BOSTON (Jan 3) – Mo Farah, Jenn Suhr and Morgan Uceny – all ranked #1 in the World – will compete at the 2012 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix on Feb. 4, organizers announced today. Tickets for the 17th-annual Olympic-style event are on sale now at www.nbindoorgrandprix.com or by calling 1-877-849-8722.
Mo Farah, the 2011 IAAF World Champion at 5000m and ranked #1 in the world by Track & Field News at this same distance, is one of Great Britain’s brightest hopes for gold at next summer’s Olympic Games in London. Farah, who also won silver at 10,000m at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, Korea, owns six British national records on the track and roads, and is the reigning European Champion at 5000m and 10,000m.
He was a finalist for the BBC’s popular Sports Personality of the Year award presented on December 22 in London. Last year’s 3000m race in Boston showcased Farah and Ethiopia’s Dejen Gebremeskel. The race didn’t disappoint arena ticket buyers, but Farah did suffer one of his only losses of the year as he was narrowly outkicked by Gebremeskel, 7:35.37 to 7:35.81.
Jenn Suhr, the top ranked female vaulter in the world for 2011, has dominated US women’s pole vaulting in recent years, having won 10 US titles since 2005. In 2011, she set an indoor American Record at the USA Indoor Championships, posted major victories at Samsung Diamond League events in London and Zurich, and had the highest vault in the world. Suhr, who has twice broken an American Record at the Reggie Lewis Center, said, “Ending 2011 with a World #1 Ranking was a great way to celebrate the New Year. I am already looking forward to returning to the Reggie Lewis Center, one of my favorite places to compete.”
Morgan Uceny tops the world rankings at 1500m after a 2011 campaign that included a USA Outdoor Championship title, three Samsung Diamond League victories and the fastest time of the year at 1500m. Uceny recovered from a disappointing fall in the World Championship final and recorded a victory over all of the medalists from Daegu at the Brussels Samsung Diamond League meet, a win that also allowed her to claim the overall Samsung Diamond League title for 2011. She will compete in the 1000m. The American Record for 1000m is 2:34.19 and was set by Jennifer Toomey in 2004.
The 17th-annual meet, the second stop in USA Track & Field’s Visa Championship Series, begins at 5:00 p.m. on Feb. 4 at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center at Roxbury Community College. Tickets and meet Information can be found on-line at www.nbindoorgrandprix.com or by calling 1-877-TIX-TRAC.
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New Balance, headquartered in Boston, MA has the following mission: Demonstrating responsible leadership, we build global brands that athletes are proud to wear, associates are proud to create and communities are proud to host. New Balance employs more than 4000 people around the globe, and in 2009 reported worldwide sales of $1.65 billion. For more information please visit http://www.newbalance.com.
