First Noah Lyles and Fred Kerley 2024 battle confirmed

ATHLETICS First Noah Lyles and Fred Kerley 2024 battle confirmed

Abigael Wafula 21:09 - 03.02.2024

Noah Lyles will be up against Fred Kerley at the at the New Balance Grand Prix in Boston on Sunday.

Triple World champion Noah Lyles will clash against former World 100m champion Fred Kerley at the New Balance Grand Prix as they get their 2024 seasons underway at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Boston on Sunday.

Lyles and Kerley will be locking horns for the first time this season as they prepare for the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, Serbia.

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The duo will be competing in the 60m race, with Kerley making his debut over the distance.

Lyles, who last year succeeded Kerley as world 100m champion, has a Personal Best time of 6.51 and opened his season last weekend with a 6.63 win in Gainesville, competing against university students.

Other athletes who will prove to be forces to reckon with will be Demek Kemp, the winner in Astana last weekend in 6.55, and 2018 world indoor bronze medallist Ronnie Baker, the third-fastest man in history with a PB of 6.40.

Meanwhile, Gudaf Tsegay will also be in action, contesting in the 1500m. The Ethiopian wrapped up her 2023 season in style by smashing the world 5000m record in Eugene. 

The world 10,000m champion returns to US soil for her first competitive outing of 2024 and what she hopes will be another memorable race.

She will line up alongside 2022 World Under20 champion Birke Haylom, who set an African U20 record of 3:54.93 last year, and 2021 world U20 800m champion Ayal Dagnachew, as well as Japanese record-holder Nozomi Tanaka and USA’s Addy Wiley.

World record-holder Lamecha Girma will also be in the mix, competing in the 3000m race. In his first outing of 2023 over this distance, he set a world indoor record of 7:23.81, so he will be hopeful of producing something special – at least an improvement on the 7:30.82 meeting record – on his 2024 season opener.

Also, in the mix will be World champion Grant Holloway who will embark on what he hopes will be his 10th successive undefeated indoor campaign in the 60m hurdles. The world indoor record-holder takes on world medallists Daniel Roberts and Trey Cunningham, as well as rising star Cordell Tinch and NACAC champion Freddie Crittenden.

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