A million dollar sprint featuring the Olympic, World and European 100 metre champions and the world record holder is the highlight of a glamorous and highly lucrative Moscow athletics meeting on Saturday.

The winner of the 100 metres will scoop $500,000, with another $500,000 being distributed through the rest of the field. In total $2 million in prize money is up for grabs -- a reward that organisers say is the biggest ever.

World champion Kim Collins from St Kitts and Nevis, who collected $60,000 for winning his title in Paris last month, will take on world-record-holder Tim Montgomery, Olympic champion Maurice Greene and European champion Dwain Chambers.

Placards around the city advertise an evening of sport and culture, with pop stars also performing in the stadium.

The big promises seem to have attracted the athletes to the new event in a city that is bidding to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

"I think the Moscow Challenge is one of the most interesting competitions to have ever taken place in athletics... I didn't come here for the money, I came to take part in a show," Montgomery said in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper.

Other events too feature the cream of the sport.

Fresh from a gold-medal-winning performance at last month's world championships, Mozambique's Maria Mutola will be running in the 800 metres, hoping to further a bank balance boosted by the million dollars she earned earlier this month from the Golden League jackpot.

Double world sprint champion Kelli White, who could lose both her 100 and 200 metre gold medals after testing positive for a stimulant at the world championships, is scheduled to compete in the women's 100 metres.

The United States athlete said she took prescribed medication to combat narcolepsy.

Other world champions planning to compete include Moroccan 1,500 metre star Hicham El Guerrouj and Swedish triple jumper Christian Olsson.

The men's competition consists of 100m, 800m and 1,500m races and the triple jump, while women will compete in 100m and 800m races, the long jump and high jump. The event starts at 1500 GMT.

The Moscow Challenge was dreamed up by a group of Russian businessmen and organisers who hope to stage it annually, but do not know how many of the 80,000 seats have been sold.

Regardless of how many tickets have been sold, the offer of free vodka and spirits to VIP ticket holders, who shelled out $300 for prime seats, will ensure they enjoy themselves.