Felix Sanchez, the 2004 Olympic gold medallist and two-time World champion (2001 and 2003) at the 400m Hurdles, will compete in the Reebok Grand Prix in New York, USA on 3 June. Also added to the lineup, is the Olympic women’s 5000m gold medallist, Meseret Defar of Ethiopia.

Sanchez, who competes for the Dominican Republic, was born in New York City and was honoured with a parade there after he won Olympic gold in Athens. From 2001 to 2004, the 28-year-old was the world’s dominant 400m hurdler, with a resume that included a win streak of 43 consecutive races between July 2001 and September 2004. In between he won two World Championship gold medals (2001, 2003), a Pan American Games gold medal (2003) and his Olympic title. He is the Dominican Republic’s first Olympic gold medallist.

However, injury at the latter end of the 2004 season was the start of a troublesome twelve months for Sanchez but the Olympic champion is now fully recovered from the hamstring, calf and foot injuries that hampered him, and caused him to pull up in the World Championship final last summer.

Meseret Defar is in sparkling form currently. After retaining her World Indoor 3000m title in Moscow last March, the 2005 World Championships silver medallist at 5000m has since run the quickest ever 5km (14:46) seen on the roads. Last year, she scored a double victory in the World Athletics Final, at 3000 and 5000m.

Barbara Huebner for the IAAF