Eighteen New Zealand athletes have been accepted to start in the first IAAF World Challenge event of the year, the Melbourne Track Classic on March 2.
The meet is also doubling as the Australian Olympic trials to help select Australia's team for the London Games.
Athletics New Zealand performance managerScott Goodman was pleased to have so many New Zealand athletes in the most prestigious Australasian meet on the calendar.
"While athletes like Nick Willis and Stuart Farquhar have already achieved qualifying standards for London, this meeting will be very important as part of their preparation towards the Olympics," Goodman said. "Others will use the meet to try and close in on the standards for their events, while a third group of development athletes will use the event for valuable experience.
