Team USA will take on the Olympic gold-medal 4x100-meter men's and women's relay teams from Great Britain and Jamaica Saturday at USA vs. The World at the 111th running of the Penn Relays at Philadelphia's Franklin Field. Some of the biggest names in U.S. sprinting, including Justin Gatlin, Lauryn Williams, Shawn Crawford and Allyson Felix, will compete in the sixth edition of USA vs. The World, as well as international stars such as Mark Lewis-Francis and Jason Gardener.

The first event of the 2005 USATF Outdoor Visa Championship Series, USA vs. The World will be broadcast live from 4-6 p.m. Eastern Time on NBC.

Nearly 150 athletes from 11 countries around the globe will compete at this year's USA vs. The World, held annually at the Penn Relays since 2000 and featuring men's and women's 4x100 and 4x400-meter relays. The 2005 edition of USA vs. the World also for the first time will feature sprint medley relays replacing the customary 4x200m relay.

This year's Team USA 4x100m squads will look forward to Olympic rematch races in preparation for the 2005 World Outdoor Track & Field Championships this summer in Helsinki, Finland. On Saturday, Team USA will look to win every race at this competition for the third consecutive year.

Men's 4x100 Olympic rematch

Team USA's men's 4x100m relay pool features an impressive array of talented young athletes, many of whom have already made a huge splash on the world stage. Headlining this group are 2004 Olympic individual gold medalists Justlin Gatlin and Shawn Crawford.

Gatlin fulfilled his promise at the tender age of 22 in winning the gold medal in the men's 100 meters last year in Athens. At the gun Gatlin got out fast and held on for the win, finishing in a personal-best, world- leading time of 9.85 seconds, the second-fastest time in Olympic history. Gatlin later added an Olympic bronze medal in the 200 meters (20.03), and he capped off his complete set of Olympic medals by winning silver in the 4x100m relay (38.08).

Shawn Crawford also put on an amazing performance in Athens, beginning with his fourth-place finish in the 100 meters in 9.89 seconds. He later dominated the field in the 200m final by winning the gold medal with a new personal best time of 19.79 seconds, leading the first American sweep in that event since 1984. Before heading home from Athens, Crawford ran the lead leg on Team USA's silver medal winning 4x100m squad. He ended the 2004 season ranked #1 in the world at 200 meters, and #5 in the world at 100 meters by Track & Field News.

Coby Miller, who ran third leg on the relay for Team USA in Athens and was fourth in the 100 at the Olympic Trials, also is in the Team USA relay pool, as is 2003 world outdoor 4x100 gold medalist and 200m silver medalist Darvis Patton, who ran in the 4x100m semifinals in Athens.

Other members of Team USA's sprint relay pool include 2003 world outdoor 4x100m relay gold-medal anchor J.J. Johnson, 2004 Olympic Trials 100m finalist Leonard Scott, 2001 World University Games 100m gold medalist Marcus Brunson and reigning USA Indoor 60m champion Mardy Scales.

"The World" awaits

Team USA's men's sprint relay will look for revenge against Great Britain, after the British squad won the gold medal at the 2004 Olympics by a mere one-hundredth of a second over the Americans. The GBR team features two members of that gold medal winning group in 2004 World Indoor and 2005 European Indoor 60m champion Jason Gardner, who ran the lead leg in Athens, along with anchorman Mark Lewis- Francis, the 2000 World Junior 100m champion, 2001 World Indoor 60m bronze medalist and 2005 European Indoor 60m runner-up.

The usual large throng of Jamaican fans attending USA vs. The World will have a strong men's 4x100m team to cheer for, led by 2004 Olympic relay team members Michael Frater and Dwight Thomas. Also look for young sprint sensation Usain Bolt, who a year ago at age 17 set the world junior record in the 200 meters of 19.93 seconds. Other nations competing in the men's 4x100m will be Canada, the Bahamas and Germany.

Women's World

The U.S. will have its hands full in the women's 4x100m relay in facing the 2004 Olympic gold medal winners Jamaica, as well as 2000 Olympic champions and 2004 Olympic fourth-place finishers the Bahamas.

Team USA will seek its revenge with an accomplished group of sprinters including 2004 Olympic 100m silver medalist Lauryn Williams and Olympic 200m silver medalist Allyson Felix. Also look for 2004 Olympic 100m finalist and Olympic Trials champion LaTasha Colander and two- time world outdoor 4x100m medalist Angela Williams, who teamed with Colander and Lauryn Williams in Athens. 2004 U.S. Indoor 60m champion and 2004 Indoor Visa Champion Angela Daigle and 1999 world outdoor 200m champion Inger Miller also are in the Team USA relay pool.

The Olympic gold medal winning team from Jamaica will feature Aleen Bailey, who ran the third leg on the 4x100 in Athens, and also finished fifth in the 100 meters in 11.05 seconds. Bailey finished the 2004 season world-ranked in the 100m (#3) and 200m (#4) by Track &Field News.Tanya Lawrence, who ran the lead leg in Athens, will team again with Bailey on Saturday, along with 2001 World Indoor 200m champion Juliet Campbell.

Another team that could contend for the title is 2000 Olympic gold medalists Bahamas, who will be led by Timika Clarke, who ran the lead leg in Athens. Other nations competing in the women's 4x100m relay include Canada and Finland.

Unchained Medley

For the first time, USA vs. the World also will include a special sprint medley competition, featuring two 200-meter legs, a 400m leg, and an 800-meter leg. 2004 Olympic Trials 1,500-meter champion Alan Webb will be among the athletes competing in the sprint medley.

A preview of the 4x400m relay pools will be released Tuesday. Final lineups will be announced Saturday. For more information on the USA vs. The World at Penn Relays, and the Visa Championship Series visit www.usatf.org.