic 5th-place finisher Kevin Sullivan of Canada,
and two-time U.S. indoor champion Jason Pyrah in the adidas Joe Concannon
men’s mile; former world champion Jearl Miles-Clark, two-time U.S. outdoor
champion LaTasha Colander-Richardson and the teammate on the 2000 Olympic
gold medal-winning 4x400m relay team, Monique Hennagan, in the SoBe Sports
System women’s 400m; Olympic bronze medalist Melissa Morrison in the Verizon
women’s 60m hurdles; and U.S. indoor and outdoor champion Amy Acuff in the
US Airways women’s high jump.
In the men’s collegiate DMR, hometown favorite Andy Powell of North Easton,
Mass., will anchor Stanford against Arkansas, Georgetown, Notre Dame,
Harvard and others.
Teams from adidas, Nike, New York Elite and Jamaica will pursue a $50,000
bonus for a world record in the men’s 4x400 relay, with $25,000 for an
American record. Prize money is provided by Global Athletics & Marketing
Inc.
Among athletes with Boston-area ties expected to compete are Jonathon Riley,
the reigning NCAA 5000-meter outdoor champion from Stanford (Brookline);
Andy Powell, who will be part of Stanford’s distance medley relay team;
(Easton); 2001 U.S. World Indoor Championships team member (800m) Jen Toomey
(Salem) and 1996 Olympic 400-meter hurdles bronze medalist Calvin Davis
(Dorchester).
The Golden Spike Tour continues Feb. 1 at the Verizon Millrose Games in New
York City and Feb. 9 at the adidas Midwest Track Classic in Lincoln, Neb.,
before concluding March 1-2 at the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships in
New York. For more information on the 2002 Indoor Golden Spike Tour, visit
www.usatf.org. For more information on the adidas Boston Indoor Games, visit
www.globalathletics.com.
adidas Boston Indoor Games Start Lists
Subject to change. All countries USA unless otherwise denoted
Verizon men’s 60m: Mickey Grimes, Tim Harden, Shawn Crawford, Terrence
Trammell, Aaron Armstrong, J.J. Johnson, Ken Brokenburr
Adidas men’s 1000m: David Krummenacker, Derrick Peterson, Elliott Blount,
Trinity Gray, Michael Stember, David Kiptoo (KEN), Laban Rotich (KEN),
Daniel Caulfield (IRL), Bryan Woodward
Adidas Joe Concannon Men’s Mile: Kevin Sullivan (CAN), Ibrahim Aden, Daniel
Zegeye (ETH), Brian Berryhill, Andy Graffan (GBR), Bernard Lagat (KEN),
Martin Keino (KEN), Jason Pyrah, Jason Long, Dan Wilson, Nathan Brennan
(CAN), Bryce Knight
Visa men’s 3,000m: Tim Broe, Markos Geneti (ETH), Brad Hauser, Jonathon
Riley, Hamish Thorpe (NZL), Clint Wells, Paul Bitok (KEN), Leonard Mucheru
(KEN), Anthony Famiglietti, Matt Lane, Jeremy Deere (CAN), Ryan Hayden
(CAN), Adrian Blincoe (GBR), Bolota Asmerson (ERI), Ian Gillespie (GBR),
Tony Cosey
BAA men’s College DMR: Arkansas, Stanford, Notre Dame, Tulane, Georgetown,
Brown, Connecticut, Harvard
US Airways men’s pole vault: Jeff Hartwig, Nick Hysong, Tim Mack, Tye
Harvey, Lawrence Johnson, Toby Stevenson, Russ Buller
SoBe Sports women’s 60m: Beverly McDonald (JAM), Chandra Sturrup (BAH),
Teneeshia Jones, Chryste Gaines, Juliet Campbell (JAM), Shakera Weston,
Sevatheda Fynes (BAH), Peta Gay Barrett (JAM)
SoBe Sports System women’s 400m: Jearl Miles-Clark, LaTasha
Colander-Richardson, Tasha Downing, Lindsay Hyatt, Sasha Spenser, Monique
Hennagan, Samantha George (CAN), Karen Shinkins (IRL)
US Airways women’s 800m: Charmaine Howell (JAM), Jolanda Ceplak (SLO),
Lindsay Hyatt, Mary Jayne Harrelson, Nicole Teter, Mardrea Hyman (JAM),
Ashley Wysong, Michelle Ballentine (JAM)
Adidas women’s 2 mile: Regina Jacobs, Amy Rudolph, Cheri Kenah, Shannon
Grady, Rachel Sauder, Carrie Tollefson, Sally Hauser, Jill Messner, Hareg
Sidelil (ETH), Meseret Defar (ETH), Katie McGregor, Carmen Douma (CAN)
Verizon women’s 60m hurdles: Melissa Morrison, Brandit Copper, Meisha
McKelvey, Dionne Rose-Henley (JAM), Damu Cherry, Ellakisha Williamson, Joyce
Bates, Nadine Faustin (HAI)
US Airways women’s high jump: Amy Acuff, Nicole Forrester (CAN), Karol
Damon, Erin Aldrich
adidas Boston Indoor Games
Schedule of Events - Reggie Lewis Center
4:03 pm KeySpan Energy Delivery Master’s Mile
4:15 pm SoBe Sports System Women’s 400m
4:25 pm USAIRWAYS Women’s 800m
4:35 pm adidas Joe Concannon Men’s Mile
4:45 pm USAIRWAYS Men’s Pole Vault
4:49 pm Verizon Women’s 60 M Hurdles
4:59 pm Verizon Men’s 60m
5:09 pm SoBe Sports System Women’s 60m
5:19 pm USAIRWAYS Women’s High Jump
5:24 pm VISA Men’s 3000m
5:39 pm BAA College DMR
5:56 pm adidas Women’s 2 Mile
6:13 pm adidas Men’s 1000m
6:25 pm AMERICAN Track & Field Men’s Mile Relay
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