Posted: May 7, 2005

Athletics: USATF News & Notes, Volume 6, Number 33

Reebok Grand Prix to debut in New York City

Organizers on Thursday announced that the June 11 stop on USA Track & Field's Visa Championship Series will be called the Reebok Grand Prix. The meet will be held on Randall's Island in New York City.

It is the fifth stop of the Visa Championship Series, and will be televised live on NBC from 4-5:30 p.m. ET. Tickets will go on sale May 11 at www.ReebokGrandPrix.com.

The Reebok Grand Prix, featuring an array of Olympic and World Championship medalists, will be the first elite competition ever held in the new Icahn Stadium on Randall's Island, the premier outdoor track-and-field venue in New York City. The $42-million facility features a 400-meter Mondo track and covered seating for spectators.

Global Athletics & Marketing, Inc., the organizers of the event, also produce the Reebok Boston Indoor Games, the first meet of USATF's Indoor Visa Championship Series. In a sold-out arena last January, fans got the chance to see 12 exciting races that included nine 2004 Olympic medalists and a new world record.

Events and athletes to be featured at the Reebok Grand Prix will be announced soon.

Team USA stars to compete at Modesto Relays

Jeremy Wariner, Allen Johnson, Christian Cantwell, John Godina, Suzy Powell and Toby Stevenson are just few of the top stars slated to compete Saturday at the 64th Annual Coca Cola Modesto Relays.

Wariner enters the Relays as a double Olympic gold medalist and the #1 ranked 400m runner in the world. The Olympic Trials champion last year in Sacramento, later that summer Wariner ran the fastest time in the world (44.00 seconds) last year in winning the Olympic 400m gold medal. He followed that performance by running the third leg on Team USA's gold medal-winning 4x400m relay team.

The men's pole vault will have considerable star power with Olympic silver medalist Toby Stevenson in the lineup. Stevenson set a meet record at Modesto last year with his winning clearance of 6.0 meters/19 feet, 8.25 inches. Also look for American record holder Jeff Hartwig and 2004 Olympic finalist Derek Miles in the men's pole vault field.

The men's shot put will match 2004's #1 ranked competitor, Christian Cantwell, against three-time world outdoor champion, two-time Olympic medalist and 2005 Indoor Visa Champion John Godina.

Godina, who posted the best mark in the world this year (21.46m/70-5) with his win last month at La Jolla, Calif., will take on Cantwell, who won the gold medal at the 2004 World Indoor Championships and 13 shot put competitions overall last year.

A four-time world champion and the 1996 Olympic 110m hurdles gold medalist, Allen Johnson will compete on Saturday in the 100 meters, avoiding the hurdles due to a sore knee.

In women's action, look for defending Modesto champion and hometown favorite Suzy Powell in the discus throw, and U.S. standouts Tracy O'Hara, Kellie Suttle, Jillian Swartz and Chelsea Johnson in the women's pole vault.

For more information on the 2005 Coca-Cola Modesto Relays, visit www.modestorelays.org.

Gatlin to compete Saturday in Osaka

Three-time Olympic medalist Justin Gatlin will compete in the men's 100 meters Saturday at the 2005 Osaka Grand Prix, in Osaka, Japan. The event will take place in Nagai Stadium, the site of the 2007 World Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

The 2004 Olympic men's 100m gold medalist, Gatlin exhibited fine form in the 4x100m relay last Saturday at the 2005 USA vs. The World at Penn Relays. Gatlin faced a sizeable deficit when he grabbed the stick for the anchor leg for his USA Red team. Coming down the main straight Gatlin put on a burst of speed in passing J.J. Johnson to win the race in 38.58 seconds, the second-fastest time in the world this year. USA Blue was the runner-up in 36.60.

In Osaka, Gatlin will face local crowd favorite Shingo Suetsugu, the 2003 World Outdoor Championships 200m bronze medalist. Three other sub-10 sprinters - Obadele Thompson (9.87 in 1998, 10.08 in 2004), Brian Lewis (9.99 in 2002, 10.14 in 2004), and Kareem Streete-Thompson (9.96 in 1997, 10.15 in 2004) are expected to compete.

Other Americans expected in Osaka include Olympic men's pole vault gold medalist Tim Mack, 2000 and 2004 Olympic fourth-place finisher James Carter and 2003 World Outdoor Championships silver medalist Joey Woody in the men's 400m hurdles.

Also look for Olympic women's 200m silver medalist Allyson Felix in the 100 meters, and 2004 Olympic finalist Grace Upshaw in the women's long jump.

For more information on the 2005 Osaka Grand Prix, visit IAAF.org.

Main characters cast for ESPN movie "Four Minutes"

ESPN has found the two stars for its next original movie, about Roger Bannister's breaking the four-minute barrier in the mile.

"Four Minutes" will star Emmy- and Tony-winning actor Christopher Plummer ("A Beautiful Mind," "The Thorn Birds," "The Sound of Music") as track coach Archie Mason. British actor Jamie Maclachlan, whose credits are mostly in theater, will play Bannister.

Production on the movie, directed by Charles Beeson ("Second Sight," "The Pale Horse") is set to begin in Toronto on Friday (May 6), the 51st anniversary of Bannister's barrier-breaking run. Long-time Sports Illustrated writer Frank Deford penned the script, and Olympic documentarian Bud Greenspan is among the executive producers.