Olympic and World long jump champion Dwight Phillips will make his first appearance of the 2005 season at the LBBW Meeting in Karlsruhe, Germany on Sunday where he will contest the 60 meter dash.

The 27-year-old Phillips, named the 2004 U.S. Athlete-of-the-Year by Track & Field News, will take on Olympic silver medallist Francis Obikwelu of Portugal in Karlsruhe. Phillips has four meets on his schedule this winter, including the Athina 2005 indoor meeting on February 20, and only plans to contest the short sprint indoors.

Other Karlsruhe highlights include:

- world leader Daniel Kipchirchir Komen of Kenya taking on Ukraine's Ivan Heshko in the 1500 meters, where 2004 U.S. Indoor champion Rob Myers is a late entry

- 2000 Olympic gold medallist Anier Garcia of Cuba facing Jamaica's 2004 Olympian Maurice Wignall in the 60 meter hurdles

- multiple world indoor and outdoor 800 meter champion Maria Mutola making her 2005 debut in the event

- and Dmitriy Valyukevich, Danila Burkenya and Jadel Gregorio waging battle in the triple jump.

In the women's short dash, 2003 World Indoor 60 meter champion Zhanna Block of Ukraine will be making her only appearance of the indoor season. Block, the the 2001 World 100 meter champion and the silver medallist in the event in 2003, had an abbreviated 2004 campaign, sidelined by a hip injury and toxoplasmosis.