12/13/07 

In poker, it would qualify as a royal flush.

Wednesday’s announcement by Craig Masback, CEO of USA Track & Field, the sport’s national governing body, that Eugene would host the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Olympic Trials in 2012 and the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 2009 and 2011, gives storied Hayward Field a succession of high-caliber track meets that are sure to pump money into local coffers.

This comes as Eugene is knee-deep in preparations to stage the 2008 Trials, and on the heels of last summer’s news, when it was chosen to host the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships in 2010. The five-year string of major track meets — in addition to the annual Prefontaine Classic — will bring an economic jackpot to area hotels, restaurants, cab companies and others catering to the deluge of out-of-town guests, organizers said.