High jumper Bohdan Bondarenko of Ukraine will make his U.S. debut when he competes at the adidas Grand Prix at Icahn Stadium in New York on June 6. He is the reigning World high jump champion, who was honored as 2013 Male Athlete of the Year by Track & Field News magazine.
Last season, the 24-year-old twice jumped 2.4 m/7 ft, 10.75in – the highest outdoor clearance in the world since 1994. He has already taken several attempts at the world record of 2.45m/8 ft, 0.5in. The 2013 IAAF Diamond Race winner, Bondarenko won 14 of his 15 competitions last year and was named the Male European Athlete of the Year.
In the field events competition also will American Jenn Suhr, a two-time Olympic medalist (gold, 2012 and silver, 2008), who has dominated U.S. women’s pole vaulting for almost a decade. Already the American Record-holder outdoors (4.92m/16ft, 1.75in) in 2013, Suhr broke the World Indoor Record when she cleared 5.02m/16 ft, 5.50in. At 32, She owns 14 national titles and the 13 highest jumps in U.S. history and will return to the adidas Grand Prix for the seventh time with an American record, set in 2007, among her five here.
Turning to the track, Yohan Blake of Jamaica, the 2011 IAAF World champion over 100m and gold medalist in the 4x100m relay, returns after missing much of the 2013 season with an injury.
Blake, the winner of the 100m at the adidas Grand Prix 2012 edition, also earned silver medals in both 100m and 200m and gold in the 4x100m world record run at the London Olympics that same year. At 24, Blake is the joint holder of the second-fastest time in history over 100m at 9.69secs, behind training partner Usain Bolt.
An elated Blake said, “After not being able to run in New York City last year, I can’t wait to get into my blocks. The opportunity to compete against international athletes in front of New York’s Caribbean community just gets my adrenaline pumping.”
Scheduled to compete also is Sally Pearson of Australia, a two-time Olympic sprint hurdles medalist who earned silver in Beijing in 2008 and gold in London in 2012. At 27, the reigning Olympic champion is also the 2011 World Champion and 2012 World Indoor champion. In 2011, she was honored as the IAAF Female Athlete of the Year.
The adidas Grand Prix is in its tenth year at Icahn Stadium and is the sixth stop on the international IAAF Diamond League circuit.