Jared Slinde USA Track & Field Communications Manager [email protected]
Carter added to U.S. Open 50m field
NEW YORK – 2008 Olympic 4x100-meter gold medalist Nesta Carter has joined a loaded men’s 50m field at the U.S. Open Track & Field January 28 at Madison Square Garden. The Jamaican replaces Trinidad’s Richard Thompson, who has withdrawn from the race, and gives the field two of the four fastest 100-meter sprinters in history.
The inaugural edition of the U.S. Open is the first event of USATF’s Visa Championships Series and will be held in the newly renovated Garden. The first major professional meet in the United States to kick-off the 2012 Olympic year, it will be broadcast on Sunday, January 29, from 7-9 p.m. on ESPN2.
Along with the gold medal in Beijing, Carter was a member of the Jamaican 4x100m that won a gold medal at the 2011 World Outdoor Championships and made the finals in the 100m. He won a silver medal in the 4x100m at the 2007 World Outdoor Championships. Carter joins teammateAsafa Powell along with Americans Justin Gatlin and Trell Kimmons and Antigua’s Daniel Bailey in what promises to be a highlight event for the U.S. Open.
Only Usain Bolt, Tyson Gay and Powell have ever run a faster in the 100m than Carter’s 2010 personal best of 9.78. That time was tied with Gay for the fastest in the world that year.
Carter joins previously announced stars to the U.S. Open David Oliver, Bernard Lagat, Veronica Campbell-Brown, Jesse Williams, Christian Cantwell, Adam Nelson, Jason Richardson, Dawn Harper, Kellie Wells, Tiffany Ofili Porter, Ryan Whiting and Jenn Suhr.
Tickets on sale The U.S. Open will be broadcast Sunday, January 29, from 7-9 p.m. on ESPN2. Tickets are available at the MSG Box Office, Ticketmaster charge at 866-858-0008, all Ticketmaster outlets, and THEGARDEN.com/USOPEN. Annual MSG Track & Field subscribers can contact 212-465-6073. USATF proudly accepts only Visa.
USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track & field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, the World's #1 Track & Field Team, the most-watched events at the Olympics, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport, and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States: www.usatf.org.
