USA Indoor Championships to Return to Albuquerque for Two More Years
By David Monti
February 24, 2012
(c) 2012 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved
ALBUQUERQUE (24-Feb) -- Officials from USA Track & Field and the
city of Albuquerque announced here today that the USA Indoor
Championships would be held here for at least two more years. USATF
interim CEO Mike McNees and Albuquerque mayor Richard J. Berry made the
announcement jointly at a news conference.
"I'm really excited on behalf of USA Track & Field to be back in
Albuquerque for what is our third year of our run here for the USA
Indoor Championships," McNees said. He continued: "I'm very excited to
announce that we've agreed in principle with the city and the visitors'
bureau to extend our run here in Albuquerque for another two years."
The championships, which have been held in the Albuquerque Convention
Center, have been a mixed blessing for athletes. This city's high
altitude (about 1500m downtown), makes sprinting, throwing and jumping
easier, but leaves middle and long distance runners gasping for air.
Indeed, during the 2011 indoor season, the best marks by American men in
the 60m and shot put, and American women in the 60m hurdles, pole
vault, long jump, shot put, and weight throw were all achieved here.
"Our goal in Albuquerque is simple," said Mayor Berry. "We want to be
the best place to run and jump in indoor track and field in the United
States. He added: "These athletes... they want to be able to compete,
and they want to be able to run fast and jump high. I think we've got a
facility that does that."
Five-time world champion Sanya Richards-Ross, who will compete here in
the 400m for the first time, said she supported the decision to keep the
meet here (it was previously contested in Boston from 2003 through
2008) and was excited to try running at altitude. She already has the
world-leading mark of 50.89 set at the Millrose Games in New York City
on Feb. 11, but wouldn't mind improving on it.
"This is my first time running at altitude," she said. "I don't mind if I faint if I run a great time."
McNees said that there had been interest from other cities in hosting
the meet, but admitted that there were no other concrete offers on the
table. Extending the existing contract, he said, made the most sense.
"We solicited bids, spoke to a number of different venues around the
country and made a decision (that) the best place for us to be was
Albuquerque," McNees said. "We didn't get a huge number of bidders."
Drumming up media interest for these championships has been difficult,
despite the appearance of top stars like Richards-Ross, world high jump
champion Jesse Williams, world 1500m champion Jenny Simpson, American
pole vault record holder Jenn Suhr, and Olympic hurdles bronze medalist
David Oliver. The main daily newspaper, the Albuquerque Journal, did
not mention this weekend's championships in their Friday sports section,
and not a single national newspaper sent a writer today's press
conference.
Nonetheless, Mayor Berry was optimistic about the future of the championships here.
"We're on the front edge of this," he said, sporting a bright red Team
USA jacked which McNees had given him. "That's why we need to continue
to make investments. That's why we're going to put several hundred
thousand dollars into the track over the next coming months to make sure
it stays the world class facility that it is."
* * * * *
The USA Indoor Championships open here tomorrow at 4:30 p.m. Mountain
Standard Time. The top-2 finishers in each event earn berths on Team
USA for the IAAF World Championships in Athletics in Istanbul, March
9-11. Amongst the finals to be contested tomorrow are the men's 35 lb.
weight throw, triple jump, high jump and 3000m, and the women's 20 lb.
weight throw, triple jump, and 3000m. The meet can be watched LIVE via a
webcast at USATF.org in cooperation with RunnerSpace.com.
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