Golden League begins Sunday

For Immediate Release
Friday, June 12, 2009
Contact:
Vicky Oddi
USA Track & Field
Communications Coordinator
317-713-4670; Vicky.Oddi@usatf.org


News and Notes, Volume 9, Number 31

Golden League begins Sunday

Sanya Richards, Damu Cherry, Amy Acuff, Chaunte Howard and David Payne will headline the start lists this weekend at the first event of the IAAF Golden League, the DKB-ISTAF Berlin meeting on Sunday, June 14 in Germany. The IAAF Golden League offers a $1 Million Jackpot, which represents international athletics' biggest annual payday. Athletes must win at all six meetings to acquire at least a share.

Already a two-time Golden League Jackpot winner, 2008 Olympic bronze medalist Sanya Richards wants to make the third time the charm. Richards will run her specialty 400m Sunday and face little competition.

Damu Cherry, who took fourth in Beijing, enters the women's 100-meter hurdles as one of the favorites, and will face 2007 World Outdoor bronze medalist Delloreen Ennis-London (JAM) who took fifth behind Cherry in Beijing.

Four-time Olympian Amy Acuff and 2005 World Outdoor silver medalist Chaunte Howard will compete in the women's high jump, where Beijing silver medalist and 2007 World Outdoor champion Blanka Vlasic (CRO) is the favorite.

2008 Olympic silver medalist David Payne is entered in the men's 110m hurdles. His main competition will come in the form of 2005 World Outdoor champion Ladji Doucoure (FRA).

There are ten ÅF Golden League event disciplines designated to the Jackpot in 2009, five events for men and five for women, as follows:

Men: 100m, 400m, 3000m/5000m, 110m Hurdles, Javelin Throw.

Women: 100m, 400m, 100m Hurdles, High Jump, Pole Vault.

For more information and complete results from the DKB-ISTAF Berlin meet, visit www.IAAF.org.


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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