Athletics: New Track & Field Annual Review Now Available

Cleveland, OH, USA – March 18 – Olympic hopefuls, track legends, and a comprehensive season review are featured in The TRACK PROFILE READER 2004 -- a new yearbook of track and field published today by Global Book Publisher (USA, UK, CAN, AUS).

This book’s overview of the 2003 track and field season features not only reports on the year’s major competitions, but also in-depth interviews with dozens of international Olympic hopefuls, world champions and promising young stars. The TRACK PROFILE READER 2004, a trade paperback, is available from online vendors for $17.99.

Selected from hundreds of published reports filed by journalist Bob Ramsak for The Track Profile News Service last year, The TRACK PROFILE READER 2004 provides a unique overview of the most important stories, personalities and events that helped define international track and field in 2003. With detailed and authoritative on-site reports from more than 20 competitions in nearly a dozen countries, plus extensive profiles of more than 40 of the sport’s top stars, no first-hand annual review is more comprehensive.

Fully indexed with more than 500 athlete references, this 232-page inaugural edition provides an ideal companion to annual statistical volumes -- for journalists, statisticians, running industry professionals and fans alike.

During the 2003 track season, Ramsak covered dozens of major events for a number of magazines, newspapers, websites and news services, following many of the sport’s biggest names, and its most promising young stars, from start to finish. Justin Gatlin, Maria Mutola, Allen Johnson, Kelli White, Tim Montgomery, Gail Devers, Kevin Toth, Zhanna Block, David Krummenacker, Abraham Chebii, Dwain Chambers and Jolanda Ceplak are just a handful of the dozens of athletes extensively interviewed over the course of 2003. Features on international superstars – including Haile Gebrselassie, Sureyya Ayhan, Colin Jackson, Stacy Dragila and Merlene Ottey— and rising stars –Darvis Patton, Kenta Bell, Blanka Vlasic, Gary Kikaya and Jamie Nieto, among others— are also included, rounding out a one-of-a-kind volume that no fan of the sport should be without.

From the IAAF Golden League events in Paris, Rome, Zurich, Berlin and Brussels to major marathons in Chicago and New York City, to exhaustive coverage of the world indoor and outdoor championships, Track Profile was there to piece together a distinctive first-hand account of the year in track and field. Track Profile's exclusive annual track & field prize money survey, featured prominently in news accounts in more than 30 countries last month, is also included, listing the top-50 men and women prize money winners from last season.

About the author:

Cleveland, Ohio-based journalist Bob Ramsak is the editor of The TRACK PROFILE Report and assistant editor for the distance running newswire, Race Results Weekly, the world's No. 1 source for distance running news. His reports and profiles on track & field and distance running appear regularly in numerous newspapers, periodicals and websites in the United States and abroad, including the website for track & field's international governing body, IAAF.org, Runner's World On-Line, Track & Field News, and Athletics Weekly. For more information, please visit /www.trackprofile.com.

Athletes Featured in The TRACK PROFILE Report 2004:

Justin Gatlin
Walter Davis
Maurice Greene
Terrence Trammell
Zhanna Block
Kevin Toth
Jenny Adams
Gail Devers
Regina Jacobs
David Krummenacker
Michelle Collins
Dwight Phillips
Colin Jackson
Gary Kikaya
Lashinda Demus
Sara Wells
Tim Broe
Debbie Ferguson
Haile Gebrselassie
Tom Pappas
Allyson Felix
Stacy Dragila
Bob Kennedy
Kajsa Bergqvist
Tyree Washington
Deena Drossin
Tim Montgomery
Kelli White
Hestrie Cloete
Merlene Ottey
Carolina Kluft
Jacques Freitag
Sanya Richards
Jerome Young
Perdita Felicien
Ana Guevara
Sureyya Ayhan
Eunice Barber
Djabir Said-Guerni
Jamie Nieto
Darvis Patton
Kenta Bell
Blanka Vlasic
Shawn Crawford

Detailed Competition Event Reports Included in The TRACK PROFILE Reader 2004:

2003 IAAF World Indoor Championships

US Women's Marathon Championships, St. Louis, MO 
adidas Oregon Track Classic, Portland, OR 
Nike Prefontaine Classic, Eugene, OR 
Gaz de France Golden League, Paris, FRA 
Citta di Padova, Padova, ITA 
Zagreb Grand Prix, Zagreb, CRO 
Peroni Golden Gala Golden League, Rome, ITA 
Norwich Union Super Grand Prix, Gateshead, GBR 
Intersport Gugl Grand Prix, Linz, AUT 
KBC Nacht Grand Prix II, Heusden-Zolder, BEL 
DN Galan Super Grand Prix, Stockholm, SWE 
Norwich Union London Grand Prix, London, GBR 
ISTAF Golden League, Berlin, GER 
Weltklasse Golden League, Zurich, SUI 
Ninth World Outdoor Championships 
Memorial Van Damme Golden League, Brussels, BEL 
Rieti Meeting Grand Prix, Rieti, ITA 
Palio Citta della Quercia, Rovereto, ITA 
World Athletics Final, Monte Carlo, MON 
LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon, Chicago, Ill, USA 
ING New York City Marathon, New York, NY, USA