Also included in the line-up for the meet borne out of a partnership between USA Track and Field, the Bermuda National Athletics Association and main local sponsor Athene, is Olympic silver medalist and world-record holder Grant Holloway and Noah Lyles as well as Bermuda’s Athlete of the Year triple jumper Jah-Nhai Perinchief.
Additional stars are expected to be confirmed in the near future.
“Hundreds of athletes and fans are expected to travel to Bermuda from around the world to participate in this world-class competition, in addition to millions of viewers from around the world who will tune in for the live two-hour international broadcast on NBC showcasing Bermuda as the world-class sports destination it is,” said BTA Chief Executive Charles Jeffers II.
The USATF Bermuda Games will the latest addition to the World Athletics Continental Tour Gold Series.
Broadbell, who opened his season last year with 13.31 in Kingston, was beaten by American World Champion Grant Holloway who produced a world leading 13.03 for victory. American Robert Dunning was third in 13.40.
Broadbell didn’t run in the final that was, once again, won by Holloway in 13.05 ahead of Dunning (13.23) and Brazilian Rafael Pereira (13.34).
Bahamian Commonwealth Games silver medallist Devynne Charlton opened her outdoor season with a 12.64 effort for third in the Women’s 100m hurdles. The race was won by American 2019 World Champion Nia Ali in 12.53 ahead of Nigerian Olympic Champion and World Record Holder Tobi Amusan (12.59).
Jamaican 2015 World Champion Danielle Williams was fourth in 12.74 while 2022 World Under-20 Champion Kerrica Hill was fifth in 12.86 in her first outing since going pro.
Jamaicans Rajay Hamilton and national indoor record holder Tarees Rhoden both produced personal bests to finish first and second, respectively, in the Men’s 800m.
Hamilton, 27, dipped below 1:46.00 for the first time in his career with 1:45.91 for victory.
Clemson’s Rhoden, who set a national indoor record 1:46.61 earlier this season at the ACC Indoor Championships, ran 1:46.20 for second while Kameron Jones, running unattached, was third in 1:46.47.
Hamilton’s personal best before this meet was 1:46.16 in June last year while Rhoden’s was 1:47.43 done in May 2022.
The men’s 110m hurdles will include the likes of World Champion Grant Holloway of the USA, Commonwealth Champion Rasheed Broadbell of Jamaica and Olympic Champion Hansle Parchment, also of Jamaica.
Broadbell comes into the race in fantastic form, having won his last five races including a personal best 12.99 clocking at the Lausanne Diamon League on August 26.
Completing the field are World Championship silver medallist Trey Cunningham of the USA, Spain's Asier Martinez, France's Just Kwaou-Mathey, Poland's Damian Czykier, Brazil's Rafael Pereira and Switzerland's Jason Joseph
In the women’s 100m hurdles, Jamaica’s Britany Anderson, The Bahamas’ Devynne Charlton and Puerto Rican Olympic Champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn will all be looking to take the Diamond League crown against a field including Nigerian World and Commonwealth Champion and world record holder Tobi Amusan and former world record holder Keni Harrison of the USA.
Camacho-Quinn has four wins so far on the Diamond League circuit including a 12.27 effort to win in Brussels last week.
The field is completed by American 2019 WOrld Champion Nia Ali, Switzerland's Ditaji Kambundji, The USA's Tia Jones and Poland's Pia Skrzyszowska.
Broadbell, the Commonwealth Games champion, stormed from behind and surged to victory in 12.99, which equalled the season-best time by Grant Holloway, who led early but faded to third in 13.11. Trey Cunningham of the USA was second in 13.10.
Olympic champion Hansle Parchment finished fourth in 13.13.
Broadbell was overwhelmed by the achievement.
"I´m thanking God right now, I will never forget this race, it's my first time under 13 seconds and I´m very happy for it," he declared.
"Everyone comes here to do their best, so I just focus on my own race and try to execute what I have practised in training. I started my season with injuries but as you can see, as the season is progressing, it's getting better and better. New training camp, much better results, the proof is there. I am happy with how things are going right now."
