The Visa Championship Series is a prestigious series of nationally televised USA Track & Field (USATF) competitions featuring the very best track & field athletes from Team USA, the World's #1 Track Team. It brings the speed, strength, excitement and fun of track & field directly to fans around the country, allowing them to experience first hand the world's most popular sport. Perhaps most important, it gives American athletes the opportunity to compete against the world’s best, on home soil and in front of U.S. fans!

In addition to providing more than $1 million in prize money and athlete-support dollars, the Visa Championship Series gives U.S. athletes the chance to win $100,000 in bonus monies during the indoor and outdoor seasons. Outdoors, top American athletes will compete at six elite track meets during the 2006 season for prize money and the chance to share the $50,000 outdoor season jackpot.

The male and female athlete with the top overall performance in the 2006 Visa Championship Series will be named Visa Champion and receive a $25,000 bonus. In addition, each Visa Champion will be awarded an invitation of their choice to a premiere Visa-sponsored event. The top performances will be determined by assigning point totals to performances, using the IAAF Scoring Tables of Athletics. Fans can keep track of the Race for the Championship by visiting the Standings page of this Web site.

In conjunction with becoming the title sponsor of what was formerly the Golden Spike Tour, Visa extended its relationship with USATF through the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. The expanded involvement of Visa in USATF elite athlete development continues Visa's long-standing commitment to helping USATF develop the country's preeminent track and field athletes. At the same time, it helps Visa engage its Member financial institutions and merchant partners to build their business in Olympic-related marketing activities and events between Olympic Games.

Visa has been a proud sponsor of USATF since 1988, and has already played a crucial role in athlete development in the men's decathlon and women's pole vault events in which the United States has broken world records and won gold medals, including at the 2004, 2000 and 1996 Olympic Games, as well as the last four World Outdoor Championships.