INDIANAPOLIS - Boston will serve as the site of the kick-off and the grand finale of USA Track & Field’s 2003 Indoor Golden Spike Tour, and fans around the country will be able to watch the Tour's four meets on five national television broadcasts on NBC and ESPN2.

The Golden Spike Tour, announced Thursday by USA Track & Field (USATF), begins February 1 with the adidas Boston Indoor Games at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston. It continues February 7 at the most historic invitational meet in indoor track and field, the Verizon Millrose Games at New York’s Madison Square Garden. On February 15 the Tour moves to the Tyson Foods Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The final stop returns the Golden Spike Tour to Boston’s Reggie Lewis Center for the 2003 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships, held March 1-2. More than 600 of America’s top athletes will compete in Boston, with the top two finishers in each event being selected for Team USA – the World’s #1 Track & Field Team – that will compete at the 2003 World Indoor Track & Field Championships March 14-16 in Birmingham, England.

On March 8-9, the USA Indoor Combined Events Championships will be held for the second consecutive year at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Tom Pappas, the #2 ranked decathlete outdoors in the world in 2002, won the 2002 U.S. indoor heptathlon crown last year at Eddie Smith Fieldhouse on the UNC campus. The women’s pentathlon also will be contested.

Many of the United States’ top international stars, to be announced in coming weeks, are expected to compete in the Golden Spike Tour. Sponsors of the 2003 Indoor Golden Spike Tour are Verizon, Nike, Visa and SoBe Sports System.

“This year’s Indoor Golden Spike Tour is critical for our athletes, given that our national team for the World Indoor Championships is being selected,” said USATF CEO Craig Masback. “Athletes will be at the top of their form, and we look forward to excellent competition at all four stops on the Tour. Equally as encouraging is that more of our television broadcasts than ever will be live, which will give sports fans the best opportunity to watch track and field at its finest.”

Now in its fifth year, the Golden Spike Tour provides America’s best athletes the opportunity to compete in the United States and earn substantial prize money in front of a nationally televised audience. Live crowds at Golden Spike Tour meets typically have averaged more than 10,000 fans, with TV ratings rising as much as 25 percent in any given year for individual broadcasts. With the return of NBC to the broadcast lineup, ratings should continue to grow.

The 2003 Golden Spike Tour television series begins with live coverage of the adidas Boston Indoor Games on February 1, on ESPN2. The Verizon Millrose Games also will be broadcast live on February 7 on ESPN2, with an NBC broadcast of the meet on February 8. The Tyson Invitational is scheduled to air on February 16, with the USA Indoor Championships on March 1 on ESPN2.

Tickets for the 2003 USA Indoor Track & Field Championships are available online at the USATF Web site, www.usatf.org. Ticket prices range from $10 to $20, with USATF members enjoying a 25 percent discount off that price. For additional ticket information for all Golden Spike Tour meets, visit www.usatf.org.

For more information on the Golden Spike Tour, visit the USATF Web site.

2003 Indoor Golden Spike Tour Event Schedule

Date Event Site

Feb. 1 adidas Boston Indoor Games Boston (Reggie Lewis Center)

Feb. 7 Verizon Millrose Games New York (Madison Square Garden)

Feb. 15 Tyson Foods Invitational Fayetteville, Ark. (Tyson Indoor Track Center)

March 1-2 USA Indoor Championships Boston (Reggie Lewis Center)

March 8-9 USA Ind. Combined Events Chapel Hill, N.C. (Eddie Smith Fieldhouse)

2003 Indoor Golden Spike Tour TV Schedule

(Broadcasts subject to change. All times Eastern; check local listings)

Date Event Network Time

Feb. 1 adidas Boston Indoor Games ESPN2 6-7 p.m. (LIVE)

Feb. 7 Verizon Millrose Games ESPN2 7:00-9 p.m. (LIVE)

Feb. 8 Verizon Millrose Games NBC 2:30-4 p.m.

Feb. 16 Tyson Foods Invitational ESPN2 8-9 p.m. March 1 USA Indoor Championships ESPN2 6-7:30 p.m. (LIVE)