Broadbell, who just missed out on the finals in Eugene, Oregon in 2022, after hitting several hurdles during the semi-finals, hit the ninth hurdle, crashed into the 10th and fell, thus ending his chances of challenging for the world title.
Jamaica’s chances of medal now rest on Hansle Parchment, the Olympic champion, who had better fortunes winning his heat in 13.30 ahead of Spanish hurdler Enrique Llopis, who ran a season’s best 13.33 for second place.
Rising French star Sasha Zhoya was third in 13.35 with Cordell Lynch of the USA also advancing after finishing fourth in 13.49.
Two-time world champion Grant Holloway won his heat in 13.18. Also advancing from the heat were Milan Trajovic of Cyprus (13.33), Eduardo Rodriques of Brazil (13.37) and Jaspon Joseph of Switzerland (13.38).
Jamaica’s Orlando Bennett also advanced even after finishing fifth in 13.39.
Also through to the semi-finals are Great Britain’s Tade Ojora, Japan’s Shunya Takayama, USA’s Daniel Roberts, Sweden’s Max Hrelja and France’s Just Kwaou-Mathey.
In what was the last Diamond League meet before the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest next month, Femke Bol produced the performance of the day with a record-break run in the 400m hurdles and Noah Lyles emerged victorious from stern battle with Letsile Tebogo in the 200m.
Russell continued her solid form this season after coming in second in the 400m hurdles at the London Diamond League on Sunday. However, her performance was overshadowed by the massive lifetime best performance of Bol of the Netherlands.
Russell, who won at the Jamaican trials earlier this month, clocked in a smart time of 53.75 but she was more than two seconds behind Bol, who joined the pantheon of two women who have run the event in under 52 seconds.
The European champion smashed her previous best of 52.03 when she stormed across the finish line in a world-leading 51.45. Only world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Dalilah Mohammed have run faster.
The world-leading time was also an Area Record, Diamond League record and National Record.
Shamier Little of the United States was third in 53.76 with Rushell Clayton fourth in a blanket finish where 0.02s separated second, third and fourth.
Goule-Toppin has been consistently fast over 800m this season and she showed that again Sunday with a new season’s best time of 1:57.61 for a second place finish in the 800m. She managed to hold off Uganda’s Halimah Nakaayi for set a new national record of 1:57.62 in finishing in third place.
Jemma Reekie of Great Britain won the keenly contested event in a new meet record of 1:57.30, a season’s best for the 25-year-old Briton.
An obviously fatigued Shericka Jackson, running her third race in a week, finished third in the 100m dash in which Marie Josee Ta Lou stormed to a new meet record of 10.75. Dina Asher-Smith took the runner-up spot in 10.85 with Jackson laboring through the line in 10.94 for third.
The men’s 200m was electrifying with Lyles just managing to hold of Letsile Tebogo to win in a new meet record and world-leading time of 19.47. Tebogo ran a brand new personal best of 19.50 for second place. It was a new lifetime best and African Area record for the youngster. In third was Zharnel Hughes who ran a new British record of 19.73.
Holloway, the two-time defending world champion, sped to a 13.01 clocking to win the 110m hurdles. Japan’s Shunsuke Izumiya was close behind in 13.06 while Jamal Britt of the USA crossing in 13.25 to edge out Olympic champion Hansle Parchment (13.26) for third place.
World-record holder Wayde van Niekerk won a close battle in the 400m over Bryce Deadmon and Vernon Norwood. The South African clocked 44.36 to edge Deadmon who came in second in 44.40 with Norwood not far behind in 44.46 for third place.
Holloway was edged out by Jamaica's Hansle Parchment at the delayed 2020 Games but travelled to France having won three straight World Championship golds.
He flew out of the blocks in Thursday's final at the Stade de France, taking the crown with a time of 12.99 seconds.
Fellow American Daniel Roberts claimed silver with a time of 13.09, with Jamaica's Rasheed Broadbell taking bronze.
Holloway sprinted to the bell following his triumph before declaring: "I've made it. I've done it. I am the Olympic champion."
