International Sports Tours (IST) is a youth-oriented organization which was established in 1985
by John Deardorff and Don Steffens of Wichita, Kansas, to help introduce the United States' track
and field athletes to the world around them, both athletically and culturally. Our
success has been wonderful thus far. We have taken over 1,300 young people to Europe and
presented them with different cultures, different foods, different experiences and
different athletic endeavors. Nobody comes back quite the same. That's why we call it,
"The Experience of a Lifetime."
An Exclusive Opportunity to Take part in a Landmark Exchange
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Head to Head Against European Athletes
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IST runner challenges for the lead in European race.
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On our tours, you will face European competition! We have carefully selected meets in which you will be very competitive. In every meet where our athletes are entered, we will be competing against other athletes of various ages. They may be small, local competitions or multi-day invitationals. The meets are usually broken down into age brackets. European age groups and the meet rules, as well as the events contested at their competitions, are not always the same as ours. We normally schedule meets with the most complete schedule possible.
These meets will offer a strong and exciting challange. You will be competitive at these meets. Click the "Meet Results" link in the menu for last years meet results.
One difference from meets in the US is that the event commands may be in German, Dutch or French. Maybe even in English! And the athletes will be wearing uniforms with their European Club team names.
For most of our IST athletes the tour occurs a month or so after their State meet. Regardless, in past years, many of our athletes have improved on their personal bests while on our tour. International competition seems to bring out the best!
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You might see a world record
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US Olympian Dennis Mitchell presents his shoe to an IST member.
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A highlight of the
tour every summer is the opportunity to spectate at one of the world's top notch Grand
Prix Meets. In 1997, IST's squad of 30 was in the stands at the Stockholm Grand Prix. None
of them will forget the electricity as Denmark's Wilson Kipketer tied Seb Coe's 800-meter
World Record. Wow!, Earlier in the day, our athletes saw dozens of Olympic Medal winners,
including Donovan Bailey of Canada, Carl Lewis of the U.S. and Bob Kennedy of the U.S. We
saw then up close and personal at our Lunch With Olympians and then ar the Grand Prix
meet.
In 1999 Maurice Green, having just set the
new 100 meter world record, spent over 2 hours with our Germany/Alps group
giving everyone an autograph!
This year we will thrill to the GP meet in Lausanne, Switzerland. You can count on something great. Typically, there are dozens of Olympians. IST athletes have witnessed the following world records:
- Grete Waitz of Norway in the 10,000 (1986)
- Patrik Sjoberg of Sweden in the high jump (1988)
- Peter Koech of Kenya in the steeplechase (1989)
- Steve Backley of Great Britain in the Javelin (1990)
- Leroy Burrell of the USA in the 100 (1994)
- Czech Daniela Bartova in the pole vault (1995)
- Dane Wilson Kipketer tied the WR in the 800 (1997)
Plus we saw an American record by Patti Sue Plumer in the 5,000-meter run in 1989.
Besides these incredible
individual performances, simply sitting in the sold-out stands with 22,000 other track fans is
something never to be forgotten. Everyone claps in unison when athletes like Marion Jones
or Tim Montgomery are sprinting down the track. Or maybe the anxious crowd erupts with
shouts of excitement when a world record is performed. Any IST athletes who have
experienced that excitement will never forget the electricity.!
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Ato Bolden and Maurice Green were guests at IST's 1998 London/Paris "Lunch with the Olympians".
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Prior to the GP meet, we will host a special luncheon with several Olympic and/or world
class athletes. It's a tradition which we have carried on in Oslo, Stockholm, Helsinki,
Luzern, Gateshead, Lausanne, Lille and Nurnberg. We have had over 100 Olympians as our
luncheon guests. Some were Olympic Champions:
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- Tim Montgomery, '00 Olympic 4x100 relay champion, world record holder in the 100 meters
- Maurice Green, '00 Olympic champion 100 meters, 4x100
Relay, former world record holder in 100 meters.
- Michael Johnson, '95 World champion 200 and 400; '96 Olympic
champion 200 and 400, '00 Olympic 400 Champion
- Ato Boldon, Silver medalist, '00 Olympic 100 meters, Bronze in 200
meters
- Chryste Gaines, Olympic Champion on 4x100m Relay.
- John Godina ('00 Bronze) and Andy Bloom ('00 4th), in
Olympic shot put
- Nick Hysong, '00 Olympic champion pole vault.
- Johnathan Edwards, '00 Olympic Triple Jump Gold medalist and
world record holder
- Bob Kennedy, '96 US Olympian in 5,000 meters
- Daniel Komen, of Kenya, only man in history to break 8
minutes in the 2 mile
- Jeff Hartwig, American Record Holder in Pole Vault
- Angelo Taylor, 2000 Olympic Gold Medal winner of 400 m hurdles
We will have a nice meal in the
meet headquarters hotel, an interview session where the Olympians will answer questions
and then sign autographs and pose for pictures. After all, who back home would believe
that you had lunch with an Olympic champ!!
Will there be Adult Supervision?
We
employ only bonafide, experienced coaches as members of our staff. Our head coaches last
year averaged over 20 years each as a head coach at the high school level. Like the
athletes who join us, our coaches are highly successful and highly motivated. Those
qualities shine through in their handling of our teams. They impart knowledge from years
of working with both top-notch athletes but also those who are developing their talents.
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