USATF launches U.S. Open at Madison Square Garden, release, note by Larry Eder

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Bernard Lagat, 2011 Fifth Avenue Mile, Photo by PhotoRun.net

The response to the Millrose Games moving to the New Balance Armory is now not a rumor. USA Track & Field has started the U.S. Open at the historic Madison Square Gardens.

The Millrose Games will be in its’ 105th year. For 98 years, it’s home was the Madison Square Garden. This time, under it’s new owners, it will be run at the New Balance Armory, which is the host to over 65 indoor high school and college track meets with a very fast MONDO indoor 200 meter track.

The new U.S. Open will mean that, for the 99th year, an indoor meet will be in the Madison Square Gardens. The MSG has had the likes of Paavo Nurmi, Willie Ritola, Eamon Coghlan, Marcus O’Sullivan, Mary Slaney, Sergey Bubka, Diane Dixon-all competed at the Gardens.

There is something about the Madison Square Garden. Perhaps, it is the closeness of the crowd. Perhaps, the traditional events. Perhaps, it is the tight track, and the various relays, sprints and throws. The press release from USATF suggests that, perhaps, the meet will showcase a tighter schedule, which has been one of the challenges of any event in the MSG.

In promoting the event, USATF announced that Bernard Lagat will be running the U.S. Open, which will be held on Saturday, January 28, 2011. Lagat, the recent World Champion silver medalist at 5,000 meters, has won eight indoor miles at the MSG.

The VISA Series for 2012, will be the U.S. Open on January 28, 2011, the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix on February 4, 2011, and the US Indoor Champs, on February 24-26, 2011 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

November 17, 2011

Katie Landry
USA Track & Field
Marketing & Communications Coordinator
317-713-4672
Katie.Landry@usatf.org

USATF launches U.S. Open at Madison Square Garden; Lagat returns to Garden for men’s mile

NEW YORK – Track & Field will
return to the country’s premier sports and entertainment venue for the
99th year on Saturday, January 28, when the U.S. Open Track & Field
at Madison Square Garden kicks off USA Track & Field’s 2012 Visa
Championship Series, USATF announced Thursday.

Â© Errol Anderson

Garden legend Bernard Lagat will
headline in the men’s mile in a USA Track & Field meet that promises
to showcase the best of the sport’s tradition in a streamlined
in-stadium and broadcast presentation. The U.S. Open will be the first
track meet to be held in The Garden following the completion of the
first phase of the building’s historic, top-to-bottom, three-year
Transformation, and will be the first major professional meet in the
United States as the 2012 Olympic Year gets
under way.

“Madison Square Garden feels like
home to me, and I am so happy to be coming back in 2012,” said Lagat, a
2-time Olympic medalist and the American record holder who has won eight
1-mile races in the Garden. “I can’t think of a better place to kick
off the Olympic year. I look forward to seeing the New York track fans
who have supported me for so many years, many new fans in the new
Garden.”

The U.S. Open will be broadcast on ESPN from 7-9 p.m. Eastern on January 29 and is part of USATF‘s most aggressive TV schedule in years.

Garden Party

Though Lagat will be a familiar
face, plenty will be “new” at the U.S. Open, including the newly
completed first phase of The Garden Transformation, a new schedule of
events, and new ticket prices. With tickets priced from $15 to $75, a
wide range of sports fans will be able to see a historic sport held in a
state-of-the-art sports and entertainment venue.

Fans can expect traditionally
popular events to be contested, such as the men’s mile and a full slate
of professional events, as well as select high school fan favorites. The
full schedule will be announced by December 1.

“The U.S. Open will provide the fast-paced, exciting meet expected at every MSG event,” USATF
Interim CEO Mike McNees said. “This will be a tightly scheduled meet
featuring the ‘best of the best’ from past Garden meets while providing a
fitting kick-off to the 2012 Olympic year. We are excited about our
partnership with The Garden and are especially glad that everyone from
kids to families to VIPs will be able to access the meet.”

“Track and field has a long standing
history at Madison Square Garden spanning nearly 100 years and has
played an important role in the building’s status as The World’s Most
Famous Arena,” said Scott O’Neil, president, MSG Sports. “We are excited
to continue our partnership with USA Track & Field and launch the
U.S. Open at Madison Square Garden. This new event will kick-off the
2012 Olympic year and provide fans with a look at some of the top
athletes in the sport, including legendary runner and Garden
crowd favorite Bernard Lagat, as they begin their race toward London.”

Visa Championship Series on the air

USATF‘s 2012
Indoor Visa Championship Series will continue with the New Balance
Indoor Grand Prix in Boston on Feb. 4 and the 2012 USA Indoor Track
& Field Championships in Albuquerque, N.M., Feb. 25-26, where
athletes will qualify for the Team USA squad that will compete in March
at the IAAF World Indoor Track & Field Championships in Istanbul,
Turkey.

All told, indoors and outdoors, the
2012 Visa Championship Series will feature five hours of coverage on
NBC, six on ESPN and two on ESPN as the Visa Championship Series tees up
the 2012 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field. The Olympic
Trials will be broadcast entirely on NBC and its affiliates.

Tickets, starting as low as $15.00,
will go on sale to the general public on Wednesday, November 30 at
12:00pm. Tickets will be available at the MSG Box Office, Ticketmaster
charge at 866-858-0008, all Ticketmaster outlets, and THEGARDEN.com. Annual MSG Track & Field subscribers can contact 212-465-6073. USA Track & Field is proud to accept only Visa.

For information on the Visa
Championship Series, including the U.S. Open and TV information, visit www.VisaChampionshipSeries.com

About USA Track & Field

USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track & field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF
encompasses the world’s oldest organized sports, the World’s #1 Track
& Field Team, the most-watched events at the Olympics, the #1 high
school and junior high school participatory sport, and more than 30
million adult runners in the United States: www.usatf.org.

Larry Eder

Larry Eder has had a 50-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."

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