All eight lanes for the 100 metres have been filled, with the BNAA having to turn away top sprinters wanting to be a part of the inaugural Invitational Permit Meet on April 22.

The sprint will be one of the most anticipated events during the evening with Bermuda’s Tre Houston lining up in a race that will be over in about 10 seconds.

Houston has a best time of 10.12 while Beejay Lee of the United States has posted a 9.99 previously. Others confirmed include Oshane Bailey of Jamaica, Adam Harris of Guyana, Reggie Dixon of the United States, Trevonano Mackey of The Bahamas and Jamaican-born Jak Eli of Turkey who has run a 10.01.

“The ball is rolling and every single day we are turning down people,” Donna Raynor, Bermuda National Athletic Assocation president, said.

“We’ve had tons of people asking ‘can I get a lane in the 100?’. Some of the big names would like to come, but they wanted us to pay an exorbitant amount of money for the first event which we don’t have.

“This is going to be an annual event and next year it will be even bigger.

“I was talking to people at Carifta [in Grenada] and some of them are looking at flying in to watch because they love Bermuda.

“People who saw Carifta here were excited about Carifta and I see no reason why they wouldn’t be excited about an event of this nature.”

The meet will draw the biggest crowd to the National Sports Centre since the sold out 2012 Carifta Games. It was something that the Bermuda Tourism Authority anticipated when they came in as a partner to capitalise on the potential for sports tourism.

“I want to acknowledge the amount of work that goes into putting this kind of event on,” Pat Philip-Fairn, of the Bermuda Tourism Authority, said.

“The Authority really takes its hat off to Donna and Troy [Douglas] and the National Sports Centre team, everyone who is involved in putting on these sports events.

“Troy has spent a lot of hours contacting people to put this field together. That goes for all the events, we’ve had a half dozen completely new sports events in Bermuda in this first quarter alone and a lot of work goes in on the ground to make these things happen and elevate Bermuda’s standing as a premier sports tourism destination.

“We’re really looking forward to seeing the results of all this hard labour.”

Sean Tucker, National Sports Centre chairman, said: “It will be a pleasure to welcome everyone to the National Sports Centre for what we know will be a spectacular track and field event on April 22.

“The board and staff at the National Sports Centre take great pride in the fact that we have become a venue of choice for sports events and our partnership with the Bermuda Tourism Authority is transforming us into a destination of choice.

“We anticipate the atmosphere here will be something you’ve never seen before. Tickets are on sale now for three tiers of seating, the VIP, covered and uncovered and we encourage everyone to go online to buy your tickets early as we expect this to be a sold-out event.”

Athletes will be coming from the US, Canada, Jamaica, Trinidad, Barbados, Puerto Rico and Nigeria to compete against top Bermuda athletes such as Tyrone Smith, Ethan Philips and Bruce DeGrilla in the long jump, Shianne Smith in the 400 metre hurdles, Houston and Cheria Morgan in the 100 metres men and women, Aaron Evans in the 800 metres, Lamont Marshall and Chayce Smith in the 1500 metres and Sakari Famous, the Carifta bronze medal-winner, in the women’s high jump.