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Millrose Games turns 100
By The Associated Press
Friday, February 02, 2007 | 1 comment(s)
NEW YORK - It's going to be quite a party tonight at Madison Square Garden to mark the 100th consecutive year of the Millrose Games, a feat few sports events can match.
Wimbledon can't (the tournament was canceled during World Wars I and II). The Belmont Stakes can't (there was no race in 1911-12 because of anti-betting legislation in New York). The Indy 500 didn't start until three years after the Millrose Games, and it has been interrupted by war. The Masters began in 1934.
Along with events such as the U.S. Open tennis tournament (every year since 1881) and the Kentucky Derby (every year since 1875), the Millrose is about to become that rare event to be contested continuously for a century.
“This is home to me,” said 40-year-old Gail Devers, a five-time Millrose winner who will be competing in the hurdles against her student, Danielle Carruthers. “I wanted to come back to be a part of that legacy. A century - something every year you can count on, like payday.”
The meet started in 1908 as a competition among employees of the John Wanamaker department store. Its early versions included bicycle contests and sack races. Over the years, it has featured athletes ranging from Glenn Cunningham to Jesse Owens to Carl Lewis. It has hosted 87 world records.
The meet, which moved to Madison Square Garden in 1914 and has been there since, struggled in the 1990s to attract sponsorship. But it almost always has played to large, loud crowds that are closer to the track than in most major arenas.
“The crowd here always affected me in a positive way,” said Mary Decker Slaney, a six-time Millrose winner who set a world record in the 1,500 meters at the 1980 meet.
Devers, who cuddled with 19-month-old daughter Karsen during a pre-Millrose news conference, and former 100-meter world-record holder Maurice Greene are among the athletes trying to return to competition after long layoffs.
Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva will be making her Millrose debut, and her first appearance in North America. The reigning Olympic and world champion has set 19 world records, more than halfway to the 35 world marks in the pole vault set by Sergei Bubka in the 1980s and 1990s.
“My goal is still to make a lot of world records, maybe even more than Sergei did in his time,” Isinbayeva said Thursday. “I am proud to be here and to be a part of this great celebration. I will try to make a present for all who want to see it.”
The world's top-ranked men's pole vaulter, Steve Hooker, will be competing with poles borrowed from fellow competitor Jeff Hartwig. Hooker's poles got lost last week on flights from Sydney to San Francisco to Boston.
The Wanamaker Mile, traditionally the highlight event, will feature four-time winner Bernard Lagat, 2005 world championships 5,000-meter bronze medalist Craig Mottram and Alan Webb, who broke U.S. high school records in the mile five years ago and is trying to make his mark among the world's top milers.
“It's a pretty special year,” he said. “It's the 100th running; I couldn't pass that up. I wanted to be a part of the history of that. When they have the 200th running of the Millrose Games and they look back, I'll be on that list, whether I won or not.”
Wimbledon can't (the tournament was canceled during World Wars I and II). The Belmont Stakes can't (there was no race in 1911-12 because of anti-betting legislation in New York). The Indy 500 didn't start until three years after the Millrose Games, and it has been interrupted by war. The Masters began in 1934.
Along with events such as the U.S. Open tennis tournament (every year since 1881) and the Kentucky Derby (every year since 1875), the Millrose is about to become that rare event to be contested continuously for a century.
“This is home to me,” said 40-year-old Gail Devers, a five-time Millrose winner who will be competing in the hurdles against her student, Danielle Carruthers. “I wanted to come back to be a part of that legacy. A century - something every year you can count on, like payday.”
The meet started in 1908 as a competition among employees of the John Wanamaker department store. Its early versions included bicycle contests and sack races. Over the years, it has featured athletes ranging from Glenn Cunningham to Jesse Owens to Carl Lewis. It has hosted 87 world records.
The meet, which moved to Madison Square Garden in 1914 and has been there since, struggled in the 1990s to attract sponsorship. But it almost always has played to large, loud crowds that are closer to the track than in most major arenas.
“The crowd here always affected me in a positive way,” said Mary Decker Slaney, a six-time Millrose winner who set a world record in the 1,500 meters at the 1980 meet.
Devers, who cuddled with 19-month-old daughter Karsen during a pre-Millrose news conference, and former 100-meter world-record holder Maurice Greene are among the athletes trying to return to competition after long layoffs.
Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva will be making her Millrose debut, and her first appearance in North America. The reigning Olympic and world champion has set 19 world records, more than halfway to the 35 world marks in the pole vault set by Sergei Bubka in the 1980s and 1990s.
“My goal is still to make a lot of world records, maybe even more than Sergei did in his time,” Isinbayeva said Thursday. “I am proud to be here and to be a part of this great celebration. I will try to make a present for all who want to see it.”
The world's top-ranked men's pole vaulter, Steve Hooker, will be competing with poles borrowed from fellow competitor Jeff Hartwig. Hooker's poles got lost last week on flights from Sydney to San Francisco to Boston.
The Wanamaker Mile, traditionally the highlight event, will feature four-time winner Bernard Lagat, 2005 world championships 5,000-meter bronze medalist Craig Mottram and Alan Webb, who broke U.S. high school records in the mile five years ago and is trying to make his mark among the world's top milers.
“It's a pretty special year,” he said. “It's the 100th running; I couldn't pass that up. I wanted to be a part of the history of that. When they have the 200th running of the Millrose Games and they look back, I'll be on that list, whether I won or not.”
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