Andre De Grasse wins the 100m from Trayvon Bromell (© Randy Miyazaki)
The future of world sprinting will be on display at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Oslo on 9 June when Canada’s Andre De Grasse and USA’s Trayvon Bromell go into their blocks in the 100m at the ExxonMobil Bislett Games.
The pair tied for third place in the 100m at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015.
Both are successful products of the highly competitive US collegiate system.
De Grasse came through University of Southern California, which has long since been regarded as a sprint factory, producing such great competitors as Lennox Miller and Don Quarrie, while Trayvon Bromell attended Baylor University in Texas where the distinguished alumni include Michael Johnson and Jeremy Wariner.
In their short careers, both have shown an appetite for quality competition.
De Grasse also has 100m and 200m gold medals from the 2015 Pan American Games while Bromell won the 60m at the IAAF World Indoor Championships Portland 2016.
De Grasse, 22, brings to Bislett a sense of great talent and tradition, following on from the previous greats of Canadian sprinting: Harry Jerome, Donovan Bailey and Bruny Surin.
Bromell, 21, was a precocious talent when in high school in his native Florida, setting a 100m world junior record.
Barely two months after their appearance in Oslo it is expected that they will be in the hunt for gold in the 100m at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Organisers for the IAAF
2016 IAAF Diamond League calendar
6 May – Doha, QAT
14 May – Shanghai, CHN
22 May – Rabat, MAR
28 May – Eugene, USA
2 Jun – Rome, ITA
5 Jun – Birmingham, GBR
9 Jun – Oslo, NOR
16 Jun – Stockholm, SWE
15 Jul – Monaco, MON
22-23 Jul – London, GBR
25 Aug – Lausanne, SUI
27 Aug – Paris, FRA
1 Sep – Zurich, SUI
9 Sep – Brussels, BEL