April 11, 2000
TEMPE, Ariz. - Olympic Champion Donovan Bailey leads a list of track and field stars that will compete at the Sun Angel Track Classic this Saturday, April 15, at Sun Angel Stadium.
Bailey, who will also compete in the 100m, will be joined by the rest of Canada's National 4x100m relay squad (Trevino Betty, Glenroy Gilbert and Glenn Smith), discus world champion Anthony Washington and pole vaulters Nick Hysong and Mel Mueller.
Six universities will also have squads on hand, including Arizona State, Auburn, Minnesota, Northern Arizona, the U.S. Military Academy and Washington.
At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga., Bailey posted a 9.84 in the 100 meters to win the gold medal and break the Olympic and world records. He and the 4x100m relay squad won gold. He's a three-time world champion. He ruptured his Achilles tendon in 1998 but returned to competition in time for the Pan American Games in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Born in Jamaica but raised in Oakville, Ontario, Bailey was a basketball player at Sheridan College and was building a successful career as an independent market consultant and a stockbroker in Toronto while running track as a hobby. He was named Athlete of the Decade in the 100m by Track & Field News and boasts the fastest recorded speed for a human being - 27.1 mph.
Washington became the first American to win the discus event at the World Championships when he accomplished the feat in 1999, and in doing so, also became the first American to win discus at a major international meet since 1976. He's a Pan Am Games champion, a three time national champion, placed fourth in the 1996 Olympics and has a personal best throw of 233 feet, 5 inches.
Mueller once held the American record in the women's pole vault with a mark of 14-9. She placed second at this year's indoor national championships and has been among the top three American pole vaulters since 1997 and is working toward making it to the Olympics, where her signature event will be competed for the first time. An Arizona State alumn, Hysong set school records in the pole vault in 1994, setting an indoor mark of 18-7.25 and an outdoor mark of 18-8.25. He has since surpassed 19-2.
The Sun Angel Track Classic will begin field events at 3:30 p.m. followed by running events at 4:30 p.m. The meet is expected to conclude by 8:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the stadium.