First event 2007 Last event 18 May 2013 Presidente José E. Costas Loyola | Occur every yearly Headquarters Ponce, Puerto Rico | |
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Purpose Track and field sports, athletes worldwide participate | ||
The Ponce Grand Prix de Atletismo is a track and field competition held yearly in Ponce, Puerto Rico at the Francisco Montaner Stadium. The event started in 2007, after the successful hosting of the 2006 Ibero-American Championships. It is considered amongst the most important athletic events in the Caribbean based on the competitive and organizational quality of the event. It was attended by some one hundred athletes and over 10,000 fans, and corresponds to the IAAF World Challenge until 2015. Nearly 20 Olympic and other world medalists competed in the Ponce Grand Prix de Atletismo, "Puerto Rico’s premiere athletic competition".
The event is one of three competitions in the IAAF-NACAC circuit where competitors accumulate points in the IAAF rankings system. The other two events are the Adidas Track Classic in Carson, California, and the Jamaica Invitational in Kingston, Jamaica. It is sponsored by the North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC), the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), and the Central American and Caribbean Athletic Confederation (CACAC). The Ponce Municipal Government contributes $100,000 to the costs of celebrating the event.
History
The 2009 Ponce Grand Prix was witnessed live by some 9,000 fans at the Francisco Montaner Stadium, plus hundreds of thousands more throughout the Americas via satellite television. The 2009 Ponce Grand Prix was considered to have initiated “the greatest feat in Puerto Rican sports history”, as new records were established, and a local hero surfaced, Javier Culson, competing in the 400 metres hurdles. He was later crowned Athlete of the Year in Puerto Rico.
Starting with the 2012 season, the Ponce Grand Prix joined the IAAF World Challenge competitions until 2015. The event represented the only other city in the Americas, outside Kingston, Jamaica, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in the IAAF World Challenge circuit.