Sharika Nelvis, Aleec Harris, Tori Bowie, Jehue Gordon, Tony McQuay, and Jasmin Stowers have been added to the lineup for the adidas Grand Prix in NYC on June 13, organizers announced today.
The six rising young stars will join Ajeé Wilson in giving the fans at Icahn Stadium a close-up look at the future of the sport. Wilson, just 20 years old and a native of Neptune, N.J., held a U.S. lead on her 800-meter leg to help set a World Record in the distance medley relay last weekend at the IAAF World Relays.
Tickets for the Diamond League event, which will also feature superstars Usain Bolt, David Rudisha, and Blanka Vlašić, are on sale now at www.adidasgrandprix.com or by calling 1-877-849-8722.
Leading the way is Jehue Gordon, of Trinidad & Tobago, who was just 21 years old when he set the 400-meter hurdles national record (47.69) in becoming the 2013 IAAF World Champion. At the adidas Grand Prix, he will face Michael Tinsley and
in a rematch amid one of the deepest fields of the meet. Tinsley, of the U.S., won a silver medal in both that race and the 2012 Olympic Games, while Culson, of Puerto Rico, won World Championships silvers in 2009 and 2011 and Olympic bronze in 2012. In 2014, Culson was ranked #1 in the world, with Tinsley ranked #2.
Gordon is followed closely by Tony McQuay, who turned 25 last month. The American won a silver medal in the 4×400-meter relay at the 2012 Olympics just weeks after winning the NCAA title at 400 meters for the University of Florida, then followed that up with two medals at the 2013 World Championships: silver at 400 meters and gold in the 4×400-meter relay. At the World Relays last weekend, his 44.00-second split in the gold-medal final equaled the fastest of the competition.
Among the young American stars chasing their first medals:
- Sharika Nelvis, 24, out of Arkansas State, is a two-time NCAA Champion, in the 60-meter hurdles indoors and 100-meter hurdles outdoors in 2014. She ran the fastest time in the world indoors this year (7.83), winning all but one of her eight competitions.
- Aleec Harris, 24, who competed for the University of Southern California, is the 2015 USATF Indoor Champion in the 60-meter hurdles, and ran the fastest time in the world so far this year in the 110-meter hurdles (13.16) when he won the recent Drake Relays. He has gone undefeated in his last 11 finals, going back to July 2014.
- Tori Bowie, 24, won the 2011 NCAA long-jump titles both indoors and outdoors for the University of Southern Mississippi. As recently as 2014, she represented the U.S. in the World Indoor Championships in that discipline before turning her focus to the sprints last spring, running the fastest time in the world for 100 meters (10.80) and finishing the year ranked #2 in the world at 100 meters and #5 at 200 meters. She returns to the adidas Grand Prix after winning the 100 meters last year.
- Jasmin Stowers, 23, was the 2014 NCAA runner-up in the 100-meter hurdles for Louisiana State University. She is the 2015 USATF Indoor Champion in the 60-meter hurdles, with the #2 time of the indoor season in the world (7.84, behind only Nelvis) and owns the fastest time in the world this year in the 100-meter hurdles with her 12.40 win at the Drake Relays.
One of the premier track-and-field events in the world, the adidas Grand Prix has hosted two World Records and 17 National Records, and its fans have had the privilege of witnessing more than a dozen performances that were the fastest ever recorded on U.S. soil.
The seventh stop on the international IAAF Diamond League circuit, the adidas Grand Prix is in its 11th year at Icahn Stadium on Randall’s Island, in conjunction with the Randall’s Island Park Alliance. The latest news, photos and information on the event can be found at www.adidasgrandprix.com and here on Facebook and Twitter, @adidasgrandprix, #AGPNYC.
About the adidas Group
The adidas Group is a global leader in the sporting goods industry, offering a broad portfolio of footwear, apparel and hardware for sport and lifestyle around the core brands adidas, Reebok, TaylorMade and Reebok-CCM Hockey. Headquartered in Herzogenaurach/Germany, the Group generated sales of € 14.5 billion in 2013 and currently employs 54,000 people across the globe, including 5,472 in Germany (as at December 31, 2014).
