TrackTown USA awarded 2014 IAAF World Junior Championships...

MONTE CARLO--Eugene, Oregon was formally awarded the 2014 IAAF world junior track & field championships by the IAAF Council during its meetings Friday.

Eugene was the only bidder for the event after the Bahamas withdrew due to lack of funding.

“It’s a very proud and exciting moment that after so many years of being in the position to host the world’s athletes in a major world athletics series event. There are challenges ahead but I know that the people of Eugene and our national federation are going to meet those challenges and do everything to make this a very successful event.”

“Because it’s in Eugene in ‘TrackTown USA’, because of where it is, in that special environment, in that stadium, and that site, we know it will be a success.”

Eugene and Historic Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon annually hosts the Nike Prefontaine Classic, a Samsung Diamond League event, and in 2012 will host both the US Olympic Team Trials-Track & Field, and the first Pac-12 track & field championships.

Stephanie Hightower, President of USATF: “This will be an opportunity for us to reposition the caliber of the sport in the USA and that will have an effect on a global level, so we think it is exciting to come back (last time USA were hosts of an IAAF World Athletics Series event was the 1992 World Cross Country Championships in Boston). It will definitely reposition track and field in a way we really want to long term, and we hope that from the networks, the TV and with the marketing it will raise the sport of track and field to a different level in the USA. So we are really excited.”

The IAAF release is available here.

The major presentation at Friday's meetings is the one by London and Doha to host the 2017 world championships.

NOTE: The IAAF media relations staff contributed to this report.