IT has been revealed that one of the greatest sprinters of recent times is headed to Glasgow with the announcement that double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson will take part in the Müller Indoor Grand Prix Glasgow, which takes place at the Emirates Arena next month.

Thompson won gold in both the 100m and the 200m at the Rio Olympics in 2016 and she is just the latest world-wide star to be added to the start list for the Glasgow meet. Also appearing are reigning 4 x 100m world champions Adam Gemili, CJ Ujah and Nathaneel Mitchel-Blake, as well as Scotland’s most decorated track and field athlete ever, Eilidh Doyle.

Thompson’s appearance adds an extra sparkle to proceedings but the Jamaican will not have it easy on the day, with the 60m expected to be one of the most competitive races on the entire programme. Also on the start line will be Britain’s top sprinter Dina Asher-Smith, world champion from the Netherlands Dafne Schipers as well and world silver medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou from the Ivory Coast.

Thompson admits that she is relishing the challenge and the Glasgow meet will be the perfect race to judge where she is in terms of competitive form. “I’m really looking forward to the event and hopefully I’ll be able to put in a strong performance in Glasgow,” she said.

“There are some huge competitors going to be there so I’m looking forward to competing against these girls. Wherever I’m getting towards the line in a race against these kind of competitors, I get that drive to push me over the line and do the best performance that I possibly can.”

Thompson has raced in Glasgow before – at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where she was part of the relay quartet which won gold – and she admits she is very much looking forward to the prospect of returning to the city. “It was a great event but I do remember that the weather was completely bipolar – one minute it was lovely sunshine and then the next is was raining,” she said. “But it was great – the Athletes’ Village was good and it was a fun competition so it was a great experience, I really enjoyed it.”

Thompson has two major goals in the coming months – the World Indoor Championships in March and the 2018 Commonwealth Games which are a few weeks and the 25 year-old is expecting to use the Glasgow Grand Prix as the perfect preparation for those championships. “This meet in Glasgow is important because it will help me to get race sharp,” she said. “And it will also let me know how much work I have still to put in. But I’m hoping that this event will be one of the ones that will get me really sharp for the Commonwealth Games.”

It is particularly important for Thompson to run well this year having had a disappointing 2017. She finished only fifth in the 100m final at last year’s World Championships but she is confident that the next 12 months can yield more silverware than the last. “I’m looking forward to getting back on the track and to unleash the type of performances I know that I can produce,” she said. “I’m definitely hoping to pick up some medals. This will be my second Commonwealth Games and I’m looking forward to capturing a medal because I’ll be giving my all to do that.

“The World Indoors will be my second shot at that – last time I captured bronze and ran a PB but I’m looking for much, much greater things than that this year. So it’s going to be a good few months.”

>Tickets for the Müller Indoor Grand Prix Glasgow on the 25th of February are available at britishathletics.org.uk/events-and-tickets/muller-indoor-grand-prix-glasgow-2018/