A number of Jamaican athletes will be competing on today’s second day of the two-day TrackTown Classic at Foote Field in Edmonton, Canada, as they get ready for the start of the track and field competition at the Pan-American Games set for next Saturday.

Sprinters, including Nesta Carter, Rasheed Dwyer, Sherone Simpson, as well as hurdlers Tyler Mason and Shermaine Williams will hope to get race practice, while 800m runner Kimarra McDonald is still trying to make the qualifying standard for the IAAF World Championships in China in August.

The sprint trio of Simpson, Simone Facey and Samantha Henry-Robinson are down to compete in both the 100m and 200m events.

In the 100m they will go up against American Allyson Felix, who is expected to make a bid for four gold medals in China — in the 200m, 400m and both relays.

In the 200m they will face a number of Americans led by Shalonda Solomon.

Carter, who failed to make the team for the 100m in China after placing fourth at the National Senior Trials, will start favourite in the 100m where he faces American Charles Silmon and Canadians Gavin Smellie and Justyn Warner.

Commonwealth Games champion Rasheed Dwyer will line up in a tough 200m field that will also see American Wallace Spearmon, who was second at the USA Trials, and Canadian Aaron Brown and Antiguan Miguel Francis, who comes in with the only sub-20 seconds time this year.

Anastacia Le-Roy and Patricia Hall will be in the 400m where they will lock horns with American Sanya Richards-Ross, who, despite having the third fastest time in the world so far this year, failed to make the final at the USA Trials two weekends ago.

World Junior Championships silver medallist Tyler Mason, in his first season at the senior level, will run the men’s 110m hurdles, while Shermaine Williams will line up in the women’s 100m hurdles.

Shevon Stoddart will compete in the women’s 400m hurdles event, while Damon McLean will take part in the men’s triple jump.

McDonald, who was third in the women’s 800m at the JAAA National Senior Trials, will get another chance to make the World Championships qualifying mark of two minutes, 01.00 second in the hopes of joining Natoya Goule and Simoya Campbell as the Jamaican representatives in Beijing, China.