REIGNING World Championship 100m champion Yohan Blake and former world champion Kim Collins will clash at the sixth staging of the University of Technology (UTech) Track and Field Classic set for the National Stadium, starting at 9:20 am.

Collins, 37, of St Kitts and Nevis, who won the 100m at the 2003 Paris World Championship and was third behind Blake at the 2011 edition in Daegu, will renew their rivalry in the 100m today.

With Olympic champion Usain Bolt unavailable because of overseas engagements and Asafa Powell injured, the showdown set fort 5:15 pm will also include the emerging Kemar Bailey-Cole of Racers Track Club.

Last year, Blake ran 9.90 to win in heavy drizzle and today’s race will show the world where he is at as he prepares to defend his 100m title in Moscow.

Meanwhile, double 100m Olympic champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, will be the main focus on the women’s side and will participate in the 200m set for 6:50 pm.

Laurence Garriques, acting director of sports at UTech and meet director, told the Jamaica Observer, that everything is set and ready for the most exciting classic since the inception in 2008.

“Fans can expect good competition as most of these people will be running their pet events. It won’t be any warm-up business. That is something that people want to see them do their thing like how they do it at the Olympics,” emphasised Garriques.

Athletes from the Caribbean and North America are slated to compete alongside the local track and field clubs and schools. In fact, a team of 30 from the University of Albany from the United States of America (USA) is expected here for the event.

At the launch on March 7, Garriques confirmed that they have invited top prep and primary schools, top high schools, top inter-collegiate teams, and also the top clubs. “We have confirmed MVP and Racers (Track) clubs and other upcoming and emerging clubs. We are giving handsome prize money of $1.2m for the champion club,” he said.

Garriques explained that high school students will participate in Under-17 and Under-20 categories and identified the UTech meet as the ideal platform for athletes to prepare for the annual Penn Relays.

Also on the cards, Paralympic athletes will complement the string of inter collegiate and club competitors and president of the Jamaica Paralympic Association, Christopher Samuda was quoted at the launch as saying, he is grateful for the opportunity to use the UTech Classic as a qualifying event for the Lyon

2013 IPC Athletics World Championships in July.

— HOWARD WALKER