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America’s best to compete at U.S. Olympic Team Trials:
50 km Race Walk

Posted February 8th, 2008 at 9:30 AM by Jeanie Rebb

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

usa olympic team trials 50km race walk logo Kevin Eastler, Curt Clausen, Philip Dunn, Matt Boyles and Ray Sharp headline the field Saturday at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - 50 km Race Walk at the Miami-Dade County village of Palmetto Bay in Florida, where U.S. Olympic Team berths will be at stake.

A purse of over $55,000 awaits the top finishers of the 50 kilometer (31 mile) walk, the longest track and field event at the Olympic Games. First place will be worth more than $15,000 with the top eight finishers guaranteed prize money.

The local organizing committee is led by event director Robin Beamon from the Miami-Dade Parks and Recreation Department. ING Miami Marathon race director Robert Pozo will be the technical director of the race.

With his victories at the 2007 USA 20 km and 50 km race walk championships, Kevin Eastler (Aurora, Colo.) not only demonstrated his versatility last year, but also served notice that he has become America’s preeminent men’s race walker. The U.S. record holder at 30 km, Eastler ended the 2007 season ranked #1 in the U.S. by Track & Field News at 20 km and 50 km. He posted his career best 50 km time of 4 hours 5 minutes 44 seconds in winning the U.S. title last year, which was the best performance at that distance by an American in 2007. His 20 km time of 1:22:56 at La Coruna last year also led all U.S race walkers.

A three-time Olympian and the 1999 World Outdoor Championships 50 km bronze medalist, Curt Clausen (New York) enters Saturday’s competition as one of the most accomplished race walkers in U.S. history. The 2000 and 2004 Olympic Trials champion, Clausen owns five USA 50 km national titles and is a four-time U.S. 20 km champion.

One of the favorites to take home top honors on Saturday is two-time Olympian and 1999 Pan American Games 50 km bronze medalist Philip Dunn of San Diego, Calif. Dunn finished the 2007 season ranked #2 at 50 km in the U.S. after finishing as the runner-up at the U.S. 50 km Championships and placing 8th at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Dunn captured U.S. 50 km titles in 2001 and 2006.

Two-time World Outdoor Championships team member, Ray Sharp (Atlantic Mine, Mich.), 48, enjoyed a reniassiance in 2006 with his runner-up finish at the USA 50 km Championship in Clermont, Fla., where he finished in a personal-best time of 4:21:06. His performance qualified him for the 2006 Race Walk World Cup in Spain, where he placed 54th. He last competed in that event in 1987. Sharp’s 2007 campaign was highlighted by a fourth-place finish at the USA 50 km Championships.

Also keep an eye on up-and-comer Matt Boyles (Cedarville, Ohio), who has finished ranked in the U.S. top ten by T&FN in five of the last six years at 20 km, and placed fifth in that event at the 2007 Pan American Games.

Others to watch include 2006 USA 50 km third place finisher Theron Kissinger (Southbury, Ct.), Mark Green (Reno, Nev.) who placed sixth at last year’s 50 km Nationals and veteran campaigner Marco Evoniuk (San Francisco, Calif.), who finished seventh at the 2007 USA 50 km Championships.

For more information on the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Men’s 50 km Race Walk, visit http://www.usatf.org/events/2008/OlympicTrials-RW/

Via: Tom Surber at USA Track & Field

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February 10th, 2008 at 5:58 am