1989 World Masters Athletics Championships

1989 World Masters Athletics Championships
Dates27 July - 6 August 1989
Host cityEugene, United States
VenueHayward Field
Hayward Field in 2007, before 2018 renovation
LevelMasters
TypeOutdoor
Participation4951 athletes from
58[1]: 4  nations
← 1987
1991 →

44°02′33″N 123°04′14″W / 44.0424068°N 123.070692°W / 44.0424068; -123.070692 (Hayward Field)

Silke Field

1989 World Masters Athletics Championships is the eighth in a series of World Masters Athletics Outdoor Championships (called World Veterans Championships at the time) that took place from 27 July to 6 August 1989 in Eugene, Oregon, [2] known as the "Track Capital of the World" and as TrackTown USA. [3]: 181  Athletes from the Soviet Union participated for the first time in this series. [4]: 40  [3]: 182  [5]: 51 

The main venue was Hayward Field, [4]: 19  which had hosted the United States track and field Olympic trials in 1972, 1976, and 1980. Some stadia events were held at Silke Field in adjacent Springfield. [6]: 19  [4]: 38  This championships was considered a bigger sporting event than those Olympic trials. [7]: 8  Four-time Olympic Champion Al Oerter called these Championships "more like the Olympics than the Olympics", since participating athletes consistently outnumber those at the Olympic Games track and field events. The 4951 participants at this year's "world's largest track meet" dwarfed the 1617 athletics competitors at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. [1]: 3  The 1968 Summer Olympics 1500m gold medalist Kipchoge Keino carried a friendship torch into the stadium to light an Olympic-style flame during opening ceremonies on Friday, 26 July. [4]: 39  [3]: 187  [1]: 5 : 14  [5]: 51  The closing ceremonies was considered more moving than that of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. [4]: 41 

This edition of masters athletics Championships had a minimum age limit of 35 years for women and 40 years for men. [8] [7]: 3  [4]: 38 

The governing body of this series is World Association of Veteran Athletes (WAVA). WAVA was formed during meeting at the inaugural edition of this series at Toronto in 1975, then officially founded during the second edition in 1977, then renamed as World Masters Athletics (WMA) at the Brisbane Championships in 2001. [9] [5]: 56 

This Championships was organized by WAVA in coordination with a Local Organising Committee (LOC) of Tom Jordan, Barbara Kousky. [2] [4]: 37 

In addition to a full range of track and field events, [10] [11] non-stadia events included 10K Cross Country, 10K Race Walk (women), 20K Race Walk (men), and Marathon. Another non-stadia event was new for this series: a 10K Road Race, run through the streets of Eugene. [7]: 8  [4]: 38  In the stadia events, the Pentathlon was replaced by Decathlon for men and by Heptathlon for women, [6]: 17  and women's steeplechase was introduced for the first time; the distance was 2K though the barrier height was the same as the men's at 91.4 cm for this Championships. [12]

  1. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference MastersResults was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b "Outdoor". World Masters Athletics.
  3. ^ a b c Olson, Leonard T. (November 29, 2000). Masters Track and Field: A History. McFarland. ISBN 0786408898.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Cite error: The named reference NMN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c Kusy, Krzysztof; Zieliński, Jacek (January 2006). Parzy, Wiesława (ed.). Masters athletics. Social, biological and practical aspects of veterans sport. Akademia Wychowania Fizycznego w Poznaniu/Poznan University of Physical Education. ISBN 83-88923-69-2. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference NMN7 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ a b c "VIII WORLD VETERANS CHAMPIONSHIPS" (PDF). Museum of Masters Track & Field. Oregon Daily Herald. July 26, 1989.
  8. ^ "Elder athletes ready for meet". United Press International. July 26, 1989.
  9. ^ "WORLD MASTERS (VETERANS) CHAMPIONSHIPS (MEN)". gbrathletics.com. Athletics Weekly.
  10. ^ Martin Gasselsberger. "WMA World Masters Athletics RULES OF COMPETITION". Masters Athletics.
  11. ^ "World Masters Athletic Championships". Wellington Masters Athletics.
  12. ^ "Looking Back: The First US Women's Steeplechase". steeplechics. October 30, 2008.