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Golden Spike Tour Set to Begin Star-Studded Third Year

© Susan Wessling

By Susan Wessling

The star-studded USA Track & Field's 2001 Indoor Golden Spike Tour will open Feb. 2 with the Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden in New York. Nearly 40 Olympians highlight the field that will compete in New York as the tour, now in its third year, will also serve as a victory tour for U.S. athletes who won 10 gold medals and 20 medals overall at the Olympic Games in Sydney.

Adding a little more interest to the tour, the USA Track & Field recently announced the creation of The Pontiac Grand Prix Cup, a point-based system that will award a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix to the top male and female athletes of the 2001 Indoor Golden Spike Tour. “The Golden Spike Tour has a history of providing a means for American athletes to earn substantial prize money for competing on their home soil,” said USATF CEO Craig Masback. “Aided by the generosity of our sponsor, Pontiac Grand Prix, USA Track & Field is proud to add yet another incentive and reward for our athletes.”

The GST provides U.S. athletes the opportunity to compete in the United States in front of a nationally televised audience. The 2000 indoor season averaged more than 10,000 fans in attendance per event, and USATF officials say they hope the 2001 GST will build on that success.

The American athletes who have committed to the tour will certainly help it live up to its advanced billing. One of the featured events at this year's Millrose Games will be the women's pole vault, where world record holder and Olympic gold medalist Stacy Dragila will face a tough challenge from Anzhela Balakhonova of the Ukraine. After finishing second to Dragila at the 1999 IAAF World Championships in Seville, Spain, Balakhonova ended the 2000 campaign ranked #2, behind only Dragila, in the world by the IAAF and Track & Field News.

Also among the Americans slated to compete at to compete at the Millrose Games include Olympic gold medalists Nick Hysong, Jearl Miles-Clark, Bernard Williams, Monique Hennagan, Ken Brokenburr and Jerome Young.

Americans Lawrence Johnson and Terrence Trammell, Olympic silver medalists, will also compete in New York. Olympic bronze medalists Chryste Gaines, Torri Edwards, Passion Richardson and defending Millrose hurdles champion Melissa Morrison will also be among the American athletes taking part in the meet.

Hurdlers Terrence Trammell and Melissa Morrison, the and reigning U.S. Indoor champions, appeared Tuesday on a USATF media teleconference kicking off the 2001 Indoor Golden Spike Tour.