The Olympic Trials are returning to Eugene and Hayward Field will host the 2020 Olympic Trials.
Over the last few months, the news surrounding Hayward Field has been of the demolition. All that remains at the moment is a track with no stands, but that is about to change. A new Hayward Field is set to open for the 2020 and the first major event will be a big one.
On Thursday, USA Track and Field made it official. The 2020 Track and Field Team Trials will be held in Eugene at Hayward Field. Eugene is one of the main areas of the Country and is considered by some where the ‘roots’ of the sport run the deepest. Eugene is considered Tracktown USA, and while those roots will be linked to an upgraded Hayward Field over the coming seasons, the decision to return the Olympic Trials to the Willamette Valley was an easy one.
Hayward Field will also play host to the IAAF World Championships in 2021. For the new Hayward, the Olympic Trials will be a dress rehearsal. The new facility will be State of the Art and will showcase to the country why Eugene is the home of Tracktown USA. I expect that the University of Oregon will have their usual contingent of present and former athletes competing to get to Tokyo in 2020.
Hayward Field has hosted the last three straight Olympic Trials(2016, 2012, 2008) and five overall. The venue has also played host to the NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships and the 2014 World Championships.
Mt. San Antonio College was originally given the 2020 Team Trials last June but lost the bid that was reopened. USATF was concerned about ongoing litigation concerning the school’s upgrade of their Sports Facilities and Football Stadium. The reopened bid was awarded to Hayward Field and Eugene on Thursday.
The Track and Field Olympic Trials bring the best athletes from the Professional and Collegiate ranks to compete to make up the US Track and Field Team that will compete in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.