Maurice Greene winning 2002 USA 100m title (© Getty Images)
New YorkWorld Indoor 60m record holder Maurice Greene, returns to New York’s Madison Square Garden for the 96th annual running of the Verizon Millrose Games on Friday, 7 February, after a two year absence from the Big Apple’s indoor meet.
Greene who has won the dash three-times at the Millrose Games (1998, 1999, and 2000), will face amongst others the World Indoor 200m champion Shawn Crawford who won the 60m in New York last year, Britain’s European outdoor 100m champion Dwain Chambers, NCAA 60m and 200m Champion Justin Gatlin, and Jon Drummond, who has twice won the US indoor title at 60 metres.
In Houston on 18 January, Greene made his season’s opener, dashing to a heat win in 6.63 and then a final round victory in 6.60.
Last week, it was also announced that the World and Olympic 100m champion, who lost the World 100m record to Tim Montgomery last September, would face Chambers a week before the Millrose clash, in Boston on Thursday 1 February.
The participation of the women’s outdoor World Pole Vault record holder Stacy Dragila at the Millrose Games has also been confirmed. The 2000 Olympic champion, twice World gold medallist (1999 and 2001) and a four-time Millrose Games winner (1998, 2000, 2001 and 2002), will face a field that includes Mel Mueller, the 1999 Millrose Games winner, and the 2001 World Indoor silver medallist Kellie Suttle.
Over 60m hurdles, Larry Wade the defending Millrose Games sprint hurdles champion, faces Olympic 110m hurdles champion and three-time Millrose Games winner Allen Johnson, and Terrence Trammell, the Olympic silver medallist at 110m hurdles and the meet record holder (60m H - 7.47 PB in 2001). Haitian Dudley Dorival, the World 110m hurdles bronze medallist will also be in the fight.
Held annually since 1908, the Verizon Millrose Games is one of the stops of the indoor leg of USATF's "Golden Spike Tour", and is the longest running sporting event in Madison Square Garden's history.
