USOC, Feds: U.S. Athletics Champs Bode Well for Boston 2024

(ATR) The U.S. bid for the 2024 Olympics could benefit from the awarding of the IAAF Athletics World Championships to Eugene.

"Coming to America strengthens the brand of your property, it strengthens the brand of your organization," Steve Penny, CEO of USA Gymnastics tells Around the Rings.

"It increases your relevance in front of some of the biggest global corporations in the world. It says that America is open for business."

In addition to the IAAF championships, Penny says the awarding of the 2021 World Games to Birmingham, Alabama is another indication of rising interest in bringing more major international sports events to the U.S.

Penny began his conversation with ATR with effusive praise for USA Track & Field CEO Max Siegel as well as the Eugene organizers for putting together a compelling bid. The unexpected decision by the IAAF came just five months after Doha in Qatar was awarded the 2019 event over Eugene and Barcelona.

At the time Siegel admitted that the U.S. bid was a dark horse. But in an Op Ed for Around the Rings, he made it clear that the event would come to the U.S. one day.

"We want to do this. We can do this. We want to 'get' it. And we're not done."

Siegel, USATF president Stephanie Hightower, and Eugene organizers spoke with media via conference call on Thursday.

"We think that it's a great statement on behalf of our country," Siegel said.

"We're mindful of the Boston 2024 bid and we take our responsibility to host an event of this magnitude very seriously."

Siegel added, "We have an unprecedented opportunity to use the platform of the world athletic championships to take the sport to another level of popularity, visibility, and corporate engagement."

USATF president Stephanie Hightower echoed these sentiments and thanked the IAAF for its decision.

"I'd like to thank IAAF president Lamine Diack and our colleagues at the IAAF Council for entrusting us with this huge competition that the world will have an opportunity to experience," Hightower told reporters.

"This has truly been a group effort."

USATF worked closely with the company TrackTown USA for years to secure the world athletics championships among other high-level events.

In 2016, TrackTown USA is hosting the U.S. Olympic track and field trials at Hayward Field. This marks the third consecutive time that the track and field trials will be staged at the venue.

In a statement on Thursday,U.S. Olympic Committee leaders told ATR that they are ecstatic for USATF and TrackTown USA.

"Congratulations to TrackTown USA and our colleagues at USA Track & Field for earning the honor of hosting the IAAF World Championships in the U.S. for the first time," USOC CEO Scott Blackmun said to ATR.

"We're incredibly excited to help welcome the athletes of the world in 2021."

Vin Lananna, president of TrackTown USA, says renovations planned for Hayward Field prior to the 2021 World Athletics Championships will be part of the legacy of the event.

"This has all been about a long-term vision for the sport of track and field in the United States."

Eugene came up short in its bid to attain the 2019 championships in November, losing to Doha, Qatar, 15-12, in the final round of voting.

Despite this setback, Lananna he had few reservations about bidding for 2021.

"We knew we had a desire to go forward with it."

The TrackTown USA chief said the team wondered whether the same excitement could be generated for a 2021 bid, and whether partners of the 2019 bid would remain engaged.

"[Ultimately] we felt like the answer to all of those questions was 'yes.'"

Lananna says the bid team contacted Diack in February and began laying out a strategy for 2021.

"The IAAF council deserves a lot of credit for stepping up and making a bold decision to accept this bid out of process."

Newly-elected USATF board chair Steve Miller concluded by thanking the athletes who have represented the U.S. on the international sports stage.

"We're excited represent them.We're excited to represent the United States."

He added, "The board of directors will do all that it can to support each of the constituent bases in their efforts to make this not only a great world championships, but something people will remember culturally for years to come."

Written by Ed Hula andNicole Bennett

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