Posted: January 10, 2005

Athletics: Top women hurdlers head to Reebok Boston Indoor Games

BOSTON, Massachusetts (Jan. 10) - Olympic medalists Joanna Hayes and Melissa Morrison lead a deep field in the women's 60-meter hurdles for the Reebok Boston Indoor Games on Jan. 29, organizers announced today.

Hayes, the ebullient No. 1-ranked hurdler in the world, set an Olympic record on her way to winning a gold medal in Athens. Morrison, duplicating her finish in Sydney, came home with the bronze medal, becoming the only female hurdler in US history to win two Olympic medals.

They will be joined by Sheena Johnson, the 2004 US Olympic Trials champion at the 400m hurdles who just missed a medal in Athens; Jamaica's Vonette Dixon, the 2000 NCAA 60m-hurdles champion and 2002 Commonwealth Games 100m-hurdles silver medalist; and Angela Whyte of Canada, a 2004 Olympic finalist at the 100m hurdles.

The men's mile will feature another athlete who ended 2004 ranked No. 1 in the world: Kenyan Bernard Lagat, the Athens silver medalist who ran the fastest 1500m (3:27.40) in the world last year. Also expected are countryman Laban Rotich, the third-fastest man in history indoors at 1500m; Rachid Ramzi of Bahrain, who last July broke Hicham el Guerrouj's 1500m unbeaten streak of 29 races when he sprang to a surprise victory at the Golden Gala in Rome; and Nate Brannen, the two-time NCAA indoor 800-meter champion from the University of Michigan.

The 10th-annual Reebok Boston Indoor Games will be held at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center at Roxbury Community College, 1350 Tremont St., Boston, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on Jan. 29, and will be broadcast on ESPN from 5-6:30 p.m. on Jan. 30. It is also the first stop on USA Track & Field's Visa Championship Series. Tickets are available on-line at www.BostonIndoorGames.com or by calling 1-866-GO-BIG05.