BOSTON, Massachusetts - Derartu Tulu of Ethiopia and American pole vault star Stacy Dragila will compete at the 2004 adidas Boston Indoor Games on Jan. 31, meet organizers announced today. Together with the previously-announced Haile Gebrselassie, the trio accounts for an astonishing 17 Olympic or World Championship gold medals.

Tulu, 31, is perhaps the greatest female athlete ever to hail from her country. After making history in 1992 as the first black African woman to win an Olympic gold medal(10,000 meters), Tulu went on to win three World Cross Country Championships (1995, 1997, 2000). Her second Olympic gold at 10,000 meters, in Sydney, was followed the next year by a victory in the 2001 Flora London Marathon.

While Tulu's appearance here will be the first indoor race of her career, Dragila has already provided some of the most breathtaking moments in adidas Boston Indoor Games history. The 2000 Olympic gold medalist and two-time World Champion last year set an American record here and twice has barely missed World records, earning her role as a crowd favorite.

Three more top athletes have also been added to the roster. They include:

Tirunesh Dibaba, the Ethiopian prodigy who as an 18-year-old last summer stunned the best women on the planet when she beat them for the 5000-meter World Championship title. Dibaba will compete here against her cousin, Tulu, at the same distance.

John Capel, the surprise winner of the 2000 Olympic Trials at 200 meters who then took time off to attempt a career in the National Football League. He cemented his decision to return to the track when he was crowned the 200m World Champion last summer in Paris.

Nicole Teter, three-time US 800-meter champion who in 2002 broke Suzy Favor Hamilton's 800m American record when she ran 1:58.71. A rising star, Teter will be kicking off the campaign to make her first US Olympic team.

The ninth-annual adidas Boston Indoor Games will be held at the Reggie Lewis Track & Athletic Center at Roxbury Community College, 1350 Tremont St., Boston, from 5:30 to 8 p.m., and will be broadcast live on ESPN2 from 6-7 p.m.
The meet will again be the first stop on USA Track & Field's Indoor Golden Spike Tour. Tickets, which are expected to sell out, are available on-line at:
Boston Indoor Games or by calling 617-536-7030.