Sprint champions gather for million dollar showdown

A MILLION dollar sprint featuring the Olympic, world and European 100 metre champions and the world record holder, is the highlight of a glamorous and highly lucrative Moscow athletics meeting tonight.

The winner of the 100 metres will scoop $500,000 (€440,000), with another $500,000 being distributed through the rest of the field. In total $2 million (€1.76m) in prize money is up for grabs - a reward that organisers say is the biggest ever.

World champion Kim Collins from St Kitts and Nevis, who collected €53,000 for winning his title in Paris last month, will take on world-record-holder Tim Montgomery, Olympic champion Maurice Greene and European champion Dwain Chambers.

The big promises seem to have attracted the athletes to the new event in a city that is bidding to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

“I think the Moscow Challenge is one of the most interesting competitions to have ever taken place in athletics... I didn't come here for the money, I came to take part in a show,” Montgomery said.

Other events, too, feature the cream of the sport. World champion Mozambique’s Maria Mutola will be running in the 800 metres, hoping to further a bank balance boosted by the $1m she earned earlier this month from the Golden League jackpot.

Double world sprint champion Kelli White, who could lose both her 100 and 200 metre gold medals after testing positive for a stimulant at the world championships, is scheduled to compete in the women's 100 metres.

The United States athlete said she took prescribed medication to combat narcolepsy.

Other world champions planning to compete include Morocco's 1500 metres star Hicham El Guerrouj and Swedish triple jumper Christian Olsson.

The men's competition consists of 100m, 800m and 1,500m races and the triple jump, while women will compete in 100m and 800m races, the long jump and high jump.

The Moscow Challenge was dreamed up by a group of Russian businessmen and organisers who hope to stage it annually, but do not know how many of the 80,000 seats have been sold.

Regardless of how many tickets have been sold, the offer of free vodka and spirits to VIP ticket holders, who shelled out $300 (€265) for prime seats, will ensure they enjoy themselves.