Where would you like to have the 2013/4/5 USATF Outdoors and 2016 US Olympic Trials ?

People keep mentioning Penn but Franklin Field is not a standard track (lane 4 is 400m). I think that would be very odd.

NYC or some other major city. I don't understand why track people insist on holding major meets in podunk little towns that lack the capacity to comfortably handle the influx of people. Let's hold the Trials in a place where, a) there are enough hotel rooms for all athletes and spectators, b) restaurants have the capacity to feed everyone, and c) airports and local transportation infrastructure allow you to get to the place easily.

an actual city wrote:

NYC or some other major city. I don't understand why track people insist on holding major meets in podunk little towns that lack the capacity to comfortably handle the influx of people. Let's hold the Trials in a place where, a) there are enough hotel rooms for all athletes and spectators, b) restaurants have the capacity to feed everyone, and c) airports and local transportation infrastructure allow you to get to the place easily.

Your point c is key if one big goal is to make it easy for fans to attend. I booked my flight to Eugene last night--$1,350 from Boston! And a day on each end of the meet just to get there and home.

Eugene should always host the Olympic trials. They did a great job in 08, it's an interesting town, fans can visit the ocean or the mountains or Portland or the Redwoods during the break days (we went to Crater Lake), good food, good beer, good transportation, bikable city, overall a great experience.

US championships, now those should rotate. Having them in the south would be brutal during the summer.

I thought I read that Indianapolis could no longer hold US championships because they reduced the capabilities of the track facilities. Anybody know if that's true?

Euguene is very expensive to fly to, impossible to drive unless you live in the west, hotel rooms are sparse, and frankly, the city isn't "all that".

I know they changed the plans wrt to Indianapolis -- the stadium remains, and IUPUI (the campus) actually added men's and women's track teams. I know some renovation and remodeling has gone on, but AFAIK the stadium is fine.

Having these events at the furthest reaches of the country, or in places where hotel rooms are $300 night (hello, NYC) makes it far less accessible to college kids, younger people, etc, who want to attend but don't have the big bucks required for a $1500 airfare or $300/night hotel room.

Kanye North wrote:

Charles Nonhomogenous wrote:

Please go back to Indianapolis. Centrally located, easy to drive to, cheap airfares, tons of hotel rooms at all price levels, nice facility.

This.

This would be awesome. Close enough that I can drive and not have to get a hotel.

atlanta or Raleigh would be good prep for Rio...

Alas, Atlanta has no facility. Few places in the US do.

Also, these places have to bid for the champs and Trials...

Night Runner wrote:

Wasn't that track taken out.

I liked having the Meet in Indy. It was always greeat as CN said.

according to this it is still there

The past OTs at Sacramento made money had a larger audience than any other OTs.

Stanford easily adds seats which extends the capacity to 20,000.

Other football venues can easily raise the field and put in a temp track in a few days, then revert back to football.

The problem at America's six traditional, historic T&F Centers/Relays (U Penn, Mt Sac CC, Drake U, U Kansas, U Texas at Austin, and Stanford U) are that the volunteers are literally swamped to death non-stop with work all year around.

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Check your facts. Sacramento made ZERO profit in their two opportunities in 2000 and 2004. USATF got nothing but headaches from them, and half the fans couldn't see the competition because of the configuration of the seating. Sacramento was big on promoting itself, short on delivering anything more than hot weather and fat salaries for McCasey and his cronies on the now bankrupt Sacto Sports Authority.

Sacramento could add seats and get up to possibly 6 or 7 thousand capacity. It is a nice small facility that cannot accomodate the Trials.

Just what we need for America's biggest t&f event --- temporary tracks?

If they are already "swamped" how are they going to put on this event?

I do like Drake, but unfortunately all the field throwing events are located away from he track and with little seating for spectators.

The various California venues are great for kids events, and relays. But California is too expensive for visitors, and locals will not pay to watch a major eight day national event like the Trials.

luv2run wrote:

atlanta or Raleigh would be good prep for Rio...

Alas, Atlanta has no facility. Few places in the US do.

Also, these places have to bid for the champs and Trials...

This is the first person who I think has hit the nail on the head. The trials are not just a race to see who the fastest person is, it's to see who would be the fastest person at the Olympics. Some people are complaining how brutal it would be in Raleigh, what do you think it's going to be like in Rio? There's no reason to have to have a bunch of athletes run fast here somewhere in the US only to fall apart in a warmer climate.

luv2run also gets the point that you can't just decide to have the trials somewhere. Those individual cities need to ask to have it. We might all agree that NYC is the best place but that means nothing if NYC doesn't want to host it.

I'd like to see 2014 o4 15 go to Weaver Stadium in Princeton.

Jeffster!!! wrote:

I'd like to see 2014 o4 15 go to Weaver Stadium in Princeton.

04 is a bizarre typo for "or"

Here is a link to the stadium description.

"Weaver Track & Field Stadium - The state-of-the-art stadium for outdoor track and field provides available seating for nearly 2,500 spectators. The innovative design was crafted by Don Paige, formerly the best half-miler in the world. The oval is eight lanes across, with each lane 1.22 meters in width and features an impressively long radius of 36.5 meters on the turns. It is made of durable brick red full-depth polyurethane, the safest, fastest and most comfortable surface available. It meets the highest standards of track and field's world governing body, the International Amateur Athletic Federation."

NEW YORK!

smd wrote:

an actual city wrote:

NYC or some other major city. I don't understand why track people insist on holding major meets in podunk little towns that lack the capacity to comfortably handle the influx of people. Let's hold the Trials in a place where, a) there are enough hotel rooms for all athletes and spectators, b) restaurants have the capacity to feed everyone, and c) airports and local transportation infrastructure allow you to get to the place easily.

Your point c is key if one big goal is to make it easy for fans to attend. I booked my flight to Eugene last night--$1,350 from Boston! And a day on each end of the meet just to get there and home.

No offense but the extreme price is because you being uninformed or wanting the convience. You could have flown into PDX for about half the cost (at the very least) and rented a car for a short 1.5 hour drive (which usually costs about $12-$25 to rent).

You paid alot because you were apparently willing to.

Rio in the winter won't be as bad as you think. Summer in the northern hemisphere is winter in the southern hemisphere.

Arlington, VA (W&L HS track) - easy to sellout.

Could it work at UVA?

Rental cars at $40/day for 9 days adds almost $400 to the trip. Thus, the USA and OT meets should always be held close to a major airport handled by Southwest, American, etc. with a public bus to the airport.

What a bunch of whiners. If you choose to get your ticket at a late date, and want the ultimate convenience of flying into an airport that is 10 minutes from the stadium, you might have to pay over $1,000 for a flight. On the other hand, if you are willing to fly into Portland (100 miles away), you can pay about half as much, get there non-stop, and get down to Eugene with an Amtrak ticket for $40, or rent a car for the day (less than $100). Once in Eugene, you don't need a car, since they have a good public bus system, or you can walk pretty much anywhere in the downtown area. On the other hand, keep on being stupid and keep on whining!

Your option to Eugene is most likely a poor facility in a city where no one gives a damn about t&f. Most places will cost you more for lodging and meals, a that will likely more than offset the extra airfare charges. No, whining is more fun than logic.