Nitro Athletics series ready to ignite
Usain Bolt and his Bolt All-Stars team will take on squads from England, Australia, China, Japan and New Zealand in the first meet of the new Coles Nitro Athletics Melbourne series on Saturday (February 4).
Organisers hope the new Australian sports entertainment series will "revolutionise global track and field" as the six teams of 24 athletes battle it out in the points-based competition which features power, endurance, technique and teamwork event categories.
A number of non-traditional events including hurdles relays, target javelin and an elimination mile will be among those contested over the series, with the February 4 meet followed by action on February 9 and 11 all at Melbourne’s Lakeside Stadium.
Bolt will be joined on his team by four fellow Olympic champions including Rio 400m hurdles gold medallist Kerron Clement, Jamaican relay team-mates Asafa Powell and Michael Frater along with 2008 Olympic hurdles champion Dawn Harper Nelson from the United States.
The England team - which is listed in full below - includes captain Christine Ohuruogu, Luke Cutts, Mike Rimmer, Margaret Adeoye, Alison Leonard and Bianca Williams.
Jamaican sprint star Bolt expects the best from his team at the first edition of the series. "Like a boss," he replied at the pre-meeting gala dinner when asked how he would captain the Bolt All-Stars.
"I have a great team so I expect nothing but the best from them," he added. "But I'm also going to tell them to have lots of fun and just go out there and give their best."
There will be 12 events at each of the three meets with points awarded in every event from 100 points for first through to 40 points for sixth place. The ladder position of each team after meetings one and two will determine seeding for the final.
There's also the addition of Nitro power plays, turbo charges and false start penalties.
Strategy and tactics will come into play, with ‘Nitro Steal’ giving teams the opportunity to steal 50% of another team’s points from a particular event and ‘Nitro Power Play’ enabling teams to win double points in one selected event. A ‘Nitro Turbo Charge’ in the long jump means athletes can ‘turbo-charge’ their points before one jump by predicting the distance.
The power plays have been drawn by the team captains for the first meeting, with Australia receiving the 4x100m relay and Bolt All-Stars picking out the long jump. China will receive double points for javelin, England in the 60m, Japan the ambulant 100m while New Zealand captain Matthew Wyatt pulled the medley relay out of the bowl.
"I think it’s great," said England team captain and 2008 Olympic 400m champion Ohuruogu.
"It’s such a great idea and I was saying that I usually do Penn Relays in America and I love it because it’s competition and there’s a fun element and I honestly think it will be a success because the athletes are looking forward to it."
She added: "We need these new events. Typical athletics can get a but staid at times. It’s great to be positive about an event and we’re all excited. There are some slight nerves, which is good, as we want to be nervous. I’m slightly nervous, which is great. It’s all part of the spirit."
Saturday’s meeting will feature teamwork events of a medley relay, 2x300m relay and a 4x100m relay. The power events will be a 150m, 60m and a para-athletics 100m. In each case there will be two races, one for men, one for women, with the combined times counting towards team scores.
The endurance events will be a three-minute distance challenge, in which a male and a female athlete combine, as well as an elimination mile for men and then women. The technical events will be a men’s pole vault and long jump and a women’s 100m hurdles and javelin. Each of these feature a twist on the usual format.
Saturday's action begins at 19:00 local time (08:00 UK), with highlights to be broadcast on BBC Two on Sunday from 14:45-15:45 for fans in the UK.
Technical
Jo Blair
Karla Drew
Joe Dunderdale
Mary Elcock
Adam Hague
Scott Hall
Gabriel Odujobi
Abigail Roberts
Power
Margaret Adeoye
James Arnott
Theo Campbell
Confidence Lawson
Erin McBride
Christine Ohuruogu
Kieran Showler-Davis
Conrad Williams
Bianca Williams
Hannah Williams
Endurance
Alex Bell
Alison Leonard
Michael Rimmer
Charlene Thomas
Jamie Webb
Richard Weir
