Great Britain and USA will go head-to-head in a new one-day innovative athletics competition next year in London.
Entitled ‘The Meet’ the event hosted by British Athletics will take place in the London Stadium on Saturday 21st July 2018 and will feature a range of track and field events including running, jumping, hurdles and relay events, with the specific format to be confirmed in early 2018.
In a bid to appeal to new audiences the competition will feature a new, fast-paced format and many of the British and USA stars of the recent World Championships are expected to take part. British and American athletes will score points for their respective countries in nine events in a compact, fan-friendly programme.
“‘The Meet’ will provide audiences with a fantastic head-to-head match between British Athletics and USA Track & Field, and promises to be one of the biggest events in athletics in 2018,“ said Niels de Vos, Chief Executive Officer, British Athletics.
“This event will thrill a whole new generation of athletics fans who have attended the London Stadium in their hundreds of thousands for the Muller Anniversary Games, World Para Athletics Championships and IAAF World Championships. Fans can register their interest in attending this fantastic new event now via the British Athletics website,” he added.
Announcements around the specific format and the athletes participating in the ‘The Meet’ will begin in early 2018, but from today fans can register their interest in attending by visiting britishathletics.org.uk/themeet.
Some of the sport’s greatest athletes have already expressed their support for the concept.
Mo Farah said: “‘The Meet’ is a great idea and will be a fantastic event for athletics fans especially as it’s at the London Stadium which is an amazing venue and has given me so many memories over the years. I think the UK has the best athletic fans in the world and I have no doubt they will be there to cheer the British Athletics team on when they compete against Team USATF. It is going to be awesome.”
Allyson Felix, the six-time Olympic gold medallist, added: “The UK has passionate fans who love track and field. Bringing team competition back to the London Stadium will be special – there is nowhere like it in the world for track and field, and it has been the site of some memorable Team USATF performances. We are really looking forward to ‘The Meet’.”
Adam Gemili, Britain’s World Championship gold medallist as part of Britain’s 4x100m relay team, said: “This is the head-to-head in world athletics. We have a great sporting rivalry with the USA team and we look forward to seeing which nation comes out strongest at ‘The Meet’ next summer. The event is all about power, speed, and excitement. I can’t wait.”