The Reebok Boston Indoor Preview

Tirunesh Dibaba sits next to her World record figures in Boston last year

The Reebook Boston Indoor meet is the second meet on USA Track & Field’s Visa Championships Series and arguably one of the best indoor meets.

The Reebook Boston Indoor meet is legendary for stellar distance races, in part because of the array of talent the meet attracts, and also because of the 200 meter Mondo indoor track at the Reggie Lewis Center.

Bitter Ethopian rivals Tirunesh Dibaba and Meseret Defar, two of the world’s best will take the track in Boston – unfortunately, not in the same race. Defar is slated to run the Two Mile, in which she is currently the world record holder. Dibaba, the 5,000 meter indoor record holder, is stepping down to run 3,000 meters.

Up and coming sprint star, Shalonda Solomon, the 2006 NCAA Champion at 200 meters is debuting her first professional indoor meet.

In the field events, Reese Hoffa and Adam Nelson are competing in the men’s shot put. Jenn Stuczynski, the new pole vault queen, is competing in the Nutrilite Women’s Pole Vault.

The men’s 800 meters is certain to be a fireworks show. The U.S. national champion Khadevis Robinson and #2 nationally ranked 800 meter runner, Nick Symmonds, will go head to head on Saturday.

The men’s 3,000 meters looks to be hotter than fish grease. The line up includes defending champion Craig Mott of Australia, New Zealand’s Nick Willis, Ethiopia’s Tariku Bekele and American phenom Galen Rupp, who has not run against these elite athletes. This race is certain to have implications for later in this Olympic year track season.

The Reebok Boston Indoor meet, the second stop on USA Track & Field’s Visa Championship Series, can be seen Sunday on ESPN 2 at 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. EST. Check your local listings.

By Jay Hicks, a.k.a. Track Evangelist