Posted: February 2, 2005

Athletics: News & Notes, Volume 6, Number 10

Powered by Tyson Invitational expands world record prize bonus

The 2005 Powered by Tyson Invitational, the third stop on USA Track & Field's 2005 Indoor Visa Championship Series, has announced that it will expand its original $25,000 world-record prize pool being offered by Tyson Foods. This year the bonus will be awarded to all athletes who set a new world record.

The Powered by Tyson Invitational will take place on Friday, February 11, at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark., with events running from 7 to 9 p.m. The event will be televised November 12 on ESPN2 from 9-10:30 p.m. Eastern Time.

"As the world's largest provider of chicken, beef and pork, Tyson Foods is proud to sponsor for the fourth consecutive year an event where protein's long lasting energy enables the athletes to perform at their best," said Bob Corscadden, Tyson's senior vice president and chief marketing officer. "We are challenging the best of the best to set new world records by awarding $25,000 bonuses and look forward to an exciting meet."

The women's 60-meter dash will be a featured event as the world's top-ranked sprinter and 2004 Olympic 200m gold medalist Veronica Campbell of Jamaica headlines the event. She will face Olympic 200m silver medalist, Allyson Felix, in what will be a rematch of the Olympic 200-meter final. Lauryn Williams will also provide stellar competition as the 100-meter silver medalist in Athens, and LaTasha Colander, the 2004 United States Olympic Trials 100-meter champion, is set to compete as well. All four women are currently ranked in the top 10 in the world in the sprints.

With a $25,000 world-record bonus on the line, the highly anticipated men's mile run will feature fantastic international competition with record breaking potential. Three of the world's top 10 milers will line up with fast times on their minds. 2004 Olympic silver medalist Bernard Lagat returns to the meet for the first time since 2000 as the reigning World Indoor 3,000m gold medalist. Paul Korir captured the Tyson Invitational title last year when he set the Kenyan national record in 3 minutes, 53.26 seconds. He is also the defending World Indoor 1,500m champion. Laban Rotich will complete this talented lineup as the 2003 Tyson Invitational and 1999 World Indoor runner-up.

Several of America's top horizontal jumpers will battle it out in what promises to be an outstanding long jump competition, where 2004 World Indoor champion Savante Stringfellow will take on Walter Davis and Melvin Lister. Lister has proved himself to be one of the country's most versatile jumpers after he won the long and triple jump at the 2000 and 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials, respectively. Davis, a 2004 Olympic triple jumper, is also an athlete to be reckoned with after placing fourth in the long jump at last year's Trials.

For more information on the Powered by Tyson Invitational and the 2005 Indoor Visa Championship Series, visit www.usatf.org.

OLN to televise Boston Marathon

The Outdoor Life Network (OLN) and the Boston Athletic Association have announced a multiple-year partnership for OLN to televise the Boston Marathon nationally, both live and tape-delayed, beginning in 2005.

OLN will provide three hours of live, wire-to-wire coverage to North American homes, making the Boston Marathon the only U.S. road race to receive complete, live, national coverage.

The Boston Marathon is the world's oldest annual marathon and one of the world's most prestigious road races. This year's event, which is annually held on the Patriots' Day holiday, will be contested on Monday, April 18. A maximum field of 20,000 participants will run the historic and traditional point-to-point route from Hopkinton to Boston, Massachusetts. An estimated 500,000 spectators will line the 26.2-mile route each year, making the Boston Marathon one of New England's most popular sporting events.

OLN is the leader in outdoor adventure and action sports television. Now in more than 62 million homes, OLN is the home of best-in-class events like The Tour de France, The Gravity Games, Professional Bull Riders (PBR), and USSA Skiing. Owned and operated by Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), the Network offers exclusive programming in four primary areas: Outdoor Adventure, Action Sports, Field Sports and Bulls & Rodeo. OLN is distributed via cable systems and satellite operators throughout the continental United States and Hawaii.

Source: Tom Surber
Media Information Manager
USA Track & Field