The Seiko Golden Grand Prix, a premier World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, has announced that American sprint superstar Noah Lyles will compete at Tokyo’s National Stadium on May 17. The world and Olympic champion is set to return to the Japanese capital for the first time since his 2024 season.
The 28-year-old Lyles holds a deep connection to the venue. It was at the National Stadium in 2021 where he earned his first Olympic medal, a bronze in the 200m. He returned last year to cement his dominance on the same track, securing his fourth consecutive world title in the 200m and his third world 4x100m relay crown.
For his upcoming appearance, Lyles will contest the 100m, the distance at which he achieved the pinnacle of his career by winning Olympic gold in Paris in 2024. His participation sets the stage for a high-profile sprint clash, adding international luster to the prestigious domestic meeting.
Lyles will be joined by a formidable contingent of Japan’s leading athletics talent, promising a day of elite competition across multiple disciplines.
Olympic javelin champion Haruka Kitaguchi will headline the domestic line-up. She is set to appear alongside a group of Japan’s most accomplished athletes, including Rachid Muratake and Yuki Joseph Nakajima, both of whom reached World Championship finals last year. Muratake set a new Japanese national record in the 110m hurdles with a time of 12.92 in 2024, while Nakajima established a national record in the 400m with a mark of 44.44.
The country’s strength in the field events will also be prominently featured. World Championships finalist Ryoichi Akamatsu and Tomohiro Shinno are both scheduled to compete in the high jump, while long jump national record-holder Yuki Hashioka will also be in action.
On the track, multiple national record-holder Nozomi Tanaka is set to compete in the 3000m. The men’s 100m will showcase a deep field of Japanese sprinters, including Yoshihide Kiryu, Hiroki Yanagita, and Yuhi Mori, alongside rising sensation Sorato Shimizu, who set a world U18 best of 10.00 seconds last year.
The Seiko Golden Grand Prix, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, continues to serve as a premier international athletics event, drawing top-tier global and domestic talent to Tokyo each spring.