APPROXIMATELY 2,000 athletes including world championship medallists Asafa Powell, Brigitte Foster-Hylton and Shericka Williams are down to compete at the eighth UWI Gatorade Invitational Track and field meet at the National Stadium today.

The event, which is due to run-off at 9:00 am, will also see athletes from the Racer's Track Club, including Yohan Blake competing.

There will also be an overseas component to the meet as athletes from Costa Rica, the Netherland Antilles, The Cayman Islands and the Bahamas will compete alongside Jamaica's local stars.

Chairperson of the organising committee Grace Jackson told Sporting World that all is set for an efficient meet.

"I think we are ahead of schedule for the first time. The packages for the athletes have been ready from Thursday, a full two days ahead and that for us is very good because it means we are prepared for the athletes," she said.

Athletes from the nation's top colleges and high schools, including defending Boys' and Girls' champions Kingston College and Holmwood Technical are among the 90 teams down to compete.

"We are now over 2,000 athletes in terms of numbers that have registered, but we will still have a contained meet because we have restricted the schools which traditionally have multiple entrants to one team per school," Jackson explained.

"We have, however, given them the option of having six athletes per-school per-event, instead of the traditional four. This way we will still have some element of control in terms of the number of heats that we will have and we will be monitoring the situation very closely," added the 1988 Olympic 200 silver medallist.

The events down to be contested are: 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1,500m, hurdles, high jump, triple jump, long jump, discus, shot put and 4x400m.

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