Trammell goes for second Visa Championship

For Immediate Release
Friday, February27, 2009
Contact:
Vicky Oddi
Communications Coordinator
USA Track & Field
317-713-4670; Vicky.Oddi@usatf.org


Trammell goes for second Visa Championship

BOSTON - Two-time Olympic silver medalist Terrence Trammell will go for his fourth career U.S. Indoor title and second Visa Championship crown in the men's 60-meter hurdles at the 2009 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships February 28-March 1 at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center in Boston.

The concluding event of USATF's Indoor Visa Championship Series will be televised live on ESPN 2 on Sunday, March 1 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

On Friday, Trammell sat down with members of the media to talk about his upcoming comptition in Boston. For a complete bio on Trammell, visit http://www.usatf.org/athletes/bios/Trammell_Terrence.asp.

Below are excerpts from Friday's conversation.

On his outlook for Boston: "I'm here to win the national title and the Visa Championship Series. They're both important but having that $25,000 (for the Visa Champion) doesn't hurt at all. I was thinking about that yesterday. For me, I've been a national champion. It says a lot, regardless of what type of year or type of competition, I do value that. I don't take anything for granted. For me to be the front-runner for the Visa Series, that's a lot of icing on the cake. It definitely helps but I like being the national champion."

On coming back from a hamstring injury suffered at the Olympic Games: "I never had the chance to really show the level of competition that I was at last year. And that was more frustrating that not being able to run at the Games. I knew I couldn't run anything after the Games. We had put in a lot of work and it was really starting to pay off huge. I think the biggest thing since then was taking my time, being patient with the recovery and going to rehab. Just making sure that you do everything preventative to keep me healthy. That was the biggest focus. And I'm just enjoying my self right now, going out and competing.

"The injury occurred right before we got in the blocks to race. I was in the warm-up area and I felt really good. Then there was a little bit of twitching in my hamstring. Basically what had happened was it was a second degree strain of the hamstring and it tugged on the tendon that attached to my knee. The hamstring heeled pretty quickly but the tendon took a really long time..

On his clothing line, Track Star Apparel: "I started my clothing line in 2007. I've always been into uniforms whether it be track, football or basketball or whatever. It should always be something to make a statement of some sort. I started out doing t-shirts in 07. I've changed my logo several times since then. Right now I've done some things locally. I did some basketball uniforms for my church and I'm working on some other things with track teams and that type of thing. Just taking it slowly. Working my craft at it, it's what I enjoy doing.

"I pick the material, I design the style, we send it cut and sew person and they make it happen. I did the uniform for one of my old training partners, Fatmata Fofanah from Guinea, I did the uniforms for them for the Olympic Games. And it was funny because I was in the athlete lounge area in the Athlete Village watching the women's hurdles and I was like "Hey! That's my uniform!" I forgot I had done them. I just get pleasure out of seeing people wear my things. There will be some bug things coming ahead.

On running in Boston: "My first major win came at the New Balance Invitational (now called the Reebok Boston Indoor Games) my freshman year of college. I was 19 and a freshman at South Carolina. I just remember thinking Eugene Swift (1996 Olympic Games 6th-place finisher)and all these other guys are competing here and I had just watched them in the Olympics. I've watched all these guys as a high-schooler and now I'm competing against them. And the only thing that was going through my mind was if I get a good start, I think I can beat them. I was so nervous because it was my first time being on television and being in a world-class meet. And seeing Olympians in the lane next to me. Ever since that point, I felt like I belonged."

For more information about the USA Indoor Track & Field Championships or to purchase tickets, log onto www.visachampionshipseries.com or www.usatf.org. For questions regarding tickets, please call (317) 713-4680. USATF welcomes you to purchase tickets with your Visa Card. Visa is the only credit card accepted by USATF.

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USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track and field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, some of the most-watched events of Olympic broadcasts, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States.

For more information on USATF, visit www.usatf.org