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Blanka Vlasic To High Jump At Millrose Games

Press Release
January 15, 2010

NEW YORK - One of the most popular and successful track and field athletes of the past several years will make her U.S. debut at the 103^rd Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden.

Two-time World champion and 2008 Olympic high jump silver medalist Blanka Vlasic of Croatia will compete for the first time ever on U.S. soil on Friday, January 29, Millrose organizers announced Thursday.

The Millrose Games is the first stop of USA Track & Field's Visa Championship Series. The longest-running annual event held at The Garden and one of the best indoor track and field meets in the world, The Millrose Games features some of America's and the world's top track and field talent. The meet will be televised live on January 29 on ESPN2 from 8-10 p.m. Eastern Time.

Just 26 years old, the whippet-thin, 6-foot- 4 inch Vlasic has an inseam to beat most NBA players and a sense of showmanship that has made her an international star and fan favorite. After each successful clearance during competition, she shows off her dancing skills, claiming that she plans a different dance at every competition to energize the audience.

A national hero in Croatia, Vlasic will be the only athlete at Millrose who has her own postage stamp, issued in honor of her 24^th birthday.

The reigning World Indoor champion and 2006 World Indoor silver medalist, Vlasic easily captured her third #1 world-ranking in a row from Track & Field News following the 2009 season and set a personal best of 2.08 meters/6 feet 9.75 inches this past August in Zagreb, Croatia. It was the highest clearance in 12 years, and she trails only world-record holder Stefka Kostadinova (BUL) on the all-time list.

Competing in 75 meets over the past three years, Vlasic has cleared the 2-meter mark (6-6.75) an astounding 64 times (20 in 2009). Through the 2007-2008 seasons, Vlasic had an unbeaten string of 34 victories that ended with her silver-medal performance at the Beijing Olympics.

Hardee, Lopes-Schliep enter 60mH fields

The reigning world champion in the decathlon, Trey Hardee will compete in the men's 60-meter hurdles at Millrose. The World's Greatest Athlete from the 2009 World Championships in Berlin, Hardee ended the 2009 season ranked #1 in the world by T&FN.

2008 Olympic bronze medalist and Berlin World Championships silver medalist Priscilla Lopes-Schliep of Canada will defend her Millrose title in the women's 60m hurdles. Headlining the field, Lopes-Schliep is out to win her third-consecutive Millrose Games crown.

 

 

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