NEW YORK – New York Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff, the founder of New York’s bid for the 2012 Olympics, this week welcomed the 2002 USA Indoor Championships to New York City.

The Indoor Championships will be held March 1-2 at the Armory Track & Field Center on 168th Street in Washington Heights. The meet will be broadcast from 4-5:30 p.m. Sunday, March 3, on ESPN.

“The Indoor Championships are finally coming back to New York, and we’re thrilled,” Doctoroff said Monday at the Track Writers Association of Metropolitan New York. “This is a great event, and one of the great events in New York. It is important for our Olympic effort that New York hosts these major championships.”

Prior to becoming Deputy Mayor, Doctoroff founded New York 2012, the organization working to bring the 2012 Olympic Games to the city. New York is one of four cities vying for America’s bid to host the Games, with the winning American bid city to be announced on November 3. The city announced by the United State Olympic Committee in November will then formally be presented to the International Olympic Committee as the United States’ candidate to host the Games.

“Seventeen of the 28 Olympic disciplines got their starts in the U.S. here in New York,” Doctoroff said. “We’re trying to continue that tradition. The International Olympic Committee traditionally picks their cities to tell something about the Olympic movement. New York represents what the Olympics are – it’s an Olympic Village every day.”