Olympic
champions to compete at Goodwill Games
Reuters
1 June 2001 – Brisbane - More than half of the individual track and field winners at last year's Sydney Olympics have announced they will return to Australia this year to compete in the Goodwill Games.
A total of 24 gold medallists, including American sprint champions Maurice Greene, Marion Jones and Michael Johnson, have signed up for the lucrative multi-sports event to be staged in the Queensland state capital Brisbane from August 29-September 9.
"We are extremely pleased that many of the best in the sport of track and field will be travelling to Brisbane from around the world," Goodwill Games president Mike Plant said in a statement released on Friday.
British Olympic champions Jonathan Edwards and Denise Lewis, German long jumper Heike Dreschler and Czech javelin thrower Jan Zelezny were also confirmed as starters for the event which offers prizemoney in addition to medals.
Each of the athletics winners in the track and field will receive US20,000 in cash plus bonus prizes of US$100,000 for any world records.
A total of 44 track and field events, including relays, will be staged at Brisbane's ANZ Stadium from September 4-7. Each of the events will be staged as finals only with the competitors selected by invitation.
