New Balance Indoor Grand Prix 2023, World Athletics Indoor Tour: Athletes to Watch Out For

The New Balance Indoor Grand Prix 2023 is set to take place on February 4, 2023, at the Roxbury in Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. This is the first gold-level event on the World Indoor Tour in 2023. It has evolved into one of the most prominent indoor events of the country, alongside the Millrose Games. The competition usually features many World Champions and Olympic champions and the 2023 edition is no different. We now take a look at some of the elite athletes who will be entering the indoor tour as mega favorites for the competition.

Shericka Jackson (Event – Women’s 60 meters)

Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson will feature at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix 2023 at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Boston, United States. She specializes in 100 m, 200 m, and 400 m events and has won multiple World Championships and Olympic Games competitions in all three disciplines. Shericka is set to compete in heat two of the indoor tour and is one of the major favorites to claim the indoor title on Saturday.

Sydney McLaughlin (Event – Women’s 60 meters)

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is another elite athlete who will be present in Boston to make an impression. However, she has registered herself in the women’s 60 meters event and will be competing in Heat one of the competition. The two-time Olympics gold medalist Sydney’s personal best is not specified and all the competitors featuring have personal best under 7.30 secs. Since Sydney excels in the 400 m and 400 m hurdles, it would be interesting to watch how she fares in this new category.

Grant Holloway (Event – Men’s 60 meter hurdles)

Tokyo Olympics 2020 silver medalist Grant Holloway will be the mega favorite in Boston as he fights for the top spot on his home soil at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center. Compared to all the athletes participating in the tour, the Virginia-based athlete Holloway has the best personal best with a timing of 7.29 seconds in the 60-meter hurdles.

Trey Cunningham (Event – Men’s 60 meter hurdles)

The athlete who can give Tokyo Olympics silver medalist and the two-time World Championships gold medalist a run for the money is none other than Trey Cunningham. Cunningham has a personal best timing of 7.38 in the 60 m hurdles, just 0.09 secs behind Grant. Besides this, he also clinched the silver medal at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 110 m hurdles in a time of 13.08 secs.

Katerina Stefanidi (Event – Women’s Pole Vault)

In the women’s pole vault, Katerina Stefanidi is the front-runner in the indoor gold tour. Having won the gold medal at Rio Olympics in 2016, two bronze medals at World Championships in 2017 and 2019, and two bronze medals at the World Indoor Championships in 2016 and 2018, she is one of the most accomplished pole vaulters across the globe. She also has a personal best of 4.90, which is greater than all her competitors on the tour.

Laura Muir (Event – Women’s 3000 m)

The women’s 3000 m will witness a total of 16 competitors in the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix. However, the one to watch out for in this category is Laura Muir of Scotland. The Scottish distance runner Muir, who represented Great Britain, stunned everyone at the Tokyo Olympics 2020 by winning the gold medal in the 1500 meters with a timing of 3:54.50, also a national record. Although she is not competing in her signature event in the indoor meet, she still holds the best timing among all the participants in the 3000 m, i.e., 8:26.41.

Trayvon Bromell (Event – Men’s 60 m)

Trayvon Bromell, the World Indoor Champion 2016 and the two-time World Championships bronze medalist will be the huge favorite in the indoor event as he fights for the top spot in the men’s 60 m sprint event. With a timing of 6.47, he owns the best performance in the men’s 60-meter among all his competitors. It would take something extraordinary to pull off an upset against someone like Bromell.

Jemma Reekie (Event – Women’s Mile)

Scottish middle-distance runner, Jemma Reekie, is all set to represent Great Britain in the women’s mile event in the New Balance Indoor tour. She would be raring to go in the first gold meeting of the World Athletics Indoor Tour with a personal best of 4:17.88, faster when compared to all the other athletes in this discipline. Earlier, Jemma had narrowly missed out on a medal with a fourth-place finish at Tokyo 2020.