Lyles, McLaughlin and Mu lead the star studded USATF NYC Grand Prix
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Sprint, middle-distance and hurdles races will be in the spotlight of the USATF New York City Grand Prix, the second Continental Tour Gold meeting on US soil. The meeting will be held at the Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island.
Men’s 200 metres:
Double 200 metres world champion Noah Lyles will headline the men’s 200 metres. Lyles returns to the Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island in New York, where he won the 200 metres in 19.61. The 25-year-old US star set a world leading time of 19.67 at the Racers Grand Prix in Kingston on 3 June and won the 100 metres in 9.97 at the Paris Diamond League on 9 June.
Lyles won his second consecutive 200m world title in Eugene last year in 19.31 breaking Michael Johnson’s US record and moving to third on the world all-time list. He went on to win three Diamond League races in Europe in Monaco in 19.46, in Lausanne in 19.56 and in the Zurich Final in 19.52.
Lyles will line-up against rising stars James Dadzie from Ghana and Issamade Asinga from Suriname. Dadzie improved his PB to 19.79 in Lubbock and is now ranked fourth in the world seasonal list.
Asinga improved his PB to 19.97 in the 200 metres in Lubbock and clocked a wind-assisted 9.86 in the 100 metres in Clermont.
Women’s 400 metres:
Olympic 400 metres hurdles champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will run her second 400 metres flat race this season after finishing second in the Paris Diamond League meeting in her PB of 49.71 behind Marileidy Paulino in her opening race of the season. McLaughlin is currently fifth in the world seasonal list.
McLaughlin Levrone has broken the world record in the 400 metres hurdles four times at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene 2021 with 51.90, at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021 with 51.46, at the US National Championships with 51.41 and at the World Championships with 50.68 in Eugene in 2022.
The 2022 World Female Athlete of the Year will line up against 200 metres Olympic bronze medallist Gabby Thomas, who will double up competing in the 400 metres one hour after contesting the 100 metres. She improved her PB to 49.68 in the 400 metres in Austin last April.
Thomas won the bronze medal in the 200 metres and the silver medal in the 4x100 relay at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021. The graduate in neurobiology at the Harvard University set the fourth fastest time in history in the 200 metres with 21.61 at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene in 2021.
Women’s 800 metres:
Olympic and world 800 metres champion Athing Mu will start her season in the women’s 800 metres. Mu won the Olympic gold medal in her PB of 1:55.21 and the world gold medal in Eugene in 1:56.30. She won the NCAA title in the 400m in 49.57 in 2021 and has remained unbeaten in the 800 metres for two years.
Mu will line-up against world indoor champion Ajée Wilson, who won two world bronze medals in London 2017 and Doha 2019. Wilson finished second in the Paris Diamond League in her seasonal best of 1:58.16 and won in the Los Angeles Grand Prix with 1:59.01. The line-up also features Sage Hurta Klecker, Heather MacLean and Allie Wilson.
Women’s 100 metres:
Aleia Hobbs and Gabby Thomas will lead the line-up in the women’s 100 metres. Hobbs won silver and gold medals at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and at the World Championships in Eugene, respectively, as a member of the US 4x100 relay teams.
Hobbs won the Diamond League 100m race in Lausanne in 10.87 last year. The US sprinter started the 2023 season with a US indoor title in 6.94 breaking the national indoor record that had stood for nearly 30 years. Last April she set a seasonal best of 10.86 in Baton Rouge and clocked 10.95 in her most recent race at the Los Angeles Grand Prix.
The line-up will also feature Melissa Jefferson, US champion in the 100m in a wind-assisted 10.69 in Eugene last year, Morolake Akinosun, winner at the Los Angeles Grand Prix in 10.95 last May, and Briana Williams from Jamaica, world under 20 champion in the 100m and 200m in Tampere 2018 and Olympic champion in the 4x100 in Tokyo 2021.
Men’s 100 metres:
Christian Coleman will go head-to-head against Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake. Coleman won the 100 metres in New York in 9.92 beating Blake by 0.03. Coleman also won the 100m at the Bermuda Grand Prix in Devonshire in a wind-assisted 9.78 beating Lyles and at the Kingston Racers Grand Prix in 10.03.
