Grenada’s world top long sprinter, Kirani James, will compete in the 400m at the 2012 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, at the Reggie Lewis Center in Boston, February 4. The 17th-annual meet is the second stop in USA Track & Field's Visa Championship Series.
Ranked the world's number-one quarter-miler by Track & Field News, James is primarily known for his outdoor successes and is the third fastest man in history indoors over 400m. Only 19 years old, he has been successful on the track at both the junior and senior levels. He was the 2009 IAAF World Youth Champion, the 2010 IAAF World Junior Champion. In 2011, he added an NCAA victory to his resume before claiming the Samsung Diamond League title and his Daegu World Championship gold medal.
As the first IAAF World Champion in history from Grenada, James said, “2011 was a dream season for me, but I want to get started on 2012. I hope for bigger and better this year and can't wait to get started in Boston.”
He will be running in Boston for the first time and will clash with Miami, USA native Bershawn ‘Batman’ Jackson, the world's top 400m hurdler in 2010, who won the flat 400m on that track in 2010.
Jackson also has four IAAF World Championship gold medals as a member of the USA 4x400m relay team in 2007, 2009 and 2011 and indoors in 2010. In the 400m hurdles, he is the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games bronze medalist, the 2005 World Champion, and the top ranked American in 2011.