Dedicated track and field fans have been accustomed to making the quadrennial trek to Eugene, Oregon, (a.k.a. TrackTown USA) for the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials. The meet has been held there since 2008. In 2020, however, the 10-day meet is moving to Mt. San Antonio College in Walnut, California, officials announced on Wednesday.
Mt. SAC, as it’s better known, is about 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles, which is easier to get to and provides a larger media market for the Trials, scheduled to begin on June 19, 2020. The facility also is not new to hosting elite events—Mt. SAC Relays attracts top talent every April. The 1960 Olympic Trials were also held at Hilmer Lodge Stadium, which is undergoing a $62 million renovation to seat 21,000 people.
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The USATF board of directors voted 11–2 in favor of Mt. SAC.
“The board, and especially our active athletes, were clear in their desire to take the Olympic Trials back to Los Angeles,” said Steve Miller, chairman of the USATF board, in a prepared statement. “With stadium upgrades currently planned, we are confident Mr. SAC will provide an extraordinary experience for athletes, fans, officials, and volunteers.”
Los Angeles is still in contention to host the 2024 Olympics, as is Paris.
“We also hope the Trials will be a preview of more Olympic-quality track and field competition returning to Los Angeles in 2024,” said Gene Syke, CEO of L.A. 2024.
RELATED: Scenes From the U.S. Olympic Track & Field Trials
The other venues under consideration for the 2020 Trials were Hayward Field in Eugene, as well as Hornet Stadium, in Sacramento, California. The U.S. outdoor championships, which concluded on Sunday, were held in Sacramento in triple-digit temperatures that forced USATF to reschedule longer distance events for later in the evening when it was cooler.
Though officials cited favorable weather conditions as a reason why they chose the location, the L.A. area isn’t exempt from unusually high temperatures—it was in the mid-70s in February 2016 during the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in downtown Los Angeles and the town of Walnut saw 100 degrees Fahrenheit within the past week, according to Weather.com.
ALSO: Shalane Flanagan on Dehydration, Delirium, and Drama at the Olympic Trials
But if fans are disappointed that they won’t have an opportunity to see the country’s best battle it out in TrackTown, fear not. The 2021 IAAF World Outdoor Championships will be held at Hayward Field in the late summer of that year, though the BBC reported Wednesday that the bidding process that awarded the championships to Eugene is under investigation by the FBI and the criminal division of the Internal Revenue Service.
“We congratulate Mt. San Antonio College and the city of Los Angeles on winning the right to host the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials,” said Michael Reilly, CEO of TrackTown USA. “Their passion for track and field will create an amazing environment for the athletes.”
We talked to fans about how they would celebrate if they made the team and what potential Olympian they’d like to grab a drink with.