The 26-year-old had previously won gold at the World Indoor Championships and the Diamond League, in addition to his triumphs at the 2019, 2022 and 2023 World Championships.
Holloway, who won World Championship gold in Eugene in July, got off to his usual fast start and maintained his composure to run 13.02 for victory. A fast-closing Broadbell, the Commonwealth Games champion, ran 13.06 to narrowly finish second while Parchment, the reigning Olympic Champion, ran 13.26 for third.
World record holder and World and Commonwealth Champion Tobi Amusan of Nigeria ran a meet record 12.29 for victory in the women’s 100m hurdles ahead of The USA’s Tia Jones (12.40) and Jamaican World Championship silver medallist Britany Anderson (12.42).
Newly minted five-time world 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce who has run under 10.70, a record-extending six times this season, including a world-leading 10.62 in Monaco on Wednesday, has been confirmed for the meet.
Mommy Rocket is the first woman to run under 10.70, a record six times in the same season and has eight times under 10.70 overall. In her last six finals, the 35-year-old Jamaican has run 10.67 (Nairobi), 10.67 (Paris), 10.67 (Oregon), 10.66 (Silesia), 10.67 (Hungary) and 10.62 (Monaco).
With the prospect of a two-week break from competition in which she is expected to get take some well-needed rest after running 10.6 three times in a week, Fraser-Pryce will be aiming to extend that record even further to seven when she lines up in Switzerland, where she will face compatriot Shericka Jackson, who ran a lifetime best of 10.71 in Monaco.
Jackson, the 200m world champion and the fastest woman alive over the distance, has said she has not run her best 100m so far this season and will be looking to improve on that time that saw her finish second to Fraser-Pryce.
Also confirmed for the blue-riband clash is the 2020 Tokyo Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, the fastest woman alive courtesy of the blistering 10.54 she ran in Oregon in August 2021 after establishing a new Olympic record of 10.61 while winning gold in Tokyo two weeks earlier.
Admittedly, the double-double Olympic champion has not been at her best this season but she enters the meet coming off a confidence-boosting sprint double at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, where she ran 10.95 to win the 100m title and a season-best 22.02 to claim the 200m crown.
The 30-year-old Thompson-Herah ran 10.79 in Oregon in May, which made her the third fastest woman in the world this year until last Wednesday when Marie Jose Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast eclipsed that time when she was third in Monaco in a lifetime best of 10.72, a time that makes her the fastest African woman in history.
Fraser-Pryce, Jackson and Thompson-Herah swept the medals at the Tokyo Olympics and again at the World Championships in Oregon in July.
Olympic champion Hansle Parchment gets another crack at two-time world champion Grant Holloway in the 110m hurdles. In Monaco, Holloway ran a season-best to defeat Parchment, who was third in a season-best 13.08.
Broadbell recovered from a shaky start to power through the field on the way to be shoulder-to-shoulder with American Daniel Roberts heading into the final hurdle.
Roberts, who miraculously stayed on his feet after clipping a series of hurdles in the middle of his race, held his nerve to produce a dive across the line to just hold off Broadbell and take the silver medal.
Both Roberts and Broadbell were credited with the same time (13.09) with Roberts finishing three thousandths of a second ahead (13.085 to 13.088).
American reigning two-time World champion Grant Holloway ran 12.99 to claim his first Olympic title and continue his dominance on the event.
Spain’s Enrique Llopis ran 13.20 in fourth while Japan’s Rachid Muratake ran 13.21 in fifth. American Freddie Crittenden ran 13.32 in sixth while Jamaica Orlando Bennett and defending Olympic champion Hansle Parchment were seventh and eighth with 13.34 and 13.39, respectively.
In the men's 110m hurdles, Jamaica's Rasheed Broadbell, the Olympic bronze medalist, and his compatriot Orlando Bennett will face off against the formidable American Olympic champion Grant Holloway. Holloway, a two-time world champion, is known for his explosive speed and technical prowess, but the rising French sensation Sasha Zhoya, who has been making waves on the European circuit, is also in the mix. This highly anticipated race is set to be a highlight of the meet, with Broadbell and Bennett looking to upset the reigning champion.
