Shawn Crawford of the US takes the 200m title (© Getty Images)
Athens Olympic gold medallists Justin Gatlin and Shawn Crawford will headline the United States relay pool for the USA vs The World competition at the Penn Relays at the University of Pennsylvania’s Franklin Field on 28-30 April.
Lauryn Williams and Allyson Felix, Athens silver medallists in the 100m and 200m, respectively, highlight the American women relay pool.
Two-time World and 2004 Olympic intermediate hurdles champion Felix Sanchez and World junior 200m record holder Usain Bolt of Jamaica are part of an international contingent from 11 countries competing.
The USA vs The World competition on 30 April will be the featured event in the 111th meet with Americans taking on international competition in the 4x100m, 4x400m and sprint medley relays.
Largest Athletics Meeting in the U.S.
The Penn Relays is the largest athletics competition in the United States with more than 22,000 high school, university and open athletes and crowds of over 100,000 over the three-day meeting.
The first versions of a four-person relay were developed in Philadelphia in 1893 and the inaugural Penn Relay Carnival contested in 1895.
This year’s Penn Relays will be the opening event of the five-meet Visa Championship series that culminates with the USATF Championships in June, the selection meeting for the U.S. team for the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki.
Olympic Rematch in 4 x 100m
Both the U.S. men and women will be seeking redemption from Olympic setbacks in Athens in the 4x 100m relay at Penn.
The American men lost to Great Britain by a hundredth of a second in the Olympic final. Jason Gardener and Mark Lewis-Francis, who ran the lead off and anchor legs for Great Britain in Athens, will be at Penn.
Along with Gatlin, the American relay pool includes Coby Miller, the third leg for the U.S. in Athens, and Darvis Patton, who ran in the semifinals. J.J. Johnson, Leonard Scott, Marcus Brunson and Mardy Scales are also part of the U.S. sprint relay pool.
Canada, the Bahamas and Germany are other countries competing in the men’s 4x100 relay.
The U.S. women, led by Felix and Williams, will face Athens champion Jamaica with Aleen Bailey and Tayna Lawrence, and fourth-place finisher, the Bahamas. The Americans failed to finish after a botched handoff on the second exchange.
Lauryn Williams, Angela Williams and LaTasha Colander, members of the U.S. 4x100 in Athens, are scheduled to compete as well as Angela Daigle, the 2005 USATF indoor 60m champion, and Inger Miller, the 1999 World 200m champion.
Canada and Finland are other countries in the women’s field.
Two notable absentees for the U.S. in the 4x100 are Maurice Greene and Marion Jones, who are competing in the IAAF Grand Prix II meet in Martinique.
U.S. Looks to Continue 4x400m Dominance
The U.S. has swept all the relays in the USA vs The World competition for the last two years. The Americans figure to be hard to beat in the 4x400m at Penn coming off the victories in Athens.
The U.S. men, which have won the event every year since 1976 with the exception of 1980 boycott in Moscow, will feature Otis Harris and Derrick Brew, who teamed on the Americans winning quartet in Athens and won the silver and bronze in the individual 400m.
Andrew Rock ran in the preliminaries for the Americans. The U.S. pool also has Tyree Washington, the 2003 World Indoor 400m champion and outdoor silver medallist, LaShawn Merritt and James Carter.
Merritt, 18, is an East Carolina freshman, who turned professional after running 44.93 indoors in February for the third-fastest mark of all-time.
Jamaica has three of its four members from Athens with Davian Clarke, Michael Blackwood and Jermaine Gonzalez.
The Dominican Republic will be anchored by Felix Sanchez, who joined Edwin Moses as the only intermediate hurdler to be ranked No. 1 in the world for four seasons after his 2004 Olympic win.
U.S. Women Face Challenge from Russia and Jamaica in 4x400m
The U.S. has three of its members from its 2004 gold medal 4x400 relay with DeeDee Trotter, Sanya Richards and Monique Hennagan at Penn. The lone absentee is Monique Henderson, who opted to return to UCLA for her senior season and will be competing 3000 miles away in Los Angeles in the annual USC-UCLA dual meet.
The Americans have a highly capable substitute with Moushami Robinson, who ran in the heats for the U.S. in Athens.
Russia and Jamaica will field experienced teams to oppose the Americans. The Russian team features Oleysia Zykina and Olga Kotlyarova. Sandie Richards, Novlene Williams, Nadia Davy and Ronetta Smith are scheduled to run for Jamaica.
Sprint Medley Contested at USA vs The World
A 1600m sprint medley will be run for the first time since the inception of the USA vs The World in 2000. Alan Webb, the U.S. Olympic Trials 1500m champion, will run an 800m leg in the 200-200-400-800 relay.
Webb gained acclaim as a high school senior in the 2001 Prefontaine Classic when he ran 3:53.42 to break a national high school record of 3:55.1 set by Jim Ryun that had stood since 1965.
Kirby Lee for the IAAF
