Sydney McLaughlin, Noah Lyles and Trayvon Bromell all commit to 2021 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix
Press Release
BOSTON, Mass. (Jan. 27, 2021) – World Athletics Championships medalists Sydney McLaughlin, Noah Lyles and Trayvon Bromell will return to the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, organizers announced today.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, no spectators will be allowed to attend the 2021 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. More information can be found at www.nbindoorgrandprix.com.
Set to compete at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix for a third time, Sydney McLaughlin is the 2019 World Athletics Championships silver medalist in the 400m hurdles, and the second-fastest woman in the history of the event. McLaughlin is also the 2019 Diamond League Champion in the 400m hurdles and is the world under-20 record holder in the event. McLaughlin will compete in both the 60m hurdles and 500m at this year’s New Balance Indoor Grand Prix.
Returning to indoor racing for the first time in four years, Noah Lyles will be making his third appearance at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. Lyles is the reigning World Champion and fourth-fastest man in history over 200m, and has also been ranked number-one in the world in that event since 2018. At the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, he will be competing in his first professional 200m indoors.
Leading the field in the men’s 60m dash will be 2016 World Indoor Champion Trayvon Bromell. Bromell is enjoying a return to form, having dealt with multiple injuries that cost him the better part of three seasons. Last year, Bromell broke the 10.00 second barrier for the first time since 2016 and went undefeated in his four races over 100m. Last weekend, he opened his 2021 indoor campaign with an impressive 6.48 over 60m, just 0.01 shy off the personal best he set on his way to world indoor gold in 2016.
Keeping up the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix’s long tradition of exciting middle-distance races, the men’s 1500m features three of the best milers in the world today, led by reigning Olympic Champion Matthew Centrowitz. Like Bromell, Centrowitz won World Indoor Championships gold in 2016, owns silver and bronze medals from the 2013 and 2011 World Championships respectively and is a three-time winner at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix.
He will find stiff competition from Great Britain’s Jake Wightman. Last year, Wightman ran a lifetime best of 3:29.47, making him the second-fastest Briton of all time and ended 2020 with a new Scottish 800m record of 1:44.18.
Challenging both Centrowitz and Wightman will be Craig Engels. Engels is the reigning US outdoor champion at 1500m and the 2019 US indoor champion at one mile.
In an effort to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Reggie Lewis Center, home to the first 25 editions of the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, is serving as a mass vaccination site beginning on Feb. 1. This year’s New Balance Indoor Grand Prix will be held at NYC Parks’ Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex on Staten Island.
To preserve the health and safety of all athletes, officials and staff at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, a number of measures are in place, including requiring all persons entering the Ocean Breeze Athletic Complex to have tested negative for COVID-19 within the previous 72 hours, mandating the use of face masks to all persons except athletes when competing, and limiting attendance to the 2021 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix to only accredited athletes, officials and staff.
The 2021 New Balance Indoor Grand Prix will be shown live on NBC from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 13 and is the only gold-level U.S. stop on the World Athletics Indoor Tour. The series of the best indoor athletics events around the world awards overall tour winners $10,000 and a guaranteed spot at next edition of the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Belgrade 2022.
Now in its 26th year, the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix has played host to nine world records and 13 American records.