MONACO, France, February 23 – Daegu 2011 World champions Asbel Kiprop and David Rudisha will have their first outings of the season at their preferred Olympic distances at the Melbourne Track Classic on Saturday March 3 the opening meeting of the 2012 IAAF World Challenge.

Kiprop will defend his Olympic 1500m title in London later this year; Rudisha will bid to complete a triple crown of accomplishments by adding the Olympic 800 metres gold medal to his 2010 World records and 2011 IAAF World championship title.

The Melbourne Track Classic is the first of 15 meetings of the IAAF World Challenge series of one-day competitions which has stops around the globe in all six IAAF Areas.

The series of invitational events concludes in Rieti, Italy on September 9.

Both runners featured at the Sydney Track Classic meeting where they dropped distances with Kiprop winning the 800m race in 1:45.91 as Rudisha returned 45.82 for second in the 400m event last week.