Blake avenged this defeat by beating Coleman by 0.02 at the Los Angeles Grand Prix in 9.89. The Jamaican sprinter also ran two wind-assisted races in Miramar in 9.93 and in Devonshire in 9.87.
The line-up features 2018 European 100 metres champion Zharnel Hughes, who clocked 10.00 in the 100m in Kingston last week, and Terrance Laird, NCAA champion in the 100m in 10.05 in 2021.
Women’s 100 metres hurdles:
Alaysha Johnson will return to the New York Grand Prix where she won last year in 12.40. The US hurdler finished second at the US National Championships in Eugene in 12.35 and won the NACAC Championships in Freeport. This year she claimed the US indoor title in the 60 metres hurdles in 7.83 in Albuquerque and won two 100 metres hurdles races on Polish soil in Chorzow with 12.42 and Bydgoszcz with 12.41. Johnson will line up against former world record holder and Olympic silver medallist Kendra Harrison, who finished second to Jasmine Camacho Quinn in a seasonal best of 12.35 in Los Angeles, Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper, who finished fourth at the Doha Diamond League in 12.76 and third at the Racers Grand Prix in 12.80, 2015 world champion Danielle Williams from Jamaica, who set a seasonal best of 12.59 in Los Angeles.
Men’s 110 metres hurdles:
Devon Allen will be seeking his second consecutive win at the New York Grand Prix one year after setting the third fastest time in history with 12.84. Allen, who won three US titles and reached two Olympic finals, set a seasonal best of 13.12 in Hengelo and finished third in 13.19 at the Golden Gala in Florence. Allen will go head-to-head against Trey Cunningham, who won the NCAA indoor and outdoor titles in 2022 and the world silver medal in Eugene in 13.08 behind Grant Holloway, Jamal Britt, third in Paris Charlety in 13.14 and first in Turku in 13.32, Daniel Roberts, first in Bydgoszcz in 13.24 and third in Paris in 13.14, and Robert Dunning, winner at the Adidas Atlanta City Games in 13.09.
Women’s 200 metres:
Last year’s US champion Abby Steiner will take on 2019 world silver medallist Brittany Brown and Jenna Prandini in the women’s 200 metres. Last year Steiner won the NCAA title in 21.80 and the US Championships in 21.77 and won two world gold medals in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays. Steiner won in a wind-assisted 22.06 at the Bermuda Grand Prix and finished second in Paris in 22.34.
Prandini won the world title in the 4x100 relay in Eugene in 41.14 and the Olympic silver medal in the 4x100 in Tokyo in 41.45. She finished second in the 200 metres at the US Olympic Trials in her PB of 21.89. This year she won the 200m at the Los Angeles Grand Prix in 22.34.
Men’s 800 metres:
Clayton Murphy, Olympic bronze medallist in Rio de Janeiro 2016, won at the Los Angeles Grand Prix in 1:44.75 and finished second in Turku in 1:44.91.
Women’s shot put:
World champion Chase Ealey will go head-to-head against 2021 Diamond League champion Maggie Ewen in the women’s shot put. Ealey, who won the US title in Eugene with 20.49m and the Diamond League final with 20.19m in Zurich, set a seasonal best of 20.06m in Halle. Ewen set a world leading mark of 20.45m in Los Angeles and set a PB of 75.10m in Tucson in the hammer throw. The US shot putters will face 2019 world silver medallist Danielle Thomas Dodd, who set a seasonal best of 19.77 at the Los Angeles Grand Prix.
Earlier on Saturday Ewen will also double up in the hammer throw, where she will take on Annette Echinwoke, who holds a PB of 75.49m. Ewen improved her PB to 75.10m in hammer throw in Tucson earlier this year.
Men’s shot put:
The men’s shot put will feature Darrell Hill, winner in the Diamond League final in Brussels with 22.44m and fifth placer at the World Championships in Doha 2019, former NCAA champion Payton Otterdahl, who improved his PB to 21.99m in Los Angeles, and Roger Steen, who threw over the 22 metres barrier for the first time in his career with his PB of 22.08m in Tucson.
Men’s discus throw:
Oceanian record holder Alex Rose from Samoa will take on Sam Mattis in the men’s discus throw. Rose threw the discus over the 70 metres for the first time in his career with 70.39m in Oklahoma last April. Mattis won the US title in Des Moines in 2019 and holds a PB of 68.69m.
