Felix Sanchez celebrates winning the 2004 Olympic 400m hurdles title in Athens (© Getty Images)
The Felix Sanchez Invitational in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on 14 May 2005, has attracted several top stars who have been drawn for a second year to the Juan Pablo Duarte Stadium.
Last year’s Grand Prix Cristobal de Leon Santo Domingo which has been renamed in 2005 in honour of the island’s hero, the World and Olympic 400m Hurdles champion Felix Sanchez, was a tremendous success. The meeting was established following on from Sanchez’s Pan American Games triumph in the stadium in 2003, which attracted 30,000 adoring fans to watch their superstar.
Season's debut at 400m Hurdles
The 27-year-old Sanchez who holds the Area record with the 47.25 the performance which won him the 2003 World 400m Hurdles title will make his season's debut at this discipline on 14 May. The last time he ran the 400m Hurdles was in Brussels on 3 September 2004 when he pulled up injured coming into the final bend.
In the 2004 meet in Santo Domingo, Sanchez came fourth when contesting the flat 400m in 46.28, behind the winning performance of his younger compatriot Carlos Johelin Santa (45.34). Sanchez ran his first 400m of 2005 on Sunday at the Mt SAC Relays in Walnut, California, in a time of 46.32.
World 100m champion Kim Collins (SKN) heads a strong supporting cast of stars and looks set to battle with World and Olympic Long Jump champion Dwight Phillips (USA) who this winter fast developed into a world class sprinter. Phillips’ compatriots Savante Stringfellow and Miguel Pate will stick with the Long Jump.
Cuba’s 2000 Olympic champion and 2004 bronze medallist Anier Garcia goes in the sprint Hurdles, while other star names at the meeting include Olympic 400m silver medallist Otis Harris (USA) and World Junior 200m record holder Usain Bolt (JAM).
Jamaica’s Olympic 100m and 200m finalist Aleen Bailey heads the list of women so far entered for the meet, and she will have to contend with Natasha Mayers of Saint Vincent & the Grenadines. Also confirmed are the top hurdlers Anay Tejeda (CUB), the former World junior champion and Jamaica’s experienced Vonette Dixon.
