New Zealand's Olympic 1500m silver medallist and reigning Commonwealth Games champion Nick Willis is set to take on Australia's own 1500m men Jeff Riseley, Jeremy Roff and Mitch Kealey at the Melbourne Track Classic on March 4.
After setting a new national 1500m indoor record at the Birmingham Grand Prix over the weekend, running it in 3:35.8 to pass fellow Kiwi Sir John Walker's 31-year-old record of 3:37.4, Willis is the man to beat in Melbourne.
The Beijing Olympics silver medallist and 2006 Commonwealth Games gold medallist will join world championships 1500m representatives Riseley and Roff and Beijing Olympics 1500m runner Mitch Kealey in Melbourne.
Twenty-six-year-old Willis will return to Melbourne on the comeback from a serious hip injury that ruled him out of the 2009 world championships and as he looks towards his Commonwealth Games title defence.
"I'm pumped to return to Melbourne to race again," said Willis.
"Winning the 1500m at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in front of 90,000 people at the MCG was a once-in-a-lifetime experience."
"Coming back will give me a great chance to reflect on the moment that helped launch my international career and this will be another great opportunity to show the rest of the world that we can turn on world-class performances Down Under."
Willis knows the value of a trans-Tasman rivalry and said he would be doing everything possible to beat the Australians at home.
"It’s great to see a group of Aussie middle distance guys running so well but, like Kiwis in all sports, there is no one I would hate to lose to more than an Aussie," he said.
"It should be a fast race and I welcome all the Kiwis living in Victoria to come along to see one of their own competing against the best in the world in their own backyard."
Willis' arrival in Melbourne will follow an impressive few weeks on the international circuit for the Kiwi runner, taking out the invitational mile at the Boston Indoor Games earlier this month in 3:55.26 before going on to rewrite the New Zealand record books in Birmingham last weekend.
Willis, who boasts a personal best time of 3:32.17, is the latest in a long line of New Zealand middle distance runners to succeed on the world stage and follows Olympic Games medallists Jack Lovelock (1936), Peter Snell (1960, 1964), Rod Dixon (1972), Dick Quax (1976) and John Walker (1976) in making waves worldwide.