USATF Foundation Announces Three-Year Grant Award with Burgess Family Foundation to Support Los Angeles Based Training Group

LOS ANGELES, CA — With the highly anticipated 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games approaching, the USATF Foundation proudly announces a three-year grant award funded by the Burgess Family Foundation. The grant will provide funding to support an elite Los Angeles based professional track & field training group coached by Olympic champion Joanna Hayes.

Over three years this substantial grant will support training, competition, and high-performance resources for Hayes’ elite athlete training group, The Hayestack, as they prepare to represent Team USA, on home soil for the 2028 Olympic Games.

“We are thrilled to support The Hayestack on their journey towards the LA 2028 Olympics!” says USATF Foundation Board Member John Burgess. “The team represent a unique talented group of decorated and distinguished veterans and recent college grads new to the professional ranks across multiple events. Under Coach Hayes’ guidance, mentoring and with her vast experience, we are excited to support these athletes as they continue to build, develop, and achieve their athletic and personal goals!”

The grant will benefit a world-class roster of athletes currently training under Hayes in Los Angeles, including:

• Rai Benjamin — Olympic champion and multiple-time World and Olympic medalist in the 400m hurdles
• Vernon Norwood — Olympic and World Championship medalist in the 4x400m relay
• Raevyn Rogers — Olympic bronze medalist in the 800m
• Shae Anderson — Olympian and World Championship competitor
• Jasmine Jones — Olympic finalist and World Championship silver medalist
• Allie Jones — World Championship Heptathlete
• Sammy Watson — 800m competitor
• Tade Ojora — Multiple-time British Athletics Champion in the 110m hurdles and 60m hurdles

Hayes brings a vast amount of experience to the athletes that she coaches. A six-time All-American at UCLA from 1996–99, she won seven Pac-10 titles and the 1999 NCAA outdoor championship in the 400m hurdles, leading UCLA to three consecutive Pac-10 team titles and two NCAA runner-up finishes. Her Bruin teams went an unprecedented 39–0 in dual meets during her collegiate career. In 2004, Hayes captured Olympic gold in the 100m hurdles, breaking a 16-year Olympic record with a winning time of 12.37. That same year, she earned the Jesse Owens Award as USA Track & Field’s Outstanding Female Athlete and finished ranked No. 1 in the world. She also won gold in the 400m hurdles at the 2003 Pan American Games.

Today, Hayes serves as the Sherie L. and Donald G. Morrison UCLA Director of Track & Field/Cross Country, while continuing to coach elite professional athletes at the highest level.