New US track league planned for 2016

The United States will get a new track and field circuit and championship meet in 2016, leading up to next summer’s Olympic Games.

Vin Lananna, president of TrackTown USA, told press last month the money for a new six-city race circuit exists and that athletes can expect the meets to be held after the US Olympic trials next year leading up to the Olympic Games, hoping to offer competition opportunities to athletes without going to Europe.

The events will feature teams of athletes who will compete for team titles, with scoring structured similarly to how university teams score points and win team titles, with a number of points awarded for certain finishes. Athletes will be allowed to keep their current shoe sponsorship deals.

Lananna has suggested the series will feature as many as 200 athletes and the six-city series will conclude with a finale in Eugene, Ore., at Hayward Field, the head of TrackTown USA.

The other cities involved have not been announced. Lananna is hoping to secure a broadcast partner for the events.