The women’s 60m hurdles at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix in Boston promises to provide track and field fans with some scintillating early-season excitement. The headliners of the race are World Indoor Champion and record holder Devynne Charlton, Olympic Champion Masai Russell.

Russell (7.89) got the better of Charlton (7.93) at the Texas Tech Corky Classic on January 17.

During last year’s indoor campaign, Charlton became the fastest woman over the distance on two occasions, first with her 7.67 at the Millrose Games on February 11 and then with her 7.65 to win gold at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow on March 3.

Russell just missed out on a medal in that final, finishing fourth.

However, in the final of the 100m hurdles at the Olympic Games in Paris, Russell came out on top, winning gold in 12.33, with Charlton in finishing sixth in 12.56.

Joining Russell and Charlton will be two other finalists from the Olympic final in Paris: Grace Stark of the USA and Ackera Nugent of Jamaica as well as 2018 World Indoor Championships silver medalist Christina Clemons.

Nugent is Jamaica’s national record holder in both the 60m hurdles and 100m hurdles. Her 60m hurdles record of 7.72 puts her joint-seventh on the all-time list in the event.

Another exciting clash in Boston will see training partners Julien Alfred and Dina Asher-Smith square off in the women’s 300m.

Alfred made history at the Paris Olympics with 100m gold and 200m silver, becoming St. Lucia’s first Olympic medalist in the process, while Asher-Smith won 200m gold and 100m silver at the World Championships in 2019.