Aaron Brown, Andre De Grasse go head-to-head at Grand Slam Track Philadelphia

This weekend's Grand Slam Track stop in Philadelphia may be one day shorter, but it will have some extra Canadian content.

In addition to series regular Marco Arop, who runs the 800 and 1,500 metres, sprinters Aaron Brown and Andre De Grasse will compete as challengers in the professional track league's men's short sprints group at Philadelphia's Franklin Field beginning on Saturday at 4 p.m ET.

The two Canadian 4x100m relay teammates will line up against one another in Saturday's 200m (5:07p.m. ET) and Sunday's 100m (5:22 p.m. ET), an opportunity Brown says he always savours.

"It's always great to race with [Andre]. I always get up for it," Brown said. "You know, I'm always excited to run regardless, but anytime he's in the race, you know there's a little added extra motivation, so it's gonna be fun."

Brown is anticipating "a lot of friendly banter" among the competitors, since the field includes a pair of his training partners, Americans Kenny Bednarek and Christian Coleman.

Grand Slam Track Philadelphia will stream live on CBCSports.ca and on CBC Gem beginning on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET, continuing on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET. For a full broadcast schedule of athletics events this season, click here.

Bednarek is a racer – meaning he competes at every Grand Slam – and so far, 'Kung Fu Kenny' has been nearly unstoppable. Bednarek has won Slam titles at both the Kingston, Jamaica and Miami events.

Coleman joins Brown and De Grasse as challengers in Philadelphia, which are athletes invited on a per-Slam basis. Extra challenger spots opened up due to racers Oblique Seville (injury) and Fred Kerley (suspension) missing this meet.

Rounding out the field is racer Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain, and challengers Bryan Levell of