BOSTON (Jan. 2) – American miler Alan Webb and Australian Steve Hooker, the #1 pole vaulter in the world, are coming to the Reebok Boston Indoor Games on Jan. 27, organizers announced today. Both will be competing at the event for the first time.
Webb, who will turn 24 on Jan. 13, set the American Record for 2 Miles (8:11.48) in 2005 and is a two-time U.S. outdoor champion at 1500 meters. He became a national celebrity in 2001 when he broke both the indoor and outdoor national high-school mile records, the latter held by the legendary Jim Ryun for 36 years.
He is a 2004 Olympian at 1500 meters and last spring ran the fastest 10,000-meter debut ever by an American (27:34.72). Among those he will face in the Mile at the Reebok Boston Indoor Games is Chris Lukezic, the reigning U.S. 1500-meter champion indoors.
Ranked #1 in the world by both Track & Field News and the International Association of Athletic Federations, the 24-year-old Hooker had two of the top four vaults in the world for 2006 at 19 feet, 6.5 inches (5.96 meters) and 19 feet, 4.75 inches (5.91 meters). Also a 2004 Olympian, the colorful Aussie made his biggest splash by winning gold medals in 2006 at both the Commonwealth Games and World Cup.
Webb and Hooker join Tirunesh Dibaba, the Ethiopian superstar who broke the World Record for 5000 meters indoors here in 2005. Ranked #1 in the world for 2006 by Track & Field News at 5000 meters, she will again tackle that distance in Boston.
Since the Reebok Boston Indoor Games began in 1996, a total of 90 Olympic and World Championship medalists have competed in the event, which has also played host to four World Records and eight American Records.
In addition, last year’s event featured the deepest men’s indoor mile field ever assembled, shattering the previous mark (eight) with 11 athletes breaking the 4-minute barrier.
The 12th-annual Reebok Boston Indoor Games, the first stop in USA Track & Field’s Visa Championship Series, will be held at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center at Roxbury Community College, 1350 Tremont St., beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Jan. 27.
Information and tickets, at $60, $40 and $20, are now available on-line at Boston Indoor Games or by calling 1-877-TIX-TRAC. The Visa Championship Series returns to the Reggie Lewis Center Feb. 24-25 for the AT&T USA Indoor Track & Field Championships
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