SEATTLE -- The city of New Orleans, drawing from it's ability to entertain large events in football and basketball, was selected Wednesday as the site of the 1992 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials.
The selection of New Orleans, considered a definite underdog among the five other finalists for the event, came via a 29-6 vote by the International Competition Committee of The Athletic Congress, which is currently holding its winter meetings in Seattle.
A nine-member Trials Site Selection Committee had recommended by a 7- 2 vote New Orleans over Eugene, Ore., Sacramento, Calif., Knoxville, Tenn., Durham, N.C., and Seattle.
All accept New Orleans had held large track and field in the past, but the Louisiana city's ability to stage large events was never questioned since it has held four Super Bowls, two NCAA Final Fours and the 1988 Republican National Convention.
'No doubt the fact we are an 'event city' helped us climb a mighty steep ladder,' said Sam Seemes, a former Louisiana State coach who will serve as meet director for the trials. 'We just played off what the city had done in the past, and it worked.'
The trials will be held the third week in June 1992 in Tad Gormley Stadium, a 54-year-old high school football stadium that is currently undergoing a $3.5 million renovation to make it what Seemes called 'a state-of-the-art track and field facility.'
Patricia Rico, head of TAC's Site Selection Committee, said New Orleans had too much going for it to be spurned.
'New Orleans came across as the site of the future, the one we were looking for,' said Rico, who hails from Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y. 'The marketing was a big factor, but no more than the facility and the amount of support the city will throw behind the event.'
The lack of an existing facility and New Orleans' muggy summer weather were expected to work against its bid, but Rico said they were actually pluses.
'The facility will be second to none,' she said. 'With a seating capacity of 29,000 and all of the field events held inside the stadium, it is perfect. And we believe the weather will approximate the temperatures our athletes will compete in during the Olympics a month later' in Barcelona, Spain.
Seemes said renovations of the stadium and the track, which will be converted from its current cinder surface to polyurethane, will be completed by July 1991. Other improvements will be a lighting system, press box, a warmup track, and full jumping and throwing facilities.
Seemes said New Orleans probably wouldn't have received the bid a few years ago, saying TAC is realizing it needs to change its approach in order to reach more sports fans in the United States.
'I love track and field,' said Seemes, 'but I think we all realize that we have to have more than just a track meet if the sport is going to stay viable. Our meet will be more than just for track nuts. It will be for whole families, people who want surroundings that match the event itself. I think we can do that in New Orleans.'
Thom Jordan, who helped put Eugene's bid together, said there's nothing wrong with that approach.
'I think TAC is looking for the trials to become the economical salavation for track and field in this country,' said Jordan. 'I think that's fair. Obviously, the choice of New Orleans means TAC wants to go big time, which means there will be more of this down the line.'
And probably fewer meets for small communities like Eugene, which has hosted four Olympic trials since 1968. It also has held numerous national (TAC) and NCAA championships.
