For Release: March 2

Exciting Four-Day Track and Field Schedule Highlights 1998 Goodwill Games

Michael Johnson Eyes Double-Gold Repeat; Dan O'Brien Challenges 9,000-Point Mark; And Jackie Joyner-Kersee to Bid Farewell at Long Island's Mitchel Athletic

Goodwill Games President Mike Plant and USA Track & Field President Patricia Rico today unveiled the much-anticipated daily schedule for the athletics portion of the 1998 Goodwill Games. Four days of elite international track and field competition will take place at the newly-renovated Mitchel Athletic Complex in Long Island, July 19-22. The announcement was made at a luncheon of the New York Track Writers Association.

"This level of competition featuring the world's best athletes will be a tremendous boost to track and field in the U.S.," said USAT&F President Rico. "USA Track & Field is proud of its relationship with the 1998 Goodwill Games, and we look forward to some outstanding performances this summer."

The 1998 Goodwill Games are scheduled July 19 - August 2, in Manhattan and on Long Island. They feature approximately 1,500 international athletes competing in 15 sports for a prize purse of $5 million dollars in world record/performance incentives, the largest prize purse in multi-sport history.

"We have put together our finest track and field schedule in Goodwill Games' history. The athletics program has always been one of our marquee events, and the 1998 competition will feature the best field of athletics stars to date," said Plant. "Fans can expect to see Michael Johnson's attempt at another 200/400 double victory; Dan O'Brien challenge to his decathlon opponents to break the 9,000 point barrier; and track and field's finest lady-Jackie Joyner- Kersee -bids farewell in her final international heptathlon competition."

An optimal performance program with world-record incentives has also been established for the 1998 Goodwill Games athletics competition. The program marks the first time in Goodwill Games history that all athletics participants are awarded prize money for their performances.

The three tiers-Platinum, Gold Plus and Gold- award all eight individuals per event in the Games' finals-only format. The tier system is based on each event's marketability in the United States as determined by the Goodwill Games. Athletes will also be awarded additional bonuses for the following: 1998 World's best Time/Mark (outdoors) - $3,000; National Record - $1,500; Goodwill Games Record - $1,250; and Personal Best - $1,000.

Criteria for track and field competitors include: all 1996 Olympic Games individual event gold medalists; all 1997 Outdoor World Champions; 1994 Goodwill Games individual event gold medalists; all world No. 1 ranked athletes in 1997; all 1998 U.S. Outdoor Championship individual event champions; other top USA athletes, based upon results from the 1998 U.S. Outdoor National Championships, 1997 World Championships, 1997 Outdoor National Championships and the 1996 Olympic Games; and other top international athletes on the world performance list.

At the USA Track & Field Annual Meeting in December, Johnson announced his plans to run both the 200m and the 400m at this summer's Goodwill Games. It will be his first attempt at another double victory since his dazzling performances at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.

Johnson electrified the world by winning the Olympic 200-meter gold medal with a world-record time of 19.32, and then capturing the 400-meter gold medal. He became the first man ever to win both the 200-meter and 400-meter races in the same Olympic Games. The men's Goodwill Games 200m is set for Sunday, July 19 and the men's 400m is scheduled on Tuesday, July 21.

Dan O'Brien, 1996 Olympic gold medal decathlete and three-time World Champion, has challenged the world's top decathletes to the ultimate battle -- to not only best his 1992 World record of 8,891 in the ten-event contest, but to break the 9,000 mark. The decathlon takes place from July 19 - 20.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee's farewell performance takes place on July 21 - 22, when she will try for her fourth Goodwill Games heptathlon gold medal. She has built one of the most illustrious athletic careers in the world, earning the accolades of "World's Greatest Female Athlete" and "Queen of Track and Field." The award-winning sprinter has been at the forefront of the track and field world since the mid-1980s. In 1988, Joyner-Kersee set the world and Olympic records in the heptathlon.

TBS Superstation, the Games' host network, will televise 45 hours of prime-time coverage of the 1998 Goodwill Games. CBS will televise 10 hours of weekend, afternoon coverage. In addition to appearing on TBS and CBS, boxing will be televised on HBO as part of the Boxing After Dark series. The 1998 Games mark the first time a sporting event has appeared on all three levels of television distribution. Turner Sports is the host broadcaster and is coordinating all aspects of the production. Internationally, the syndication rights are being sold by Warner Bros. International Television Distribution, and the Games are expected to be broadcast to more than 130 countries.

More than 600,000 tickets are available for sale to the 15 sports of the 1998 Goodwill Games. Tickets, which range in price from $10 to $60, are available through Ticketmaster, the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum box office and the Madison Square Garden box office. For up-to-date information on ticket availability and all ticket outlets, visit the Goodwill Games website at www.goodwillgames98.com.

Past Goodwill Games sites include Moscow, Soviet Union, 1986; Seattle, Washington, 1990; and St. Petersburg, Russia, 1994.

The Goodwill Games are hosted through a combined effort between Goodwill Games, Inc. and the participating sports federations, in conjunction with the appropriate state, city and county governmental agencies. Goodwill Games, Inc., a division of Turner Sports and Time Warner, Inc., is responsible for all aspects of the event.

1998 Goodwill Games Athletics Competition
Daily Schedule of events
Sunday, July 19
Men	200m, 400m Hurdles, Shot Put, Discus, Javelin, Decathlon
Women	100m, 800m, 3000m SC, 400m Hurdles, Long Jump, Pole Vault, Shot Put
Monday, July 20
Men	800m, 3000m SC, 110m Hurdles, 20km Walk, Long Jump, Decathlon
Women	200m, Mile, 5000m, 100m Hurdles, High Jump, Discus
Tuesday, July 21
Men	100m, 400m, Mile, 10,000m, Pole Vault, Triple Jump
Women	400m, 10km Walk, Hammer, Javelin, Heptathlon
Wednesday, July 22
Men	5000m, 4x100 Relay, 4x400 Relay, High Jump, Hammer
Women	10,000m, 4x100 Relay, 4x400 Relay, Triple Jump, Heptathlon

CONTACTS:
Michael Lewellen Eileen Sexton Richard Finn Pete Cava	Goodwill Games/Atlanta Goodwill Games/Atlanta Goodwill Games/New York Goodwill Games/Atlanta	404/827-4786 404/827-5624 212/484-7647 404/827-4545 ext. 316