Noah Lyles in action in Boston (© Getty Images)
International track and field action is back with a bang on Saturday (24) as Boston hosts the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix – the first World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting of the year. A programme loaded with world and Olympic champions ensures there’s nothing tentative about the start of the 2026 indoor campaign.
Many athletes will be using this weekend – or, indeed, other meetings on the World Indoor Tour – as a stepping stone towards the World Athletics Indoor Championships Kujawy Pomorze 26 in two months' time.
Other athletes will use Boston as a launch pad for their season as a whole which, for some, will culminate with the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest in September. And for many, Boston offers an early and uncompromising test of winter form.
One of the most intriguing contests of the day comes in the final discipline of the programme, where four athletes who have each won global gold at different disciplines converge in the men’s 300m.
Olympic 100m gold medallist and four-time world 200m champion Noah Lyles lines up against 2022 world indoor 400m champion Jereem Richards, 2016 world indoor 60m champion Trayvon Bromell and multiple global relay gold medallist Vernon Norwood.
Lyles, who won the 60m at this meeting last year, will be opening his season this weekend. His indoor 300m PB stands at 31.87, which stood as the world indoor best back when he set that time in 2017. Richards, meanwhile, holds the meeting record of 32.10.
The world short track best now stands at 31.56, but there’s genuine reason to believe that mark could be tested on Saturday.
The men’s 600m brings together a trio with serious 800m pedigree. 2019 world champion Donavan Brazier, who returned to PB form last year after a long spell of injury troubles, will be seeking another victory in Boston, having set meeting records here over 800m in 2021 and 600m in 2020.
Bryce Hoppel, the 2024 world indoor champion, adds further depth to a field that also includes Cian McPhillips, who set an outdoor Irish record of 1:42.15 when finishing fourth at last year’s World Championships.
The world short track best of 1:12.84 was set just last month by Josh Hoey, who will be in action elsewhere in Boston – but the clock may again be under threat. Hoey, the world indoor 800m champion, steps back to his specialist discipline, having shown tremendous form last month over 600m and in the road mile with his 3:54.77 Honolulu victory.
Global medallists clash in the hurdles
The women’s 60m hurdles is a showdown between two athletes who have each won two world titles.
Jamaica’s Danielle Williams won the 2015 and 2023 world 100m hurdles titles outdoors, while Devynne Charlton of The Bahamas won the 2024 and 2025 world indoor crowns. Charlton is also the world indoor record-holder, but Williams heads to Boston as the early season world leader following her 7.94 clocking in Clemson earlier this month.
The men’s 60m hurdles is equally loaded, with world champion Cordell Tinch up against Olympic silver medallist Daniel Roberts and 2022 world silver medallist Trey Cunningham.
In other sprint action, 2024 Diamond League champion Ackeem Blake headlines the men’s 60m, while 2019 world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith leads the women’s event.
The two-lap sprints also promise fireworks. Olympic relay champion Quincy Wilson, who recently turned 18, looks to continue his remarkable rise in the men’s 400m. He won in Boston last year with a world U18 short track best of 45.66, then went on to break the outdoor age-group best for the distance with 44.10. He’ll remain an U20 athlete for all of 2027, so he still has plenty of time to chase the ratified world U20 short track best of 44.80.
The women’s 400m features world heptathlon champion Anna Hall, who adds an extra layer of intrigue by doubling up later in the programme. The US all-rounder will also contest the long jump, where she joins an outstanding domestic field that includes double Olympic bronze medallist Jasmine Moore, world indoor champion Claire Bryant and 2024 world indoor silver medallist Monae’ Nichols.
Strong depth in distances
As is often the case in Boston, distance fans are well catered for. A high-quality men’s 2000m field features 2022 world 1500m champion Jake Wightman, double Olympic bronze medallist and world short track 3000m record-holder Grant Fisher and 2024 world indoor 1500m bronze medallist Hobbs Kessler.
The women’s 1500m brings together world silver medallist Dorcus Ewoi of Kenya and US mile record-holder Sinclaire Johnson, before attention turns to a standout women’s 3000m featuring Olympic silver medallist Jessica Hull and 2024 world indoor champion Elle St Pierre, the US indoor record-holder.
In the men’s 3000m, world U20 mile record-holder Cameron Myers takes on Irish record-holder Andrew Coscoran, who returns to Boston after his win here last year.
From explosive sprints to tactically rich distance races, Boston promises to deliver an electric start to top-flight World Indoor Tour action. And with records already wobbling early in the indoor season, few marks will feel entirely safe on Saturday.
