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Lead Stories: Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Universal Sports to Broadcast U.S. Olympic Track Trials, Present Encore Presentations

Posted June 28th, 2008 at 8:00 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Olympics

Coverage of the U.S. Olympic Trials, the pressure-packed competition held every four years to select the U.S. Olympic Team, continue on the networks of NBC Universal with nearly 20 hours of swimming and track & field trials over the next two weeks including 10 straight nights of live primetime coverage on NBC and USA. Additionally Universal Sports will present encore presentations of the trials.

Tyson Gay, Allyson Felix, Jeremy Wariner, Bernard Lagat, Reese Hoffa, Sanya Richards and Lauryn Williams are among the top competitors at the historic Hayward Field at the University of Oregon looking to earn a trip to Beijing to represent the U.S. at the Olympic Games. Tom Hammond, Carol Lewis, Lewis Johnson, Ato Boldon, Dwight Stones, Ed Eyestone and Bob Neumeier report from Eugene, Ore.

Fri., June 27
Midnight-1a.m.ET/PT (USA)
Featured events:
Women’s 10,000m Final
Women’s 100m Quarterfinal
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What To Watch: Running & Track Events on TV, Webcast

Posted June 26th, 2008 at 8:00 PM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Columns, Olympics, What To Watch

This week is the Superbowl of domestic track & field, the US Olympic Trials. All times EDT; as always, check your local listings.

US Olympic Trials, Day 1
USA, midnight-1 a.m. Saturday
replays at 7 p.m. on Universal HD and 11:05 p.m. on USA
Event finals are the women’s 10,000 meters and the first day of the women’s heptathlon. Available in HD fomat.

US Olympic Trials, Day 2
NBC, 8-9 p.m. Saturday (live)
replays at 3 a.m. Sunday on Universal HD
Event finals are the second day of the women’s heptathlon, the men’s shot put, and the women’s 100 meters. Available in HD format.

US Olympic Trials, Day 3
NBC, 8-9 p.m. Sunday (live)
replays at 1 a.m. Monday on Universal HD
Event finals are the first day of the decathlon, the women’s triple jump, discus and 400 hurdles, and the men’s pole vault, long jump, 400 hurdles and 100 meters. Available in HD format.
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What To Watch: Running & Track Events on TV, Webcast

Posted June 20th, 2008 at 4:00 PM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Columns, Olympics, What To Watch, College

There’s not much on this week. It’s a calm before the storm, as next week the Olympic Trials begin.

We do have an interesting piece of information to pass along: WCSN.com is now partnering with NBC Sports and will be renamed as Universal Sports, with both a website and a cable TV channel.

The week’s listings (as usual, all times EDT):

Running
YES Network, 7:30 a.m. Thursday, 11:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. Friday, 6:30 a.m. Saturday, 1:30 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. Sunday, 8:30 a.m. Monday

Bud Greenspan’s Favorite Stories of Olympic Glory
Showtime Extreme, 6:35 a.m. and 2 p.m. Sunday
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NBC Sports & WCSN Partner to Launch Universal Sports

Posted June 17th, 2008 at 8:30 AM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Track & Field, Olympics

Press Release: NBC Sports, a division of NBC Universal, and World Championship Sports Network (WCSN) have joined forces to create Universal Sports. Universal Sports will combine NBCU’s programming and production expertise and promotional power with WCSN’s leading online destination for Olympic sports plus its growing television network to create the preeminent multiplatform destination for Olympic sports programming.

The announcement was made today by Dick Ebersol, Chairman, NBC Universal Sports & Olympics and Leo Hindery, Jr., Managing Partner of InterMedia Partners, the controlling shareholder of WCSN. Universal Sports will include both a television network and a robust online platform UniversalSports.com.
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Mac, Linux Users Unable to Watch Webcast of Olympic Trials & NYC Marathon

Posted November 3rd, 2007 at 6:19 AM by Martin Kennedy

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics

It boggles the mind, but Mac and Linux users will be unable to watch the NBC Sports / MediaZone webcasts of today’s U.S. Olympic Men’s Marathon Trials and tomorrow’s ING New York City Marathon.

Although some Mac and Linux users were able circumvent the problem in the past, MediaZone has announced on their website that their customer service will not provide support for third-party applications and operating systems.

Man, oh man did NBC and Mediazone drop the ball on this one.

However: Mac and Linux users CAN still follow all the action right here onTheFinalSprint.com!

The best way to follow TFS’s up-to-the-minute coverage is at: http://newyork.thefinalsprint.com

Make sure to bookmark newyork.thefinalsprint.com and check back often to read updates and elite athlete profiles, watch pre- and post-race press conference videos and listen to The Final Sprint Podcast interviews with the top competitors!
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Olympic Team Berths at Stake for Top U.S. Marathoners

Posted October 31st, 2007 at 6:46 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics

America’s top men’s distance runners lead a declared field of 128 in Saturday’s 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Men’s Marathon. Perhaps the most anticipated Olympic Trials ever contested over the marathon distance, the race will be held Saturday morning in New York’s Central Park.

Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi, 2004 Olympic Trials champion Alan Culpepper, American half-marathon record holder Ryan Hall, two-time Olympian Abdi Abdirahman and 2004 Olympians Dan Browne and Dathan Ritzenhein are among those in a race to see who will become the first athletes named to the 2008 U.S. Olympic track and field team. 128 athletes of 134 entries have declared their intent to compete. Although declarations officially closed Monday afternoon, entrants who have yet to declare may do so by petition on Thursday, November 1, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Meb Keflezighi: The headliner of the Olympic Trials following his silver medal-winning performance at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Keflezighi has a marathon personal best time of 2:09:53, run at the 2004 ING New York City Marathon. Other top marathon placings for the Mammoth Lakes, Calif., resident include a third-place finish at New York in 2005 and also at the 2006 Boston Marathon.
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Olympic Marathon Trials to be Streamed LIVE, Free on NBCSports.com

Posted October 31st, 2007 at 2:45 PM by J. R. Markham

Section: News & Results, Marathons

NBCSports.com and NBCOlympics.com, in conjunction with online sports broadcaster MediaZone, will provide LIVE online coverage of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for the Men’s Marathon from New York City on Saturday, November 3 and the 2007 ING New York City Marathon on Sunday, November 4. All the latest marathon action can be accessed at NBCSports.com/marathon and NBCOlympics.com.

The action kicks off on Saturday as the top American male athletes compete for the chance to represent the U.S. in Beijing next summer with LIVE streaming coverage of the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials for the Men’s Marathon. The race is set to begin at Rockefeller Center and will be streamed in its entirety for FREE via the web. The start of the race will be broadcast LIVE nationally on NBC’s “Today” at 7:35am ET. This marks the first time ever that an Olympic Trials event is available LIVE online.
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New York Road Runners’ CENTRAL PARK LOOP

Posted October 25th, 2007 at 7:05 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics

This Week on Chasing Glory…

American distance running has made a comeback, with the development of young talent and the spotlight on marquee events such as the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Men’s Marathon in New York City. The Olympic Trials race is turning heads across the nation and around the world, and the mantra for this week is “Americans can run.”

Want to know more? Visit www.nyrr.org/chasingglory to view the videos in their entirety and read the accompanying text

Did You Know?

Forty years ago, in Alamosa, CO, the U.S. Olympic marathon team was selected by a single race for the first time. An Olympic steeplechaser from New Mexico named George Young won the Olympic Trials in 2:30:48 in his marathon debut.

In Jersey City, NJ, in 1988, prize money was first awarded to athletes in an Olympic Trials event (in something other than an equestrian event).

The 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Men’s Marathon will award a prize purse of $250,000, going 10 deep. Each of the three athletes who compete in the 2008 Olympic Games will receive a $20,000 Olympic marathon team bonus (payable post-Beijing).
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134 Athletes Entered for November 3rd U.S. Olympic Men’s Marathon Trials

Posted October 23rd, 2007 at 7:49 PM by Jamal Walker

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics

The largest field since 1984 is set to line up on November 3 for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Men’s Marathon in New York City, USA Track & Field (USATF) and the New York Road Runners (NYRR) announced Tuesday. Among the entrants are four previous national marathon champions, the American record holder and an Olympic medalist.

A total of 134 men, out of 179 qualifiers, have officially entered the race that will name the first three members of Team USA’s Track & Field team for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

The final entry list includes 2004 Olympic bronze medalist Meb Keflezighi (San Diego, Calif.), 2004 Olympic Trials champion Alan Culpepper (Louisville, Colo.), and American record holder Khalid Khannouchi (Ossining, N.Y.).

Also making a bid for the team will be two-time U.S. Olympian Abdi Abdirahman (Tucson, Ariz.); Brian Sell (Rochester Hills, Mich.), who made a brave attempt to surprise the field at the 2004 Olympic Team Trials - Men’s Marathon in Birmingham, Ala.; American record holder for the half-marathon Ryan Hall (Big Bear Lake, Calif.); and 2004 Olympic marathoner and 10,000 runner Dan Browne.
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Leading contenders officially enter U.S. Olympic Men’s Marathon Trials

Posted September 13th, 2007 at 5:30 PM by Hariz Siddiqui

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Olympics

VOTE: Cast your vote for the runner most likely to qualify in the U.S. Olympic Men’s Marathon Trials in TFS’s poll - located in the column to the right (Below the RSS Feeds)!

The members of the 2004 Olympic Marathon team and several rising distance running stars have officially entered the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Men’s Marathon, officials from USA Track & Field and New York Road Runners announced today.

By submitting their entries today, 2004 Olympic Trials champion Alan Culpepper (Boulder, Colo.), Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi (San Diego, Calif.) and 10,000m and marathon Olympian Dan Browne (Portland, Ore.) lead a host of contenders who have officially made their bid to become the first members of Team USA’s Track & Field squad for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Also joining Culpepper, Keflezighi and Browne on the official entry list for the November 3 event are half-marathon American record-holder Ryan Hall (Big Bear Lake, Calif.), 2004 Olympian Dathan Ritzenhein (Eugene, Ore.), Brian Sell (Rochester Hills, Mich.) and two-time Olympian Abdi Abdirahman (Tucson, Ariz.).

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