INDIANAPOLIS
- USA track and field athletes this summer will take another step on
their journey toward the 2008 Olympics with the 2006 Outdoor Visa
Championship Series, whose schedule was announced Monday by USA Track
& Field.
With the Visa Championship Series
featuring broadcasts on NBC and ESPN, fans around the country can watch
America's Olympic and world-champion athletes as they compete
throughout the outdoor season, aiming for a Team USA berth for the 2006
IAAF World Cup in Athens in September.
Adding to
the excitement of competition on the track and over the airwaves, the
Visa Championship Series features over $1.5 million in prize and
promotional dollars, including a jackpot prize going to the Outdoor
Visa Champions. Visa Champions will be the top male and female
performers of the Visa Championship Series, with top performances rated
according to the IAAF Scoring Tables of Athletics.
Coast-to-Coast
The Visa Championship Series features a tour of America's track-and-field hotbeds on both coasts. It begins April 29 with USA vs. The World at the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, where more than 100,000 raucous fans take in the three-day relay carnival. It continues May 21 with the adidas Track Classic
in Los Angeles, annually producing some of the fastest times in the
world, and moves to Eugene, Ore. - site of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Track
& Field Trials - for the internationally renowned Nike Prefontaine Classic on May 28.
New York City and the state-of-the-art Icahn Stadium host the Visa Championship Series on June 3 with the second annual Reebok Grand Prix, and the Series concludes June 21-25 with the AT&T USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Indianapolis, home of the USA Track & Field National Office and site of the record-smashing 1988 Olympic Trials.
At
stake in Indianapolis are individual national titles, the overall Visa
Championship and spots on Team USA for the 2006 World Cup in Athletics,
set for September 16-17 in Athens. Only the champion in each event will
make the team for the World Cup, a finals-only team competition that
pits Team USA against continental teams from Europe, Asia, Africa, the
Americas and Oceana. In addition, the top two national teams from the
Spar European Cup Super League Final 2006 and host-country Greece will
field teams at the World Cup.
Fans get involved
The
2006 Visa Championship Series features an exciting new Visa
Championship Series Consumer Promotion that allows followers of The
World's # 1 Track & Field Team to get in on the action like never
before. Each week, fans can log onto www.visachampionshipseries.com
to pick the athletes - male and female - they think will be leading the
Visa Championship Series after each meet. Correct predictions will be
eligible to win a weekly prize of a $250 Visa gift card and a
Nike/USATF gift bag, and a grand prize of $5,000 is awarded for correct
predictions of the overall Visa Champions.
The Visa
Championship Series enters its second year as USA Track & Field and
Visa prepare for the road to Beijing. Visa's involvement in USATF elite
athlete development continues Visa's long-standing commitment to
helping USATF develop the country's preeminent track and field
athletes. At the same time, it helps Visa engage its Member financial
institutions and merchant partners to build their business in
Olympic-related marketing activities and events between Olympic Games.
For more information on the Visa Championship Series, visit www.visachampionshipseries.com
Live NCAA coverage adds to TV time
Television
coverage of the 2006 Visa Championship Series features 12 hours of
airtime, including 11 hours of live broadcasts. The national 2006 track
telecast lineup is further bolstered by CBS's live, 2 ½-hour
coverage of the 2006 NCAA Outdoor Championships on June 10. This marks
the first time since 1982 that the meet will be broadcast live.
2006 Outdoor Visa Championship Series Event Schedule
Date Event Site
Apr.29 USA vs. The World at Penn Relays Philadelphia, Pa. (Franklin Field)
May 21 adidas Track Classic Los Angeles, Calif. (Home Depot Center, Carson, Calif.)
May 28 Nike Prefontaine Classic Eugene, Ore. (Hayward Field)
June 3 Reebok Grand Prix New York (Icahn Stadium)
June 21-25 AT&T USA Outdoor Championships Indianapolis, Ind. (Michael A. Carroll Stadium)
2006 Outdoor Track & Field TV Schedule
(Broadcasts subject to change. All times Eastern; check local listings)
Date Event Network Time
Apr. 30 USA vs. The World at Penn Relays NBC 5-6 p.m.
May 21 adidas Track Classic ESPN 4-6 p.m.
May 28 Nike Prefontaine Classic ESPN2 5-7 p.m.
June 3 Reebok Grand Prix ESPN2 6-8 p.m.
June 10 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Champs CBS 3:30-6 p.m.
June 24 AT&T USA Outdoor Championships ESPN 6-8 p.m.
June 25 AT&T USA Outdoor Championships ESPN2 5-7 p.m.
About Visa USA
Visa
USA is the nation's leading payment brand and largest payment system,
enabling banks to provide their consumers and business customers with a
wide variety of payment alternatives tailored to meet their evolving
needs. Visa USA is committed to increasing the choice, convenience,
acceptance and security of Visa payments for all stakeholders in the
payment system - members, cardholders and merchants. Through its 13,420
member financial institutions, more than 488 million Visa-branded cards
have been issued to cardholders in the United States. Last year,
U.S.-based financial institutions relied on Visa's processing system,
VisaNet, to facilitate $1.3 trillion in transactions with unparalleled
reliability.
Worldwide, cardholders in more than
150 countries carry more than 1 billion Visa-branded cards, accounting
for more than $3 trillion in annual transaction volume.
Visa offers a trusted, reliable and convenient way to access and mobilize financial resources - anytime, anywhere, anyway.
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