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Meseret Defar and Carolina Kluft, two of the biggest female names in the sport, will be among the headliners at the 13th Reebok Boston Indoor Games on Jan. 26, organizers announced.
Defar, the reigning world and Olympic 5000m champion, set four world records or world bests in 2007, and was named the Women's Athlete of the Year by the IAAF, the sport's world governing body. Undefeated in 11 races this year, the 24-year-old Ethiopian has a 14-race win streak in the 3000m, an event in which she set the world indoor record in February, running 8:23.72 in Stuttgart. At June's Bislett Games in Oslo, the kick-off of the IAAF Golden Leage series, Defar smashed her own world record in the 5000m, running 14:16.63. The Boston meet, part of USA Track & Field's Visa Championship Series, generally includes both the women's 3000m and 5000m; which event Defar will contest has yet to be announced.
Kluft, also 24, is by far the finest all-around athlete of her generation. The Swede has won 19 consecutive heptathlon competitions, unbeaten in multi-event competition since June 2001. Among her honors are three world titles and 2004 Olympic gold. In Boston, Kluft will compete in the long jump, her best individual event.
The Boston fixture is the second stop in the annual U.S. indoor series, now in its 10th year. The first meet will be held in Fresno, Calif., on Jan. 21.
[PHOTOS: Meseret Defar, with her Athlete of the Year award, Monaco, 25-Nov-07; Carolina Kluft in Osaka, 22-Aug-07. Photos by Bob Ramsak/TRACK PROFILE.]
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