The Adidas Track Classic is an American track and field athletics meeting which has taken place annually in

Carson, California Carson is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the South Bay region of Los Angeles, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International Airport. Incorporated on February 20, 1968, ...

since 2005. The meeting forms part of the USA Track & Field

Visa Championship Series The Visa Championship Series was an annual series of athletics meets organised by the USA Track & Field. Meetings Meetings in 2012 Indoor Outdoor External linksOfficial websitefrom USATF USA Track & Field (USATF) is the United States nati ...

and is also one of the few area meetings where athletes can earn points to qualify for the World Athletics Final. The event has its roots in the Oregon Track Classic, which was sponsored by

Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufactur ...

until 2005 and was forced to close that year due to lack of funding. Top athletes from the North America, Central America and Caribbean (NACAC) area compete at the event and a number of national and area records have been set at previous editions. The event is usually held in mid-May at The Home Depot Center, part of the Adidas Performance Institute. Athletes who are part of the Adidas track team often feature prominently and

World Champions A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and

Olympic medalists This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Winter Olympic sports A. Including military patrol e ...

often participate in the event. The competition is broadcast on television in the United States.

Previous editions

After winning the 100 metres at the 2004 edition, Olympic Gold Medalist Maurice Greene walked back to the finish line and took off his shoes as if they were on fire. As part of the planned stunt

Allen Johnson Allen Kenneth Johnson (born March 1, 1971) is an American former hurdling athlete who won the gold medal in the 110 metre hurdles at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. He is also a four-time world champion. Born in Washington, D.C. ...

rushed onto the track with a real fire extinguisher to put out the shoes,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NvXhb52bAk How to mock your rivals in one of the more famous

showboating A showboat, or show boat, was a floating theater that traveled along the waterways of the United States, especially along the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, to bring culture and entertainment to the inhabitants of river frontiers. Showboats were a ...

incidents. At the 2008 Adidas Track Classic Tyson Gay won both the

100 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

and

200 meters The 200 metres, or 200-meter dash, is a sprint running event. On an outdoor 400 metre racetrack, the race begins on the curve and ends on the home straight, so a combination of techniques is needed to successfully run the race. A slightl ...

races,Gay wins 100, 200 titles at Adidas Track Classic
. AFP (2008-05-18). Retrieved on 2009-05-17. while

Megan Metcalfe Megan Elizabeth Wright (née Metcalfe; born 27 January 1982) is a Canadian long-distance runner who specializes in the 5000 metres. Metcalfe attended West Virginia University, where she won the 2005 NCAA outdoor title in the 5000m. She was born ...

and Ethiopian Ali Abdosh set world leading times in the

3000 3000 or ''variation'', may refer to: * 3000 (number), the number three thousand * A.D. 3000, the last year of the 30th century and the 3rd millennium CE * 3000 BCE, a year in the 3rd millennium BC * 3000s AD, a decade, century, millennium in the 4 ...

and

5000 meters The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stand ...

respectively. Shannon Rowbury won the

1500 meters The 1500 metres or 1,500-metre run (typically pronounced 'fifteen-hundred metres') is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletic ...

with the fastest time by an American woman in five years and Jeremy Wariner set the

400 meters The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is on ...

meeting record. In the 2009 edition Anna Willard ran the fastest

3000 meters steeplechase The 3000 metres steeplechase or 3000-meter steeplechase (usually abbreviated as ) is the most common distance for the steeplechase in track and field. It is an obstacle race over the distance of the 3000 metres, which derives its name from the h ...

to have been run in the United States and

Hazel Clark Hazel Mae Clark (born October 3, 1977) is an American middle-distance runner who specializes in the 800 meters middle distance race. She was a member of the U.S. Olympic team in 2000, 2004 and 2008. She has won six national titles and two USA Oly ...

set a new track record in the 800 metres.

LaShawn Merritt LaShawn Merritt (born June 27, 1986) is an American track and field athlete who competes in sprinting events, specializing in the 400 metres. He is a former Olympic champion over the distance and his personal best of 43.65 seconds makes him the ...

, Jenn Stuczynski aka Jenn Suhr, Aheza Kiros and Kerron Clement won their events with world-leading times but Clement's

400 meter hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

world leading time was disqualified due to a misplaced hurdle. Second-placed Angelo Taylor struck out at the meet organisers for their mistake, saying he would never compete again at the event.

Meet records

Men's events

''Records are correct as of May 17, 2009.''

Women's events

References

External links

{{US track and field competitions Sports competitions in Los Angeles Track and field competitions in the United States Annual track and field meetings Sports competitions in Carson, California Track and field in California