By Town Crier Staff Report
Top track and field competitors from 15 countries, including American sprinter Marion Jones, will vie for Grand Prix points on Saturday at the Peregrine Systems U.S. Open at Stanford University.
The competition is one of two International Amateur Athletic Federation Grand Prix I events in the United States this season. More than $90,000 in prize money is available, the most of any meet in the U.S. this season.
Jones is considered the greatest female track athlete in the world today. She won five medals at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, including three golds. Jones has been ranked No. 1 in the world in the 200-meter run for four straight years.
Jones will be the featured performer in the women’s 200 Saturday at Stanford’s Cobb Track & Angell Field.
Jones, a two-time Olympian, will be competing in the Bay Area for the first time. The event is one of six major U.S. meets Jones is scheduled to participate in during the 2001 outdoor season.
“Marion Jones is a great ambassador for our sport, and we are thrilled that she has chosen the support track and field in the United States by appearing in some of the best meets in the country,” said Craig Masback, CEO of the USATF. “To have Marion competing on her home soil with such frequency in an enormous accomplishment for the sport of track and field. Any time she steps on a track, it helps increase America’s interest in track and field. The sport hit a high point last year with the successes of the Olympic Trials and the Olympic Games, and Marion’s continued and active involvement will help build momentum for the World Championships this August in Edmonton, Canada.”
While Jones came up short in her quest for five gold medals at the Sydney Olympics, she did come home with gold in the 100 meters (10.75 seconds), 200 (21.84) and 1,600 relay (3:22.62). She also earned bronze medals in the long jump (22 feet, 8 1/2) and 400 relay (42.20). Jones opened her 2001 outdoor season last month at the Mt. SAC Relays by clocking 35.68 for 300 meters, the fourth-fastest of all-time.
Joining Jones at the U.S. Open will be a number of record holders and Olympians, including Terrence Trammell and Shawn Crawford. Trammell won the silver medal in the men’s 110 high hurdles in Sydney, while Crawford captured the men’s 200 at the 2001 World Indoor Championships. A host of Kenyans also will compete, as well as 2000 U.S. Olympian Brad Hauser and his twin brother Brent, both former Stanford All-Americans.
The meet will be broadcast on CBS from 2-3 p.m., Sunday.
Tickets for the U.S. Open, priced at $10 and $25, are available through gostanford.com or by calling 1-800-STANFORD.
For more information, logon to www.ustfopen.org.
