TrackTown USA, the local organizing committee for the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships – to be held March 17-20 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland – celebrated the 99-day out milestone for this historic event on Wednesday.
TrackTown USA President Vin Lananna was joined by special guests Portland Mayor Charlie Hales and IAAF Competitions Director Paul Hardy before a gathering of local media outlets at the OCC.
The 99-day out presentation shined a spotlight on the men’s and women’s pole vault-only competition which will open the four-day event on March 17 at 7:05 p.m. The world’s top 12 male and female pole vaulters will alternate jumps on two separate runways as they compete for medals and prize money.
Those in attendance were treated to a series of renderings which showed what the infield configuration would look like during the pole vault competition inside the OCC’s new 200-meter banked oval track and 7,000-seat stadium. With seats right on top of the action, this will be a once-in-a-lifetime chance for fans to see these elite pole vaulters perform.
Under the leadership of Lananna, TrackTown USA also revealed plans for one of its special youth initiatives at the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championships – six high school 4×400-meter relays to be held during the meet on Saturday and Sunday.
There will be three boys’ races and three girls’ races, divided into three sections: small school, large school and Invitational. Under this ambitious program, a total of 144 high school athletes from the Pacific Northwest will get a chance to perform on the same track being used by the world’s greatest track and field athletes!
The event closed with the unveiling of one of the special commemorative ticket packages for the meet, and the first official photos of the 2016 IAAF World Indoor Championship track being assembled in a Portland warehouse. The track covers more than 40,000 square feet, weighs over 200 tons and includes 1,400 panels. There are more than 100 tons of steel and 2,000 adjustable legs in the frame and the banking on the turns is 10 degrees.