NEW YORK – Five of the top female athletes in the sport have been added to the field for the fourth-annual Reebok Grand Prix on May 31, organizers announced.
Sprinter Allyson Felix, a triple 2007 World Champion; Sanya Richards, ranked #1 in the world at 400 meters; Maryam Yusuf Jamal of Bahrain, the reigning 1500-meter World Champion; Jenn Stuczynski, American Record-holder and #2 all-time in the pole vault; and Lisa Barber, 2006 World Indoor Champion at 60 meters, will all be in the lineup.
They join the previously announced Tyson Gay, Usain ‘Lighting’ Bolt, Veronica Campbell-Brown and Lauryn Williams in what is shaping up to be the big ‘showdown’ in NY before the summer Olympics in Beijing.
Felix, the two-time World Champion ranked #1 in the world at 200 meters, will step down in distance here to face 100-meter World Champions Campbell-Brown (2007) and Williams (2005). Barber, a native of Montclair, N.J., and two-time World Championships relay gold medalist, will also challenge. Richards, an Olympic gold medalist in the 4×400-meter relay and three-time US Champion, leads the 400-meter field, while Jamal, ranked #1 in the world and the reigning World Champion, highlights the 1500 meters.
At the Reebok Grand Prix last year, Stuczynski became the first American woman to jump 16 feet, an American Record she broke last week at the adidas Track Classic when she thrilled the crowd with a vault of 16 feet, 0.75 inches for the win. The 2008 World Indoor Championships silver medalist also took three tries at the World Record last week.
The Reebok Grand Prix, in its fourth year, will begin at 5 p.m. on May 31, at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island. On the heels of a sell-out last year, 1,500 bleacher seats have been added on the backstretch to accommodate the expected demand in this Olympic year.
