Odyssey to Oregon

2022 ODYSSEY TO OREGON

Eugene? Why HUBERT LAWRENCE

Hayward Field, ready to welcome the world in 2022.

W orld Athletics could have chosen any number of US cities to host the 2022 World Championships. America has hosted the Olympic Games twice in Los Angeles and once in Atlanta; New York once was a stop in the World Athletics Diamond League. In addition, Philadelphia annually presents the world‐renowned Penn Relays at historic Franklin Field. Eugene, Oregon, the self‐ proclaimed Track Town USA, however, trumps them all. Jamaican Olympian Neil Gardner knows why. Having run in all those places, he says the atmosphere in Eugene will come the closest to Saturday night at Boys’ and Girls’ Championships in Kingston.

By the numbers, there’s nothing special about Eugene, with the population of this Pacific Midwest locale amounting to 180,000 and a stadium that needs temporary additional seating to accommodate 30,000 fans at a time. But the numbers don’t tell the whole story. The University of Oregon stadium, known as Hayward Field, is one of the cathedrals of the sport, as Gardner found out for himself in 1996, when he won the NCAA 400‐metre hurdles for the University of Michigan. He was mightily impressed. In fact, he set personal bests in the NCAA heats and semis and got another personal best – 13.68 seconds – on his way to the 110‐metre hurdles final.

He came back home for the 1996 National Championships, raving about the knowledgeable fans in Eugene. It’s an impression that lasts to this day. "In Eugene, track and field is looked upon in a similar way that Jamaicans view high school track and field", he said. “That’s a big comparison because of the overwhelming crowd support we see at Boys’ and Girls’ Championships each year. "There’s a difference between track and field at another level and high school track and field", the 1996 Olympic semi‐finalist continued, "as regards the spectators, but high school track and field is what it is for Jamaican fans. Yes, we’ll turn out for another meet. Yes, we’ll