Former Olympic 100 meter champion Maurice Greene will take on British Olympic relay gold medallists Mark Lewis-Francis and Jason Gardener in the 60 meters at the Norwich Union Grand Prix in Birmingham next month, organizers announced today.

Greene is the world record holder at 60 meters, with a time of 6.39 seconds set in 1998, and has produced six of the seven fastest-ever performances at the distance.

Greene, who topped the world rankings at 100m from 1997 to 2001, a period in which he claimed three world titles in the short dash, will be looking for revenge as he competes in the 60 meters in Birmingham's National Indoor Arena on Feb. 18. In Athens, Greene was outkicked by Lewis-Francis on the anchor leg of the 4x100 meter relay. Gardener is the reigning World Indoor champion.

"I'm really looking forward to competing in Birmingham again," he said. "The support from the crowd at the NIA is always fantastic and I'm sure I can rise to the occasion and produce a great performance."

Greene, 30, has raced sparingly indoors in recent years, limiting his winter appearances to just one race in 2004, four in 2003, and none in 2002. In 2001, he only contested the national indoor championships in Atlanta, where he equalled his 6.39 world indoor record.

After a pair of off-years following a motorcycle accident in which he broke his left leg, Greene returned to top form in 2004, racing to a bronze medal in Athens and producing eight non-aided sub-10 second performances in heats and finals, topped by his 9.87 clocking in the Athens final. In Athens, Greene said, "I'm not quite finished yet."

"I have high hopes for 2005," Greene said. "Last year I proved that I'm still a force to be reckoned with and I can beat anyone when I get all the elements of my race right."

Greene is the latest top name to be confirmed for the Birmingham meeting. Double Olympic gold medallist Kelly Holmes, Olympic heptathlon champion Carolina Kluft, Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva and Olympic 10,000 meter champion Kenenisa Bekele have already been announced.