News01 Feb 2017


Olympic medallists Ortega and Bascou set to take on Britain's best hurdlers in Birmingham

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Orlando Ortega winning at the 2016 Dusseldorf indoor meeting (© Jean-Pierre Durand)

Spain’s Orlando Ortega and France’s Dimitri Bascou will line up against current world leader Andy Pozzi and fellow Briton David Omoregie in the 60m hurdles at the Müller Indoor Grand Prix, an IAAF World Indoor Tour meeting, in Birmingham on 18 February.

Ortega, who holds an outdoor PB of 12.94, earned the Olympic silver medal in Rio last year. He has raced in Birmingham twice before, setting a PB of 7.67 in 2012 and improving to 7.54 in 2013, equalling what was then his PB. He went on to improve his lifetime best to a world-leading 7.45 in 2015.

Bascou earned medals at three major championships last year. The 29-year-old took bronze at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016, then gold in the 110m hurdles at the European Championships before capping his season with the Olympic bronze medal.

His 60m hurdles PB of 7.41 not only makes him the fastest in the field for Birmingham but also the second-fastest European of all time.

Pozzi, who finished fourth at the 2012 and 2014 IAAF World Indoor Championships, opened his 2017 campaign with a world-leading 7.56 in Cardiff last weekend, just shy of his lifetime best of 7.53. Omoregie, the 2014 world U20 bronze medallist, finished second to Pozzi in Cardiff with a PB of 7.63.

“Running a world-leading time was amazing and I’m really happy that everything is coming together,” said Pozzi. “Winter training has gone well and I’m in great shape, so I’ll be looking to produce something special at the Müller Indoor Grand Prix.”

Organisers for the IAAF

2017 IAAF World Indoor Tour calendar
28 Jan – Boston, USA
1 Feb – Dusseldorf, GER
4 Feb – Karlsruhe, GER
10 Feb – Torun, POL
18 Feb – Birmingham, GBR

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