Bolt to Hit Toronto in June

The brightest star in track and field has committed to run in a world-class meet in Toronto on June 11, at the refurbished Varsity Stadium. Jamaica’s Usain Bolt will compete in the 100m at Toronto’s first-ever “Festival of Excellence,” a marquee track meet that is also expected to include the likes of Canadian hurdlers Priscilla Lopes-Schliep and Perdita Felicien. “I feel our sport is in dire need of some excitement, passion and fun,” says organizer John Carson.

Brining the world’s fastest man to town is likely to attract media attention usually reserved for the more popular Canadian sports such as hockey and football. A track meet hasn’t created this kind of buzz since sprinters Donovan Bailey and Michael Johnson went head-to-head at Toronto’s SkyDome in 1997. Back then, thousands of empty seats and an anti-climatic finish (Johnson pulled up with an injury) helped make that event a failure in the eyes of many sports fans. But Carson seems confident a similar debacle won’t take place this time around, in part because he’s trying to make the event more than just a track meet. “Along with world-class racing, there will be music, theatre and perhaps gospel singers on the back stretch,” he says.

Carson has experience organizing international-calibre events. Five years ago, he brought together a field of some of the world’s top milers for a race in Cambridge, Ont. His success with the “Classic Mile” has given him a solid reputation among promoters, including Bolt’s agent, Ricky Simms.

Bolt, 22, is coming off one of the most impressive seasons in track and field history, winning three Olympic gold medals, and setting world records in the 100m (9.69) and the 200m (19.30). He’s expected to make about $250,000 for the Toronto race. Despite Bolt’s hefty appearance fee, Carson still expects the event to make money, and believes the Festival of Excellence can become an annual tradition.

In addition to success at the box office, track and field enthusiasts hope the event will give the sport a higher profile, and boost participation numbers across Canada. There are already plans underway to partner with various humanitarian organizations to use the meet as a way to raise money for UNICEF and HIV-AIDS. A program appropriately titled “Run Like Lightning” will also be launched in elementary schools across Ontario, with children taking part in a six-week running clinic. In the end, 200 schools will send four children and a staff member to the big meet, Carson says. “The goal of this program is to showcase heroes of the sport and inspire the next generation.”