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May 04, 2006

2006 Jerome Meet Presents Expanded Pacific World Cup:
FULL INTERNATIONAL AND PROVINCIAL DUAL MEET

VANCOUVER - The fledgling Pacific World Cup just got bigger, and better.

Organizers of the annual Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic confirmed today the 2006 meet, slated for June 8 at Burnaby's Swangard Stadium, will be a full dual international track and field meet featuring national team athletes from the People's Republic of China and Canada.

"The presentation of the dual meet concept in this year's Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic features China and Canada fighting for the Pacific World Cup," says Dr. Doug Clement, president of the Achilles Track and Field Society, which organizes the annual meet. "This marks the first dual meet for Canada since 1988, when the Canadian team prevailed over Italy in Cessanatico. This meet of China and Canada will contain many of the athletes who will represent their countries in Beijing in 2008."

The 2005 Jerome meet proved a historic endeavour as China sent a small contingent of athletes to compete against Canadian team rivals in select events on the meet program. This small "dual meet within a meet" concept proved so popular that Canada and China have agreed to field full national teams for this year's Jerome meet, with athletes competing in all events and their results scoring to determine this year's winner of the Pacific World Cup. China has confirmed it will send some 38 athletes and 12 officials for this year's event.

In addition, a provincial dual meet concept has been added to this year's program with B.C. and Alberta athletes competing in the same events as Canadian and Chinese national team competitors. Their results will also score toward determining a team winner from the two provinces.

With China and Canada playing host to the next two Olympic Games - Beijing in 2008 and Vancouver in 2010 - the expanded dual meet program for the Pacific World Cup is a celebration of international cooperation and competition between two Olympic host nations.

"The Harry Jerome meet has always been a forum for Canada's best athletes to display their talents in front of a home crowd," says Chris Rudge, CEO and Secretary General of the Canadian Olympic Committee. "The development, and inclusion, of the Pacific World Cup raises the bar to another level and provides our athletes with an even greater opportunity to fine tune their skills as we move toward the 2008 Games in Beijing."

The small dual meet format in 2005 grew as a result of a bilateral agreement forged by the COC and Chinese Olympic Committee at a special ceremony in Beijing. The agreement commits to providing Canadian athletes with early access to training and acclimatization sites prior to the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In turn, Chinese athletes will be offered reciprocal training opportunities in Canada leading up to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

"The Canadian and Chinese Olympic Committees have developed a mutually supportive relationship subsequent to the signing of last year's bilateral agreement between our two organizations," explains Rudge. "This event is a clear demonstration of our commitment to the advancement of sport to the benefit of all our athletes."

The 2006 Vancouver Sun Harry Jerome International Track Classic, featuring the Pacific World Cup, is again part of the PacifiCanada track and field series. The People's Republic of China has also confirmed its national team athletes will participate in select events at the other meets in the series: Abbotsford (June 4), Richmond (June 6) and Victoria (June 11).

High jumper Mike Mason of Nanoose Bay, B.C., finished fourth in the 2005 Jerome meet but his event was not among those contested for the Pacific World Cup. With this year's meet featuring a full international dual meet program in addition to the provincial competition with British Columbia and Alberta, the 19-year-old University of B.C. student is eager to join provincial and international rivals at Swangard on June 8.

"When I compete internationally it's a whole new level, when there are athletes from other countries in there I get pumped up and jump a whole lot better," says Mason, who won the 2004 world junior championship with a leap of 2.21 metres. "You can't help but get better when you have different experiences and face different competitors, you learn something that will help you down the road. For young athletes it's important to have these experiences."

For media inquiries contact:
Diane Clement
(604) 261-6220 / dclement00@hotmail.com

For athlete information contact:
Marek Jedrzejek
(604) 822-6259 / marekj@interchange.ubc.ca
or
Doug Clement
dclement00@hotmail.com

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