Eugene — LA 28 chairman Casey Wasserman said Sunday it is unlikely that Los Angeles will host the 2028 Olympic Trials in track and field, a move that creates the likelihood of the Trials returning to Eugene for an unprecedented sixth consecutive time.
USA Track & Field CEO Max Siegel said his organization has already had discussions with Tracktown USA officials about a 2028 Trials at Hayward Field, the host site of every track and field Trials since 2008.
Ever since Los Angeles was awarded the 2028 Olympic Games, the consensus–and hope–among top American athletes and coaches was that the 2028 Trials would be held at the Coliseum, the site of the Olympic track competition.
But Wasserman and Siegel all but slammed the door on a Los Angeles Trials, Wasserman citing cost and logistical issues.
“It adds a level of complexity to our planning that I’m not sure is best for the athletes,” Wasserman said during a joint press conference with Siegel at Hayward Field.
The Olympic track and field competition will be held on a temporary track at the Coliseum that will cover several lower rows around the stadium. In addition to becoming the first stadium to hold an Olympic track competition, the Coliseum will also hold the closing ceremonies for the 2028 Games.
“The temporary track is actually the most expensive and probably complicated thing we actually have to built,” Wasserman said.
“We have to put a world class track facility back in and that is a truly complicated thing. It’s also where closing ceremonies are going to be. so the operational stress probably would take away from the athletes.
“That’s not my decision to make, but that would be my concern.”
While Siegel insisted it was not a “forgone conclusion” that the Trials would return to Hayward Field in 2028 his comments all pointed to that probability.
“It’s difficult to find a partner that is as collaborative, knowledgeable and the fan base that supports a sport as Eugene,” Siegel said.
“We’ll bid it out like we usually do, we’re trying to find a host that is as good as collaborative as we have here in Eugene.”
Such a search isn’t likely to be successful.
An Orange County Register report last week revealed that Eugene was awarded the 2024 Trials by USATF after no other city bid for the event.
Meet directors and local tourism officials said they cannot compete with TrackTown USA, a tax-exempt, non-profit that has reported more than $140 million in revenue since it was founded in 2013 to become along with one of its chief benefactors, Nike, perhaps the most powerful entity in American track and field.
“Eugene is pretty tough to compete with these days,” said Greg Edwards, president and CEO of the Des Moines Area Sports Commission. “The Olympic Trials is a huge undertaking, both cost-wise and in terms of sponsorship. And Eugene is so powerful, we feel like we can’t compete with them. So (bidding) becomes a, ‘Why are we spinning our wheels kind of thing?’”
The Olympic Trials, said Brian Yokoyama, Mt. …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
