SPRINT superstar Usain Bolt will return to the Penn Relays this year as part of the Jamaica 4x100m relay team in the ‘USA vs the World Series’ which is run on the Saturday, the final day of the three-day meet set for April 22 to 24 at Franklin Field in Pennsylvania.

A release from the information department of the University of Pennsylvania, organisers of the event which will see its 116th staging, confirmed Bolt’s participation in a release yesterday, wi th meet director Dave Johnson quoted as saying “We are thrilled that Usain Bolt will be running at the Penn Relays.”

Bolt, who ran the second leg on the William Knibb High School team that won the ‘Small Schools’ consolation 4x100m race in 2002, last competed at Penns in 2006 when he ran on the Jamaican team in the sprint medley relay.

Bolt, who holds the world records in the 100 metres (9.58 seconds) and 200 metres (19.19), as well as the 4x100m relay, is the first man in history to hold Olympic and World titles in both events at the same time after his triumphs in Beijing, China, in 2008 and Berlin, Germany last year — both times breaking both individual records.

Bolt’s inclusion in the meet is certain to attract a lot of attention, especially from the large numbers of Jamaicans and Caribbean residents who attend the meet each year and according to Johnson, “There is no crowd in the country that will appreciate Bolt’s abilities more than the one in Franklin Field, and there is nowhere in the country where he could run in front of as many people.”

The attendance at the meet has averaged more than 104,000 each year since 1996, the release stated.

A number of Jamaican high schools, colleges and clubs are again expected to take part this year.

Jamaican high schools won five relays last year. The Edwin Allen girls captured the 4x400m and 4x800m; Vere Technical the 4x100m; Calabar the 4x100m Boys and St Jago the 4x400m Boys.

K-Don Samuels, then of Jamaica College (JC), broke the National Junior record in the pole vault, while Shermaine Williams, competing for Johnson C Smith University, set a new standard in the 100m hurdles.

In individual events, St Elizabeth Technical’s Peter-gay Reid and Rochelle Farquharson won the high school high jump and triple jump titles, respectively, while St George’s College Kimarki Absalom won the boys high jump with a personal best 2.06m.

The University of Technology women’s 4x400m team became the first female college team from Jamaica to win a Championships of Americas title, while former Mannings and St Hugh’s representative Nadia Alexander became the first Jamaican to win the College women’s shot put Championships when she won on her final throw — a personal best and Louisiana Tech school record 16.68m.