PoleVaultPower.com

We made the decision to create the Eugene Belladeca Meeting for three reasons:



1. In our opinion, there is no longer a defensible position NOT to have the women's decathlon. However, unique to the women’s decathlon, there is already an event (the heptathlon) that fills that niche within our sport. This means there will be inherent resistance from various stakeholders. This will create additional barriers to overcome, but at the end of the day, we feel the 10 events of the decathlon are a far better barometer of the world's greatest athlete than the more limiting heptathlon. We feel women are just as capable as men at handling the ten events. So, like the women’s pole vault and the women’s steeple chase; its’ time has come. Yet until somebody does it big, few high level athletes will participate. Without quality participation, the governing bodies will never ratify the event, even though it is the right thing to do. And so it goes...



2. The US stages no major multis competition comparable to Gotzis and Talence. We feel its’ time has also come. The only place in the US where the fan support is comparable to Europe is Eugene, Oregon. We plan to add the men's event in the third year, after the women's event has been firmly established in '08 and '09.



3. We feel progress in the women's PV has slowed and even stagnated in the US prematurely. When you look at the best male pole vaulters in the world, you see great all-around athletes. Many could be world-class decathletes if they chose. This cannot be said of the women's event. Female pole vaulters are not yet on par with heptathletes athletically. But when a tall, athletic heptathlete with good speed and a 6.5m long jump picks up the pole vault; look out. The most exciting byproduct of establishing the women's decathlon is what it will mean for the women's pole vault.



4. We’re confident the timing of the women's decathlon has never been better (it will never be good timing for the top hepts at the time). Kluft and Barber should be finished by the time it's an IAAF or Olympic (exhibition?) event. The date of the 2008 Belladeca was also strategic. We’re not naive enough to think the Beijing competitors would be interested in the decathlon. Our target group for the first two years will be the non-qualifiers for Beijing and Berlin. 2010 (no WC or Olympic Games) will be the year to slide the meet up in the calendar to attract all of the top women.



5. We were aware of the Missouri meet and Skyute's world record and meant no disrespect in our promo. That meet is certainly "major" in terms of talent, but when we refer to "major" with the Belledeca, we envision a meet with major talent, but also a marketing/advertising/promotions plan, sponsors, prize money, websites, significant attendance, etc... In short, we envision a meet that will launch the women's decathlon into the track and field world in a way that will make it impossible to be ignored.

rainbowgirl28 wrote:SO FUNNY http://www.yakoushkin.com/track/why_the ... ns_dec.htm