FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Four cities declare intent to bid for
2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Marathon
1/12/2018
INDIANAPOLIS - Four cities have declared their intent to submit bids to
host the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Marathon, USATF announced Friday.
Atlanta, Georgia; Austin, Texas; Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Orlando,
Florida all have officially declared their intent to bid to host the
Olympic Trials. As was the case in 2012 in Houston and 2016 in Los Angeles,
the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials for women's and men's marathon will be
contested on the same day early in the year, providing a focused,
single-day showcase for the country's top runners.
"To have four new bidders for the Olympic Trials Marathon speaks to the
attractiveness of the property and the support for our increasingly
successful American marathon corps," USATF CEO Max Siegel said. "We look
forward to taking the Olympic Trials to a new city to select one of the
world's best Olympic marathon teams."
2017 was one of the most successful years on record for American
marathoners. Shalane Flanagan became the first American woman in 40 years
to win the TCS NYC Marathon; Galen Rupp was the first American man since
2002 to win the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and was second at the
Boston Marathon; Amy Cragg won the bronze medal in the women's marathon at
the 2017 IAAF World Championships; and Jordan Hasay finished third at both
Boston and Chicago, where she became the second-fastest American woman in
history.
At the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Rupp took the men's bronze medal, with Jared
Ward sixth and Meb Keflezighi 33rd. In the women's 2016 Olympic marathon,
Flanagan was sixth, Desi Linden seventh, and Cragg ninth.
Final bids for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Marathon are due March
19. A USATF site selection committee, comprised of the chairs of the USATF
Women's and Men's Long Distance Running Committees, a USATF Athletes
Advisory Committee representative, USATF technical director and National
Office staff, will review and assess all bids. The USATF Board of Directors
will make the final site selection for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials -
Marathon this spring, subject to approval by the United States Olympic
Committee.
About U.S. Olympic Team Trials
A collaboration between the United States Olympic Committee and its
National Governing Bodies, U.S. Olympic Team Trials are held in multiple
sports prior to each edition of the Olympic Games and allow athletes to vie
for the honor of representing Team USA. Often the last stop in an athlete's
journey to the Olympics, the Trials also offer fans an up-close experience
with America's sports heroes before they go on to compete on the world's
biggest stage. Selection procedures for each sport are developed by the
NGBs in concert with the USOC and follow parameters set forth by each
International Federation.
About USATF
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and
field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF
encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched
events of Olympic broadcasts, the country's No. 1 high school and junior
high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in
the United States. For more information on USATF, visit www.usatf.org.
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