US track wants to shorten Olympic trials and put them at LA Coliseum

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The leader of USA Track and Field cut through confusion surrounding the 2028 Olympic trials, saying the preference is to hold them in the LA Coliseum several weeks before the actual Olympic track meet takes place there.

Max Siegel told The Associated Press on Thursday that the goal is to give U.S. athletes the closest thing to a simulation of the actual Olympics, and that there is no better place to do that than holding the trials in the same stadium as the Games.

He also said plans are for the meet, which traditionally has been spread over 10 days, to be shortened in 2028. Siegel is hoping to have the issue settled by January. Olympic trials usually take place six to eight weeks before track starts at the Games.

“It is no secret that our desire is to have something in the West Coast, and preferably in LA,” Siegel said. “We're going to do everything that we possibly can to try to have our trials” at the Coliseum.

LA chairman Casey Wasserman injected some uncertainty into the issue over the summer when he said he thought hosting the trials so close to the Olympics “adds a level of complexity to our planning that I'm not sure is best for the athletes.”

The main concern was whether the Coliseum, which also hosts University of Southern California football games and other events, would be ready for a world-level track meet in time for trials. There's also the issue of resetting the stadium for the Olympics in the month or so after trials.

Asked on Thursday about LA's current position, the organizing committee sent AP a statement: “We are exploring the possibility of hosting the 2028 Track and Field Trials at the Coliseum in Los Angeles.”

Holding trials at the stadium where the Olympics are taking place would fit with U.S. Olympics in the past: In 1996, they were held at Olympic Stadium in Atlanta and in 1984, they were at the Coliseum.

USATF has held every Olympic trials since 2008 at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus in Eugene, Oregon.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports