Noah Lyles in the 300m at the World Indoor Tour meeting in Boston (© Victah Sailer)
Organisers of the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix have announced that world medallists Noah Lyles, Sydney McLaughlin and Trayvon Bromell will return to the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting on 13 February.
Returning to indoor racing for the first time in three years, Lyles will be making his third appearance at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. Lyles is the world 200m champion and the fourth-fastest man in history over the distance. At the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, he will be competing in his first professional 200m indoors.
Set to compete at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix for a third time, world 400m hurdles silver medallist McLaughlin will contest the 60m hurdles and 500m at this year’s event. The 21-year-old is the second-fastest woman in history in the 400m hurdles and won the 2019 Diamond League final.
USA’s 2016 world indoor champion Trayvon Bromell leads the men’s 60m field. The 2015 world 100m bronze medallist is enjoying a return to form, having dealt with multiple injuries that cost him the better part of three seasons. Last year, Bromell broke the 10-second barrier for the first time since 2016 and went undefeated in his four races over 100m. Last weekend, he opened his 2021 indoor campaign with an impressive 6.48 over 60m, just 0.01 shy of the personal best he set on his way to world indoor gold in 2016.
Keeping up the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix’s long tradition of exciting middle-distance races, the men’s 1500m features three of the best milers in the world today, led by Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz. He will find stiff competition from Great Britain’s Jake Wightman. Last year, Wightman ran a lifetime best of 3:29.47, making him the second-fastest Briton of all time. US 1500m champion and indoor mile champion Craig Engels will also line up for the 1500m.
In an effort to combat the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the Reggie Lewis Center, home to the first 25 editions of the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, is serving as a mass vaccination site beginning on 1 February. This year’s New Balance Indoor Grand Prix will be held at NYC Parks' Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island.
A number of measures are in place to preserve the health and safety of all athletes, officials and staff at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, including requiring all persons entering the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex to have tested negative for Covid-19 within the previous 72 hours, mandating the use of face masks to all persons except athletes when competing, and limiting attendance to the 2021 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix to only accredited athletes, officials and staff.
Organisers for World Athletics
