Bubka Is Coming! by Tom Jordan Editor’S Note: Tom Jordan Has Been the Prefontaine Meet Director for 35 Successful Years

Second in a series Bubka is Coming! by Tom Jordan Editor’s note: Tom Jordan has been the Prefontaine Meet Director for 35 successful years. OnTrack asked Tom to share his top five Prefontaine Classic memories during this, his last year as the Pre Classic Director. Tom agreed to our request, and we will publish his personal highlights in a series of five articles. This is the second article in the series. Note, these memories will not be competition highlights. A ranking by experts of Pre meet competition performances through 2014 may be found at PreClassic. Tom Jordan com, the official Prefontaine Classic website: Top 40 All-time. I remember the day when the Prefontaine Classic was saved like it was yesterday. (Okay, since it was nearly 30 years ago, maybe it was more like last week than yesterday.) The late 1980s had not been kind to the Pre Classic. Despite some superb performances by Oregon- based athletes such as Mary Slaney, Kory Tarpenning, Lance Deal, and Maria Mutola, the crowds at Pre had dwindled from a high of 13,680 in 1984 down to 5,500 in 1990. The meet, and the sport in general, was lacking an international flavor that would make it something extra special. Fortunately, help was on the way. The meet’s title sponsor, Nike, had been signing top athletes from around the globe. At the 1991 World Championships in Tokyo, I met in the meet headquarters hotel lobby with Steve Miller, the recently appointed head of Global Athletics (Track & Field/Running) for Nike. He said, “Tom, I want to bring Sergey to compete at the Prefontaine Classic.” Sergey was Sergey Bubka, the world record holder in the pole vault, and along with Carl Lewis, the biggest name on the men’s side in track and field. He was, in the words of Bob Rodman of the Register-Guard, “becoming to track what Michael Jordan is to basketball.” This was fantastic news! The following year was the Olympic Games, and a visit to Eugene would not fit into Bubka’s schedule, so 1993 was the year. But would the fans believe that one of the top athletes in the world was going to compete at the Pre on June 5? And that he was seriously talking about setting a world record in Eugene? Sergey arrived in Portland on May 30. The plan was for him to train in the Portland area until the meet. I begged the Nike folks to bring Bubka down to Eugene for a workout, otherwise, “the fans won’t believe he is really here.” On a wet and chilly June 1, Sergey came to Hayward Field. Somewhat skeptically, the local media had turned out to see if the greatest vaulter in history was going to show. He did. continued Pre Classic While Sergey was not too impressed with the Eugene weather, watching him take practice jumps at what would become “Historic” Hayward Field was stupendous. All of the TV stations ran videos of him vaulting, and the Register-Guard ran a front-page, above-the-fold photo and story in its sports section. Credibility established! Sergey didn’t disappoint in Saturday’s meet. He had two good tries at a new world record, even while vaulting on the south-to-north runway because of the wind conditions. The crowd of more than 8,000 ate it up, and the Pre Classic was saved. From that year on, the attendance climbed back to the 12,000-13,500 range, with a string of sellouts that continues to the present day. As a fitting coda, Sergey plans to return to Eugene for the Pre Classic on June 7 to help inaugurate the new Hayward Field! The Eugene Register-Guard newspaper story revealing Sergey Bubka was going to compete in the 1993 Prefontaine Classic..

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