26 January 2017

Olympic long jump champion Jeff Henderson will face a tough test at the Müller Indoor Grand Prix in Birmingham on 18 February.

The American, one of five Rio Olympic champions competing at the star studded event, will take on former world indoor champion Fabrice Lapierre of Australia, in a top class field at the Barclaycard Arena.

The IAAF World Indoor Tour event, which will host at least 39 current global champions and medallists, is the first of a series of major international athletics competitions in the next 12 months, which will see Britain and Birmingham become the focus of the athletics world.

Henderson, who dramatically took the gold medal in Rio by just one centimetre with his last jump of the competition (8.38m), will be looking to push himself in front of a vocal Birmingham crowd.

Henderson said: “I’m looking forward to competing at the Müller Indoor Grand Prix, it’s a fantastic meet and will be a good opportunity to assess my sharpness at this point in the year.

“Competing in the UK is such a great experience for me, because track and field is so big there and the crowds are so loud, it’s really an amazing feeling.”

Lapierre, the 2010 world indoor champion and 2016 world indoor silver medalist, won at the Indoor Grand Prix in Glasgow last year. It was held there for the first time, as part of an alternating hosting arrangement with Birmingham up to 2020.

The Australian, who also took the silver medal at the 2015 World Championships in Beijing, is looking for more success on British soil next month.

Lapierre said:“The Müller Indoor Grand Prix is one of the highlights of the indoor season for me and I really enjoy competing there. I hope I can jump well and win again this year.

“It’s a very strong field and I think it will be an exciting contest and great entertainment for the crowd.”

Tickets to see a host of global stars at the Müller Indoor Grand Prix Birmingham, which is supported by Birmingham City Council, are now on general sale and can be purchased by visiting www.britishathletics.org.uk.

The Müller Indoor Grand Prix is a vital event as the British Athletics team builds towards a summer which will include two global championships in the UK; the World Para Athletics Championships and the IAAF World Championships London 2017. Then in March 2018, Birmingham will host the IAAF World Indoor Championships from 2-4 March.

The Müller Indoor Grand Prix is the number one ranked indoor grand prix in the world. Tickets are available at http://www.britishathletics.org.uk/british-athletics-series/muller-indoor-grand-prix/