EUGENE, Ore. (AP) – Most runners, throwers and jumpers at the upcoming world championships only need look to their left, or right, to see where the biggest challenges lie.
For a select few, the main competition will be the clock.
A year after records fell fast and furious at the Olympics, track and field returns to the world stage at one of the sport’s most hallowed stomping grounds: Eugene, Oregon.
The city called “TrackTown USA” was put on the map by a great middle distance runner, Steve Prefontaine, then kept there by a colossus called Nike. It now has an upgraded $270 million stadium – the iconic Hayward Field – that features a very fast track for this, the first world championships to be held on U.S. soil.
Eugene had been slated to host in 2021, but the COVID-19 pandemic delayed the Olympics by a year, which pushed track and field’s calendar back one year, as well.