US pole vaulter Katie Nageotte (© AFP / Getty Images)
Organisers of the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix have announced that Katie Moon and Katerina Stefanidi, the two most recent Olympic champions in the pole vault, will compete at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Boston on 4 February.
Moon (née Nageotte) came out on top in thrilling competitions at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and at the 2022 World Championships. Stefanidi, meanwhile, is one of the most decorated athletes in pole vault history. In addition to the Olympic title she won in Rio in 2016, she is also the 2017 world champion, a two-time European champion and a three-time Wanda Diamond League champion.
The duel between Moon and Stefanidi is one of several clashes announced this week by organisers of the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix.
In the men’s 800m, the world indoor gold and bronze medallists – Spain’s Mariano Garcia and USA’s Bryce Hoppel – will renew their rivalry. Garcia won the 800m at last year’s New Balance Indoor Grand Prix ahead of Hoppel, setting a Spanish indoor record of 1:45.12, a world indoor leading time for 2022. After winning the world indoor title, Garcia went on to win the European title outdoors in a PB of 1:44.85.
In the men’s 60m, Marvin Bracy-Williams – the world silver medallist at 60m indoors and 100m and 4x100m outdoors – will line up against the previously announced Noah Lyles, the two-time world 200m champion, and Trayvon Bromell, the world 100m bronze medallist.
Those top athletes join the previously announced Jake Wightman, Gabby Thomas, Grant Holloway, Trey Cunningham, Laura Muir and Ciara Mageean.
