IAAF Announces 1999 Calendar; All Golden League Meets on Wednesdays
October 31, 1998 - 0:0
GRANADA, Spain Each of the IAAF's elite Golden League track and field meetings next year will be held on Wednesday nights to make the competition easier to package for television. The International Amateur Athletic Federation on Thursday announced its schedule of 42 outdoor meets for 1999, including the World Championships in Seville, Spain, from Aug. 20-29. The showcase Golden League, which was introduced last season, will return this year with meets in the same six European cities plus the possible addition of Paris. The series opens in Oslo on June 30, followed by Rome (July 7), Monte Carlo (Aug. 4), Zurich (Aug. 11), Brussels (Sept. 1) and Berlin (Sept. 8). The Grand Prix meet in Paris on July 21 could be added to the Golden League in the next few days, IAAF spokesman Giorgio Reineri said.
The venue for the IAAF Grand Prix final on Sept. 11 still hasn't been selected, although Cologne, Germany, is considered the favorite. IAAF President Primo Nebiolo has said he hopes to add meets in England and possibly the United States to the Golden League schedule in the future. The major innovation for next season is that all Golden League meets will take place on Wednesday nights, which the IAAF said ``will strengthen the series especially as a TV spectacle.'' ``This was not so easy,'' Reineri said.
``Some meets prefer to be on Friday or Saturday. But in the end, all the organizers accepted Wednesdsay to give consistency to the series. The goal is give the best package to television and to establish some mental habit with spectators.'' Television rights in Europe to the Golden League series are held by the French network Canal Plus. The meets are broadcast in the United States by Fox. Just as last year, a $1 million jackpot is on offer for any athlete or athletes going undefeated through the entire Golden League season.
The jackpot was shared last season by American sprinter Marion Jones and distance runners Hicham el Guerrouj of Morocco and Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia. The men's disciplines which will count toward the jackpot in 1999 are: 200 meters, 800, steeplechase, 110 hurdles, long jump, pole vault and javelin. The women's events are: 200, 800, 3,000, 400 hurdles and high jump. In order to qualify for the $1 million, athletes must win their events at all six meets and the Grand Prix final.
If Paris is added as a seventh Golden League meet, the requirement will still be victories at six meets, not seven. In addition, the IAAF said, in order to be eligible for the jackpot, athletes must compete in the World Championships if selected by their national federations. This was a move by the IAAF to deter any top stars from skipping the Seville worlds.
Several leading athletes, notably American sprinter Maurice Greene, complained last year that the Golden League system was flawed. They argued it was virtually impossible to win seven straight races in highly-competitive events. But the IAAF decided to stick with the system. ``We know there are some athletes who were not happy,'' Reineri said. ``But in the opinion of the organizers, the system is working and they decided not to change the structure.'' In addition to the worlds, key events in 1999 are the World Indoor Championships in Maebashi, Japan, on March 5-7, and the World Cross Country Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on March 27-28. In the United States, where the sport continues to suffer from lack of public interest, two meets are on the IAAF schedule: the Oregon Track Classic in Portland on May 16 and the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene on May 30. The outdoor season will open in Australia with the Sydney Track Classic on Feb. 20 and the Melbourne Track Classic on Feb. 25. (AP)
The venue for the IAAF Grand Prix final on Sept. 11 still hasn't been selected, although Cologne, Germany, is considered the favorite. IAAF President Primo Nebiolo has said he hopes to add meets in England and possibly the United States to the Golden League schedule in the future. The major innovation for next season is that all Golden League meets will take place on Wednesday nights, which the IAAF said ``will strengthen the series especially as a TV spectacle.'' ``This was not so easy,'' Reineri said.
``Some meets prefer to be on Friday or Saturday. But in the end, all the organizers accepted Wednesdsay to give consistency to the series. The goal is give the best package to television and to establish some mental habit with spectators.'' Television rights in Europe to the Golden League series are held by the French network Canal Plus. The meets are broadcast in the United States by Fox. Just as last year, a $1 million jackpot is on offer for any athlete or athletes going undefeated through the entire Golden League season.
The jackpot was shared last season by American sprinter Marion Jones and distance runners Hicham el Guerrouj of Morocco and Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia. The men's disciplines which will count toward the jackpot in 1999 are: 200 meters, 800, steeplechase, 110 hurdles, long jump, pole vault and javelin. The women's events are: 200, 800, 3,000, 400 hurdles and high jump. In order to qualify for the $1 million, athletes must win their events at all six meets and the Grand Prix final.
If Paris is added as a seventh Golden League meet, the requirement will still be victories at six meets, not seven. In addition, the IAAF said, in order to be eligible for the jackpot, athletes must compete in the World Championships if selected by their national federations. This was a move by the IAAF to deter any top stars from skipping the Seville worlds.
Several leading athletes, notably American sprinter Maurice Greene, complained last year that the Golden League system was flawed. They argued it was virtually impossible to win seven straight races in highly-competitive events. But the IAAF decided to stick with the system. ``We know there are some athletes who were not happy,'' Reineri said. ``But in the opinion of the organizers, the system is working and they decided not to change the structure.'' In addition to the worlds, key events in 1999 are the World Indoor Championships in Maebashi, Japan, on March 5-7, and the World Cross Country Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on March 27-28. In the United States, where the sport continues to suffer from lack of public interest, two meets are on the IAAF schedule: the Oregon Track Classic in Portland on May 16 and the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene on May 30. The outdoor season will open in Australia with the Sydney Track Classic on Feb. 20 and the Melbourne Track Classic on Feb. 25. (AP)