USA vs. The World international athlete bios

Team USA's best sprinters will be joined by top medal-winners from around the world at USA vs. The World at the Penn Relays. The first stop of USA Track & Field's Visa Championship Series will be held April 30 at the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field and will be broadcast 4-6 p.m. Eastern Time on NBC.

Below are biographical sketches of the top international talent scheduled to compete at USA vs. The World, including Felix Sanchez, Usain Bolt, Jason Gardener, Mark Lewis-Francis, Michael Blackwood, Aleen Bailey, Tayna Lawrence and Juliet Campbell.

For more information on USA vs. The World, including event previews, at the 2005 Visa Championship Series, visit www.usatf.org.

WOMEN

BAHAMAS

Timika Clarke: Ran lead leg on the Bahamas 4x100m relay at 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

JAMAICA

Aleen Bailey: Ran third leg on Jamaica's 2004 Olympic gold medal winning 4x100m relay team, and also finished fifth in the 100 meters in 11.05. Bailey finished the 2004 season world ranked in the 100m (#3) and 200m (#4) by Track & Field News.

Juliet Campbell: The 2001 World Indoor Championships 200m gold medalist, Campbell has been ranked in the top ten in the world at that event on three occasions.

Nadia Davy: Davy moved with her family, including two brothers and two sisters, from Jamaica to the United States in 1997. A pre-education major at LSU, Davy placed fourth in the first round of the 400 meters at the 2004 Olympics (52.04). Davy ran the third leg on the Jamaican 4x400m relay team that won the bronze medal in Athens. As a senior last year, Davy also ran anchor on LSU's NCAA Outdoor champion 4x400m relay squad.

Tayna Lawrence: 2000 Olympic 100m bronze medalist (11.18), and ran the lead leg on Jamaica's silver medal winning 4x100m relay in Sydney. Lawrence ran the lead leg on Jamaica's gold medal winning 4x100m relay team at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Sandie Richards: Best known for winning the silver medal in the women's 400 meters (49.79) at the 1997 World Outdoor Championships, and the bronze medal at the 1993 Worlds (50.44), Richards also has enjoyed a successful career running in relay competition, most recently running the anchor leg on Jamaica's bronze medal winning 4x400 squad at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Richards ran the lead leg on the Jamaican women's 4x400m relay team that won the silver medal at the 2000 Olympic Games, and she ran lead leg again for Jamaica in winning the gold medal in the 4x400 at the 2001 World Outdoor Championships. Richards also ran the anchor leg on Jamaica's 1997 and 2003 bronze medal winning 4x400m relay teams.

Ronetta Smith: Having already competed in the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the 2004 World Indoor Championships and 2003 World Outdoor Championships, Smith had the finest moment of her career in running the lead leg of the bronze medal winning 4x400m relay squad at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

RUSSIA

Olga Kotlyarova: Kotlyarova enjoyed 400m wins last year at the European Cup and at the Lausanne Grand Prix before ending the season ranked #9 in the world by Track & Field News.

Oleysia Zykina: In helping Russia win the 4x400m relay silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Zykina ran the third leg for her team in 50.09 seconds.

MEN

DOMINICAN REPULIC

Felix Sanchez: The most dominant 400m hurdler in the world since National Track & Field Hall of Famer Edwin Moses, Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic has been ranked #1 in the world for four consecutive years, equaling a feat duplicated only by Moses, who totaled six #1's in a row and nine overall.

Sanchez went undefeated in eight races in 2004, including winning the Olympic Games in the fastest time in the world last season of 47.63 seconds. His season ended at the Brussels Grand Prix when he pulled a hamstring muscle.

In chalking up 11 finals wins against the world's best and becoming the first 400m hurdler since Moses to successfully defend his world title, Felix Sanchez was named the 2003 Track & Field News Man of the Year. During that season Sanchez demonstrated his complete dominance by posting eight of the top nine times in the world, capped by his personal best of 47.25 seconds in winning the gold medal at the World Outdoor Championships in Paris.

After winning an NCAA Championship as a senior at USC, Sanchez has since won titles at the premiere events in the sport, which include the Olympic Games, World Outdoor Championships, Goodwill Games, Pan-American Games and the World Cup.

Sanchez was born in New York and raised in San Diego before attending college in Los Angeles. Proud of his Dominican heritage, Sanchez said his biggest thrill was in winning the 2003 Pan American Games 400m hurdles gold medal in his home country before an overflow crowd of 40,000 enthusiastic supporters.

Sanchez will compete for the Dominican Republic in the 4x400m relay at the 2005 USA vs. THE WORLD at the Penn Relays.

GREAT BRITAIN

Jason Gardener: Following his fifth place finish in the 100m semifinals (10.12) at the 2004 Olympics, Gardener went on to run the lead leg in the Great Britain's gold medal winning 4x100m relay (38.07). Gardener, who finished 7th in the 100 meters at the 1999 World Outdoor Championships, won a silver medal at that event in the 4x100m relay.

Mark Lewis-Francis: World indoor junior 60m record holder and the 2000 World Junior champion at 100 meters. Lewis-Francis finished fifth in the 100m semifinals (10.28) at the 2004 Olympic Games. He ran the anchor leg on Great Britain's Olympic gold medal winning 4x100m relay in Athens. He first came into international prominence when he won gold medals in the 100 meters and 4x100m relay at the 2000 World Junior Championships.

JAMAICA

Michael Blackwood: Blackwood had another fine season in 2004, ending the campaign ranked #5 in the world following his eighth-place finish at the Olympic Games in Athens. At the end of the 2002 season, University of Oklahoma alum Michael Blackwood became the first Jamaican to be ranked #1 in the world at 400 meters since countryman Bert Cameron earned that distinction in 1982-83. Early wins in 2002 at the Texas Invitational (45.59), Modesto Relays (45.60) and at the adidas Oregon Track Classic (45.29) propelled Blackwood to later wins at the Jamaican nationals (44.64) and the Rome Grand Prix (44.99). He ended the 2002 campaign with wins at the Grand Prix Final (44.72) and IAAF World Cup, where he posted his fastest time of the season of 44.60. In relay competition, Blackwood ran the lead leg on the Jamaican 4x400m team that won the bronze medal at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. He finished fourth at the 2003 World Outdoor Championships in Paris and ended the season ranked #4 in the world. Ran anchor leg on Jamaica's bronze medal winning 4x400m relay team at Paris.

Davian Clarke: Clarke leads Jamaica's 4x400m relay team following his sixth-place finish in the 400 meters (44.83 seconds) at the 2004 Olympics. He ended the season ranked #10 in the world by Track & Field News.

Usain Bolt: Jamaica's most talented young sprinter commanded center stage on Easter Sunday (April 11, 2004) as the World Junior and Youth champion flashed to a new world junior men's 200m record in 19.93 seconds at the Carifta Games in Hamilton, Bermuda. Bolt, 18, had tied the former world record of 20.13 at the 2003 Pan Am Junior Championships in Bridgetown, Barbados, equaling the mark run by the USA's Roy Martin in 1985. As a 15-year-old, Bolt won the 2002 World Junior Championships in Kingston, Jamaica.

Michael Frater: One of Jamaica's most talented young sprinters, Frater finished sixth in the 100m semifinals at the 2004 Olympics (10.29), and ran the anchor leg for Jamaica in the 4x100m relay.

Jermaine Gonzales: Gonzales ran the third leg for Jamaica's 4x400m relay team at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens.

Dwight Thomas: Thomas ran the lead leg for Jamaica's 4x100m relay team after placing seventh in the 100m semifinals (10.28) at the 2004 Olympics.