On the women's side, the 100m hurdles will see a clash of titans as Jamaica's Ackera Nugent, the second-fastest woman in the world this year, takes on a formidable field. Nugent, an Olympic finalist and Jamaican champion, will go up against 2019 World champion Nia Ali, former world record holder Kendra Harrison, and Olympic champion Masai Russell. The stacked lineup guarantees a fierce competition, with Nugent aiming to cement her place among the best.
In the blue-riband 100m dash, Jamaica's sprinting sensation Kishane Thompson, who holds the fastest time in the world this year at 9.77 seconds, will lead a trio of Jamaican sprinters. Thompson will be joined by Rohan Watson and Ackeem Blake as they take on an all-star cast, including Olympic champion Marcell Lamont Jacobs, American Fred Kerley, and African champion Ferdinand Omanyala. Christian Coleman, the former world champion, is also in the lineup, making this race one of the most anticipated events of the day.
The women's 100m promises to be equally electrifying, with Jamaica's two-time world champion Danielle Williams set to battle for a spot in the final against American Olympic finalist Grace Stark and French Olympic silver medalist Cyrena Samba-Mayela. With the level of talent on display, this race is poised to be a showstopper.
In the field events, Jamaica's Rajindra Campbell, the Olympic bronze medalist in the shot put, will face the ultimate test as he goes up against Olympic champion and world record holder Ryan Crouser. The shot put competition is expected to be intense, with Campbell aiming to challenge the seemingly unbeatable Crouser.
The 400m hurdles will feature Jamaica's Roshawn Clarke and Jaheel Hyde, both Olympic finalists, taking on a strong field that includes Norway's Karsten Warholm, the Olympic silver medalist, and Estonia’s Rasmus Magi. The women's 400m hurdles will see a quartet of Jamaican stars—Rushell Clayton, Shian Salmon, Andrennette Knight, and Janieve Russell—competing against American Olympic silver medalist Anna Cockrell and former world record holder Dalilah Mohammed.
In the triple jump, Jamaica's Olympic silver medalist Shanieka Ricketts and compatriot Ackelia Smith will face a tough challenge from Cuba’s Laidagmis Povea and American Olympic bronze medalist Jasmine Moore.
Barbadian star Sada Williams will represent her country in the 400m, where she will take on an exceptional field that includes Olympic gold medalist Marileidy Paulino, silver medalist Salwa Eid Naser, and USA’s rising star Alexis Holmes. The presence of Irish sensation Rhasidat Adeleke adds further intrigue to this already competitive race.
The meet will close with the women’s 100m dash, featuring Jamaica's Olympic finalists Tia Clayton and Natasha Morrison. They will face off against Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, Ivory Coast’s Marie Jose Ta Lou, and the USA’s Tamari Davis. With so much talent on display, this race promises to be a fitting finale to a day of high-octane athletics.
The 33-year-old Olympic Champion got his usual slow start but showed strength and excellent technique to blaze past his competitors, including reigning three-time World Champion Grant Holloway, in a season’s best 12.96, the joint-second fastest time in the world this year.
Daniel Roberts, who took bronze behind Holloway and Parchment in Budapest last week, was second in 13.03 while Holloway ran 13.12 for third.
Parchment’s winning time was the second fastest of his career and only the second time he’s gone below 13 seconds. His personal best of 12.94 came on July 5 in 2014 in Paris.
Parchment, the Olympic champion, hurdled his way to a world-leading 12.93s, which is also a personal best for the 33-year-old Jamaican. World champion Grant Holloway, the early leader, had to settle for second place clocking 13.06, 0.01 ahead of compatriot, Daniel Roberts, who clocked in at 13.07.
Parchment’s time also makes him the fastest Jamaican in the world this year, eclipsing the 12.94 set by Rasheed Broadbell at the National Stadium in Kingston in July.
