Courtesy: USATF

Olympic gold medalists Maurice Greene, Gail Devers, Jon Drummond, Tim Montgomery, Bernard Williams, Chryste Gaines and Inger Miller are among the top U.S. athletes that are scheduled to compete for Team USA in the 4x100m and 4x200m relay events on Saturday April 27 at USA vs. THE WORLD, sponsored by Verizon, at the Penn Relays. Also contested at USA vs. THE WORLD will be men's and women's 4x400m relays. The meet will be broadcast Saturday from 6-7:30 p.m. Eastern Time on ESPN2.

Nearly 150 athletes from eight countries will compete at this year's USA vs. THE WORLD, which has grown from just a handful of teams in its first two years. Expanded sponsor backing has contributed to the growing number of athletes competing with support from Nike, Verizon, Visa and SoBe Sports System. Verizon returns as the presenting sponsor of the television broadcast. Nike has been involved in all three USA vs. THE WORLD events.

Team USA will enter two teams each - USA Red and USA Blue - in the men's and women's 4x100m relays and in the men's 4x200m relay. Only one USA team will race in the women's 4x200m relay. Team USA swept the men's and women's 4x100m relay events at the 2001 World Championships in Edmonton.

The U.S. men's 4x100m relay team will be led by two-time Olympic gold medalist and defending 100m World Champion Maurice Greene, who will team up with defending 2001 World Championships 4x100 relay gold medalists Jon Drummond, Mickey Grimes, Tim Montgomery and Bernard Williams. Greene, Drummond and Williams won gold at the 2000 Games in Sydney. Also in the pool of U.S. talent in the 4x100m relay will be Joshua 'J.J.' Johnson, who currently has the second-fastest time in the world at 100m (9.95), behind Montgomery's 9.94. Terrence Trammell, the 2002 U.S. indoor 60m champion and 2001 World indoor 60m hurdles gold medalist will be in the pool, along with 2001 U.S. indoor 200m champion Coby Miller. Rounding out the field for the Verizon Men's 4x100m relay will be Kaaron Conwright and 2001 World Indoor 60m gold medalist Tim Harden.

Final relay lineups will be announced on Saturday.

Challenging Team USA's men will be teams from Jamaica, Canada, Poland, Great Britain and Germany. The Jamaican relay pool includes Lindel Frater, Byron Logan, Steven Mulling, Donovan Powell, Garth Robinson and Christopher Williams. Jamaica finished fourth in the 4x100m at the 2000 Olympic Games, with Great Britain finishing sixth in Sydney. Poland finished seventh at both the 2001 World Championships and the 2000 Games in Sydney.

The U.S. women's 4x100m relay team will be led by 3-time Olympic gold medalist Gail Devers, who won 4x100m relay gold at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. Joining Devers on the squad will be defending 2001 World Championships 4x100m relay gold medalists Chryste Gaines, Inger Miller and Kelli White. Gaines and Miller also ran with Devers for gold in 1996. Like the men's 4x100m relay, Team USA will have two squads, Red and Blue. 2001 Goodwill Games 4x100m relay silver medalist Jenny Adams, 2000 Olympic 4x100m bronze medalist Torri Edwards, Candace Young and Sadonna Thornton round out the Nike Women's 4x100m relay pool.

Joining the U.S. in the women's race will be Canada and Jamaica. The formidable Jamaican team includes two of its four silver medalists from the 2000 Games in Sydney. Beverly McDonald, Juliet Campbell and Merlene Frazer were part of the Jamaican team that finished fourth at the 2001 World Championships.

Greene, Drummond, Grimes, Johnson, Miller, Trammell, Williams and Conwright are all scheduled to compete in the Nike Men's 4x200m Relay. Joining them in the relay pool will be 3-time 110m hurdles World Champion Allen Johnson and Ramon Clay, the 2001 U.S. Outdoors 200m champion. Johnson also has been added to Team USA's 4x400m pool.

Also in the Nike Men's 4x200m relay will be Jamaica, Canada, Germany and Poland. Leading the Canadians, who won the 4x100m relay at the 1996 Olympics, will be 3-time Olympian Bruny Surin. Lindel Frater, who led the Jamaica Olympic team to a fourth-place finish in the 4x100m relay at the 2000 Games in Sydney will head up the Jamaican contingent.

In the Verizon Women's 4x200m relay pool, Edwards, Gaines, Miller and White will join up with LaTasha Jenkins, who was a member of the world- record setting 4x200m relay team at the 2000 USA vs. THE WORLD that ran a time of 1:27.46.

Also in the field for the Verizon Women's 4x200m relay will be teams from Jamaica, Canada and Russia.