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Olympics Blog

Track Town, USA

By Helene Elliott
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This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

EUGENE, Ore. -- This city has long been a runners’ haven, and it seems everyone here is aware of the track trials or involved in them as a volunteer or spectator.

Venerable Hayward Field has undergone extensive renovations, including the addition of grandstands and new coats of paint, and it looks spectacular. The only potential problem is the weather -- temperatures are expected to be in the mid-to-high 90s all weekend -- but sprinters love warm weather and the 100-meter dash for men and women will be contested today and Sunday.

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-- Helene Elliott

Top photo: The newly refurbished Hayward Field earlier this month. Credit: Don Ryan / Associated Press

At right: Heptathlete Hyleas Fountain takes refuge from the sun. Credit: Matthew Stockman / Getty Images

Olympics Blog
Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.

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