MONTEGO BAY, St James — Defending IAAF World Championships 200m gold medallist Veronica Campbell Brown will make her first competitive appearance in Canada in June when she and World Championships 100m champion Yohan Blake take part in the Edmonton International Track Classic on June 29 at Foote Field.

Blake, who is nursing a hamstring injury but is expected to be back in time for the Supreme Ventures Jamaican National Senior Trials, June 19-23, is down to defend the men’s 100m title he won last year.

The Edmonton International Track Classic is the third of five stops in the 2013 Canada National Track League series and will be a week after the Jamaican Trials.

The organisers confirmed the Jamaicans’ participation in the event yesterday in a release, and meet director Peter Ogilvie and executive director of Athletics Alberta was quoted as saying: “We’re absolutely thrilled to have the Beast [Yohan Blake] come back and compete here in Edmonton. And we’re privileged to feature the Queen of Jamaican sprinting, Veronica Campbell Brown, who is making her first appearance ever in Canada.”

Blake, who ran 10.05 seconds to win in Edmonton last year, was quoted as saying he will be hoping to break the 10.00-second barrier, which if he does would be the first time anyone would have achieved that feat in Canada since 2001, the release also stated.

“I am very happy to be coming back to Edmonton and am looking forward to breaking the 10-second barrier in front of some of the best fans in the world.”

Campbell Brown, who will run the 200m, was quoted as saying: “I am thoroughly excited at the prospect of competing in Canada for the first time, and in Edmonton — home of the 2001 World Championships — to boot,” said Campbell Brown.

“I have monitored the results from previous Canadian summer circuits, and I am keen to compete in front of supportive fans!”