IAAF visit to Oregon ahead of 2021 world track championships leaves unanswered questions

UO foundation president Paul Weinhold said the Hayward Field renovation project will be completed in time for Eugene to stage the 2021 World Outdoor Track and Field Championships. (Thomas Boyd/2015)

An IAAF team has been in Portland and Eugene this week to discuss preparations for the 2021 World Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

The championships are more than three years away. But there are unresolved issues, such as repeated delays to required renovations of Hayward Field, and a reported FBI investigation into how the championships were awarded.

The International Association of Athletics Federations is the governing body of international track and field. The visiting team was headed by IAAF chief operating officer Olivier Gers.

Speaking by phone on Wednesday from Eugene, Gers declined to address specifics of the stadium renovation or the reported FBI investigation.

Gers said this IAAF visit would be the first of many, and primarily concerned two topics.

-- To build relationships between IAAF officials and members of the TrackTown USA local organizing committee.

-- To address logistical issues involved in staging what he said would be "the largest sporting event in the world in 2021."

Gers said it was an "opportunity for us to figure out the sheer magnitude of the event together and ways to present it in terms of the people coming to this state to participate."

Just getting people in and out of an event at Hayward, the 99-year-old track stadium that sits on the University of Oregon campus, is a problem. There is little adjacent parking and arterial access is limited.

Housing athletes, meet officials, media and fans already is a problem for events at Hayward such as the NCAA Outdoor Championships, which involve fewer people.

"We have three and a half years, 1,295 days, to sort out the details and work on these plans," Gers said. "Clearly, it's a big event. I won't lie to you. Thousands and thousands of people are coming in, and that requires logistics."

It also requires a bigger, better Hayward. The stadium has a listed permanent capacity of 10,500 and has been expanded with temporary seating to approximately 20,000.

The IAAF minimum capacity for a stadium hosting the world championships is 30,000.

Original plans called for an extensive renovation to begin immediately after the 2016 U.S. Olympic trials. It was expected to take two years with a pause late in the spring of 2017 to allow Hayward to stage the Prefontaine Classic, the Oregon state high school championships and the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

But the work has been delayed several times and has not yet begun. Sources say the original plan, which preserved the iconic east side of the stadium, has been scrapped.

The stadium project now is expected to be a complete teardown and rebuild under the direction of Howard Slusher, a longtime adviser to Nike co-founder Phil Knight. Knight is said to be a large contributor to the project. Slusher has supervised other building projects for Knight and Nike.

Paul Weinhold, president and CEO of the University of Oregon Foundation, said Wednesday he expects the project to begin this summer, and for the plans to become public early this spring.

"We're doing it, and it's going to be ready," Weinhold said.

Gers said he hadn't seen the plans, and isn't concerned about it.

"We are very confident it will be done right away, and it will be done in the right time," Gers said.

Gers begged off a question about a reported FBI investigation into the IAAF decision to bypass a formal bid process when awarding the 2021 World Outdoor Championships.

Asked if he believes Eugene's bid was honestly awarded, Gers said, "I have no reason to believe it wasn't. We know the players. We know the actors. They have incredible reputations. We are confident everything worked out in the right way."

-- Ken Goe

kgoe@oregonian.com | @KenGoe

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