RunnersWeb Athletics: adidas Boost Boston Games Adds Star Power

Wayde van Niekerk, Tori Bowie, Ajeé Wilson, Robby Andrews Set for June 17-18

BOSTON, Mass. (June 2, 2016) - A reigning World Champion and the fastest woman in the world this year at two distances are among the top athletes headed to Boston for the adidas Boost Boston Games, organizers have announced.

Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa, the 2015 IAAF World Champion, will compete at 400 meters at the Friday night session at Dilboy Stadium in Somerville. Van Niekerk made history this March when he ran 9.96 to become the first man ever to run 100 meters in under 10 seconds, 200 meters in under 20 seconds, and 400 meters in under 44 seconds. He will be joined on the Dilboy Stadium track by Ajeé Wilson, the reigning World Indoor silver medalist at 800 meters, and Robby Andrews, who was fourth at the world meet this winter.

Bringing her blazing speed to Charles Street in Boston at the Saturday session will be sprint sensation Tori Bowie, whose times of 10.80 and 21.99 for 100 meters and 200 meters, respectively, top the world lists for 2016. Bowie, who competed at the 2014 World Indoor Championships in the long jump, is the 2015 World Championships bronze medalist at 100 meters.

The adidas Boost Boston Games, a two-day festival featuring a both a fan-friendly track event and the first “street meet” of its kind in the U.S., will make its debut on June 17-18. Among the top international stars previously announced are Olympic medalists Jenn Suhr, Nick Willis, Yohan Blake, and Meseret Defar.

At the adidas Boost Boston Games, races 400 meters and longer will be held Friday evening, June 17, at George Dilboy Memorial Stadium in Somerville, and will be highlighted by a festival at which fans can mingle with Olympic stars.

The street meet, which will put sprints, hurdles, pole vault, and long jump in the spotlight, is set for Saturday afternoon, June 18, and will feature a Mondo track constructed on historic Charles Street between the Boston Public Garden and Boston Common. The street meet will be broadcast live on the NBC Sports Network (NBCSN).

Five athletes with New England ties have also joined the Friday-session lineup: Morgan Uceny, a 2012 Olympic finalist at 1500 meters; Ben True, a seven-time national champion from Maine who competed for Dartmouth University and still lives and trains near Hanover, NH; Liz Costello, who finished fourth at 10,000 meters in the 2015 Pan American Games; and Abbey D’Agostino, a seven-time NCAA Champion for Dartmouth by way of Topsfield, MA. Uceny, Costello, and D’Agostino all train in Boston. Garrett O’Toole, who in 2014 posted the fastest high school mile (4:01.89) and 1500 meters (3:45.55) in the country while at Middlesex School in Concord, will compete at 1500 meters against, among others, Willis and Andrews. O’Toole, who is the fastest prep miler in Massachusetts and New England history and now competes for Princeton, will be attempting to run 3:38.0 or faster to qualify for the U.S. Olympic Trials this summer.

The adidas Boost Boston Games is produced by Boston-based Global Athletics and Marketing, Inc., an athlete-management and sports marketing firm that from 2005 to 2015 served as organizer of the adidas Grand Prix in NYC and since 1996 has given Boston fans an annual, world-class indoor meet at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center at Roxbury Community College.

More U.S. and international stars and further details on the adidas Boost Boston Games, part of the 2016 USATF Championship Series, will be announced soon on the event website at adidasBoostBoston.com; on Facebook at adidasBoostBostonGames; and on Twitter at @adidasBoostBos.