With the adidas Atlanta City Games set to take place later this month, event organizers have announced the addition of eight decorated international athletes to the track and field event on May 18.
Headlining the list of star athletes is Wayde van Niekerk, who will be competing in the men’s 200m race. The South African runner boasts two world titles in the 400m and an Olympic gold medal from Rio 2016, where he set a 400m world record of 43.03 seconds.
Van Niekerk will be up against stiff competition though, as Antonio Watson of Jamaica (reigning 400m world champion), Steven Gardiner of The Bahamas (2019 World Athletics Champion at 400m), and Trinidad and Tobago’s Jereem Richards (two-time Commonwealth Games Champion) will all be lacing up their running shoes for the 200m event.
Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala, hailed as the ninth-fastest man in the 100m, returns to Atlanta following a successful winter campaign in which he finished fourth in the 60m final at the World Indoor Athletics Championships, setting the stage for an exciting men’s 100m sprint.
Omanyala will square off against Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain, who arrives in Atlanta after a stellar 2023 season that saw him achieve British records at the 100m and 200m, along with clinching bronze at the World Athletics Championships.
Finally, organizers announced that the women’s 100m hurdles will feature a pair of record-breaking athletes in Tobi Amusan (Nigeria) and Kendra Harrison (America).
Amusan shattered the 100m hurdles world record in 2022 with a blistering time of 12.12 seconds, while Harrison is the former world record-holder and stands as the second-fastest 100m hurdler of all-time (with a time of 12.20).
These eight renowned runners will join an all-star roster that includes other accomplished track and field athletes like Noah Lyles, Grant Holloway and Anna Hall, to name a few.
Produced by the Atlanta Track Club, the adidas Atlanta City Games is set to take place in Atlanta’s Piedmont Park on Saturday, May 18.
The event will be streamed live for free on both adidas’ YouTube Channel and Noah Lyles’ YouTube Channel from 4:45 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. (EDT).