US sprinting sensation Noah Lyles has been confirmed to participate in the sixth staging of the Racers Grand Prix on Saturday, June 1 at the National Stadium in Kingston.

The flamboyant sprinter is set to line up in the men’s 100m.

Meet director Glen Mills announced Lyles’ participation at a media launch at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel earlier today.

Lyles opened his outdoor campaign with a victory in the 100m last Saturday at the Tom Jones Memorial in Gainesville, Florida, but Olympic 200m silver medallist Kenny Bednarek made his compatriot work for it. They were almost inseparable as they crossed the finish line, both clocking 10.01 (1.7m/s), but in a photo finish Lyles was given the win by just five thousandths of a second.

The 26-year-old, who completed a sprint treble at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, will line up against are Jamaica’s Oblique Seville, who claimed fourth place in Budapest, and Britain’s Zharnel Hughes, both hailing from the Racers Track Club. Additionally confirmed for the race are Jamaica’s Kadrian Goldson, gold medallist in the World University Games 100 metres, along with Canada’s Aaron Brown and the USA’s Kendal Williams.

Lyles brought the curtain down on the meet last year, clocking a meeting record and world lead in the men’s 200m. He was in blistering form crossing the line in a time of 19.67 seconds well ahead of Hughes in second place.

Lyles ended the 2023 season as the undisputed best sprinter in the world and at this summer’s Paris Olympics he could become the first American to be crowned world’s fastest man at the Olympics in 20 years .

In Tokyo in 2021, Lyles won the bronze in the 200m.

Also confirmed for the meet are Julien Alfredfrom St Lucia, Abby Steiner from the USA and Devynne Charlton from The Bahamas, who lowered the 60m hurdles world record of 7.67 she shared with Tia Jones of the United States to 7.65 to secure her first global title at the World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24.

Charlton is set to compete against Jamaicans Megan Tapper, the Olympic bronze medalist, Ackera Nugent, and Yanique Thompson in the women’s 100m hurdles.

Alfred and Steiner are also booked to participate in the inauguralJamaica Athletics Invitational on Saturday, May 11 at the National Stadium

Alfred will be making her return to Jamaica to compete for the first time since completing her secondary education at St Catherine High School in 2018. In March, she won St Lucia’s first-ever global gold medal, winning the 60m dash at the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Glasgow.

Following her historic achievement in Glasgow, Alfred is aiming to secure St Lucia’s first Olympic medal at Paris 2024 later this year.

Alfred is slated to compete in the women’s 100m, where she will confront Jamaica’s Alana Reid, the bronze medalist in the 200m at the 2022 World Under-20 Championships in Cali, Colombia, along with Ashanti Moore, who has returned to Jamaica for training.

American sprint sensation Steiner made a triumphant return to the track by securing a comfortable victory in the women’s 400 metres at the 2024 Gamecock Invitational two weeks ago. This marked her comeback from a challenging heel surgery.

The 24-year-old athlete, competing in her first race since the USA Championships last summer, clocked 51.58 seconds, the fastest time recorded across all sections of the event. 

Steiner is renowned for capturing three NCAA 200m titles and holding an outdoor personal best of 21.77 seconds in the half-lap event. Her 2023 season was cut short due to an Achilles tendonitis issue.

This setback prevented her from securing a spot on the U.S. team for the World Athletics Championships and achieving back-to-back U.S. 200m titles at the 2023 U.S. Championships, where she finished fourth in the event behind the likes of Gabby Thomas, Sha’Carri Richardson, and Kayla White last summer.

Steiner is down to compete in the women’s 200m where she is down to face Jamaica’s Lanae-Tava Thomas.

Other Jamaicans confirmed for the meet include Olympic 110m hurdles champion Hansle Parchment, World 400m champion Antonio Watson, promising young athlete Jaydon Hibbert, Roshawn Clarke, who had a remarkable season last year where he broke the long-standing Jamaican 400m hurdles record, along with Demish Gaye, Javon Francis, Stacy-Ann Williams, Charokee Young, Tyler Mason, Damion Thomas, and Candice McLeod.

Meanwhile, Sports Minister Olivia Grange announced a $10 million contribution from the Sports Development Foundation to enhance the staging of the meet.

The meet, comprising 13 events, is scheduled to begin at 7:00 p.m.