USA Track and Field announced that Jamaican superstar Usain Bolt will compete at the 2010 Penn Relays as part of the USA vs. The World event on Saturday, April 24.
A three-time Olympic gold medalist, Bolt will compete in the men’s 4x100 at The Relays – an event he won gold in at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At the Beijing games, he became the first man to set three world records in sprinting events at one Olympics. With his wins in the 100m and 200m at the 2009 World Outdoor Championships in Berlin, Bolt became the first man in history to hold Olympic and World titles in both events at the same time.
“We are thrilled that Usain Bolt will be running at the Penn Relays,” The Frank Dolson Director of The Penn Relays, Dave Johnson said. “He ran here four years in a row as a teenager and this will be his first time back since he became the sport’s biggest star.”
With Olympic glory secured, Bolt will set his sites on dominating at the world’s largest track and field meet, with more athletes taking the line at historic Franklin Field than at any other meet in the world. The excitement of the Penn Relays draws more fans to Philadelphia than to any other track and field meet in the world outside of the Olympics and World Championships. Three-day attendance figures for The Relays have averaged over 104,000 each year since 1996.
“There is no crowd in the country that will appreciate Bolt’s abilities more than the one in Franklin Field,” Johnson said. “And there is nowhere in the country where he could run in front of as many people.”
USATF made the announcement of Bolt’s participation Thursday in Indianapolis, calling Bolt “One of the world’s most celebrated and recognizable athletes.” The USA vs. The World series is the first event in USA Track and Field’s 2010 Outdoor Visa Championship Series and is in its tenth year of competition.
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