Olympics Send 197 Invites

Thu., July 20, 1995

Compiled From Wire Services

An Olympic-record 197 nations, including former Soviet republics, Palestine and Cambodia, were formally invited to send their athletes to the 1996 summer Games in Atlanta.

At an ebullient ceremony at the Olympic Museum over looking Lake Geneva in Lausanne, Switzerland, International Olympic Committee Chairman praised the Atlanta organizers’ work in preparing for the Games, which open next July 19.

Ninety-two men marathoners have qualified to compete for three spots on the U.S. Olympic team at the trials in February in Charlotte, N.C.

The Olympic men’s marathon trials will be run at 9 a.m. Feb. 17, 1996. Among those in the field is 1995 USA NationsBank marathon champion Keith Brantly of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who won the championship on the same Charlotte course on which the trials will be run.

Other top qualifiers include two-time Olympian Ed Eyestone of Layton, Utah; American marathon record holder Bob Kempainen of Minnetonka, Minn.; 10,000-meter world record holder Arturo Barrios of Boulder, Colo.; 1994 USATF men’s marathon champion Paul Pilkington of Roy, Utah; world marathon championship qualifier Steve Plasencia of Eugene, Ore.; and 1995 Pan Am Games marathon silver medalist Mark Coogan of Boulder, Colo.

Several marathons will be run during the fall, and Wood said he expected the final field to reach 110 to 120 runners. Runners must qualify on or before Dec. 31. Runners qualify for the trials by running a certified marathon course in 2:22:00 or less.

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Olympics Send 197 Invites

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