Parchment produced 13.07 to take silver behind American Grant Holloway who ran a season’s best 12.96 to claim his third consecutive World title. Holloway’s American teammate Daniel Roberts was third with 13.09.
This is Parchment’s second World Championship silver medal after running 13.03 at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing.
Parchment’s time was second fastest in qualifying behind American defending World Champion Grant Holloway’s 13.14.
Also advancing to the semi-finals were Jamaicans Rasheed Broadbell (13.36) and Orlando Bennett (13.55) as well as Barbados’ Shane Brathwaite (13.47).
The Men’s 400m hurdles saw four Caribbean athletes progress to the semi-finals.
Jamaica’s Kemar Mowatt ran 49.44 to finish second in his heat behind Olympic bronze medallist and 2022 world leader Alison Dos Santos of Brazil (49.41).
Mowatt’s Jamaican teammate Jaheel Hyde finished third in his heat in 50.03 behind Norewgian Olympic Champion and world record holder Karsten Warholm (49.34) and Belgium’s Julien Watrin (49.83).
Jamaica's Shawn Rowe finished sixth in heat four but his time of 49.51 was good enough to see him advance.
Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands also advanced safely after a 49.98 effort for fourth in his heat behind the USA’s Khalifah Rosser (48.62), Ramsey Angela of the Netherlands (49.62) and Sweden’s Carl Bengstrom (49.64). American Olympic silver medallist Rai Benjamin ran 49.06 to in his heat and also safely advance.
In the field, Shanieka Ricketts, Kimberley Williams and Ackelia Smith all advanced to the final of the Women’s triple jump.
Ricketts jumped 14.45m to advance with the fifth furthest jump in qualifying while Smith was eighth furthest with a personal best 14.36m. Williams was the 12th furthest jumper in qualifying with 14.27m.
Ana Lucia Jose Tima of the Dominican Republic had the third farthest jump in qualifying with a new national record 14.52m while Dominica’s Thea Lafond (14.39m) and Cuba’s Leyanis Perez Hernandez (14.30m) will also be in Monday’s final. Venezuelan world record holder Yulimar Rojas led all qualifiers with 14.73m.
Jamaicans Lamara Distin and Kimberly Williamson both jumped 1.90m to advance to the final of the Women’s high jump.
“I’m so excited to race in Birmingham to start my 2022 campaign,” said the fastest woman alive by virtue of her 10.54 100m run in Oregon last August.
“I have enjoyed competing in the UK over the years and there is always a special atmosphere at this venue. I ran my PB at this arena in 2017, so competing here means a lot to me.
“This year is a huge one. I have big goals for the World Athletics Championships later this summer, but first I’d like to give fans something to cheer about in Birmingham.”
Last summer, Thompson-Herah clocked 10.61, an Olympic record, to win the 100m at the Tokyo Olympics and then claimed the gold in the 200m in 21.53, the second-fastest time in history. In achieving the double, the 29-year-old Jamaican became the first woman in Olympic history to win both sprints at consecutive Olympic Games.
She added a third gold as a member of Jamaica’s 4x100m relay team that set a new national record of 41.02, the third-fastest time ever run for a relay.
In Birmingham, she will face Britain's two-time Olympic bronze medallist Daryll Neita, who also had a strong year in 2021. Last year she recorded lifetime best performances over 100m (10.93) and 200m (22.81) and finished eighth in the Olympic 100m final in Tokyo. Her 60m best is 7.21 from February 2021.
“The last time I raced Elaine indoors was in Birmingham in 2017 when she won, and I was fifth. Although she remains faster than me, I have to believe that the gap has closed since then and that with the backing of our brilliant British supporters, I can be more competitive this time around,” Neita said.
The Müller Indoor Grand Prix is the fifth World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting of 2022. There are seven Gold level meetings across the series, starting with Karlsruhe on 28 January and culminating in Madrid on 2 March.
Other athletes set to compete in Birmingham include Olympic pole vault champion Mondo Duplantis, world indoor 60m hurdles record-holder Grant Holloway, Olympic 1500m silver medallist Laura Muir and Olympic 800m silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson.
