Posted: December 14, 2005

Athletics: Top Marathons Interested In Olympic Trials

From David Monti

© 2005 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

USA Track & Field announced today that several major marathons have expressed interest in hosting the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials. The BAA Boston Marathon, ING New York City Marathon, Twin Cities Marathon, and Road Runner Akron Marathon are amongst the interested races.

"Each of the interested events is well known for their ability to appeal to mass participants while still shining a spotlight on the athletic performances of the top U.S. athletes," said USA Track & Field President Bill Roe in a statement circulated to journalists today. "We are thrilled with the quality of interested hosts for these Olympic trials."

Hosting the Olympic Trials Marathons in the United States is a complicated and expensive undertaking, with a typical Trials budget exceeding $1 million. Most events contemplating hosting the Trials struggle to overcome sponsorship conflicts: only official U.S. Olympic Committee sponsors are permitted to sponsor the Trials when the USOC has sold a sponsorship within a particular industry or service category, and only those sponsors are permitted signage utilizing the Olympic rings.

The 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon for men was held in Birmingham, Ala., and was sponsored by a local sports commission, a quasi-government agency. The Women's Trials were held in St. Louis and were sponsored in a similar fashion. The sports commisions did not engender any sponsorship conflicts.

The final bid proposals are expected to be received by USA Track & Field on January 9, 2006. The announcement of the trials site(s) are expected in mid-April, 2006. The races themselves could be held either in the fall of 2007 or the spring of 2008.