Ferdinand Omanyala, Faith Kipyegon, Mary Moraa headline Monaco Diamond League Meeting

ATHLETICS Ferdinand Omanyala, Faith Kipyegon, Mary Moraa headline Monaco Diamond League Meeting

Abigael Wafula 13:28 - 20.07.2023

A quintet of current world record-holders top the billing with double world record holder Faith Kipyegon being a major attraction.

The Diamond League in Monaco has attracted some of the greatest athletes who will descend on Stade Louis 2 stadium on Friday night, hoping to make a statement and have a significant build-up ahead of the World Championships in Budapest, Hungary from August 19 to 27.

A quintet of current world record-holders top the billing with double world record holder Faith Kipyegon, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Yulimar Rojas, Mondo Duplantis, and Karsten Warholm are some pre-race favourites.

Commonwealth Games champion Mary Moraa and Africa’s fastest man Ferdinand Omanyala will also be in action when the event gets underway.

Two-time World champion Kipyegon has proven to be in the form of her life, breaking two world records in a span of one week.

She became the first woman to crack 3:50 for the 1500m as she set a new global standard of 3:49.11 in Florence and then followed up with an even more impressive run precisely one week later in Paris, when she brought down the 5000m world record, clocking 14:05.20.

Now she turns her attention to the mile, where her personal best of 4:16.71 was set in 2015. The mile world record stands at 4:12.33, set by Kipyegon’s long-time rival Sifan Hassan in the same stadium in 2019 and Kipyegon might just be going for it this time.

The 29-year-old will face strong opposition from Olympic silver medallist Laura Muir, Oceanian record-holder Jessica Hull of Australia, and US 1500m champion Nikki Hiltz.

Another fine men’s 5000m field has been assembled this year with Nicholas Kimeli, Stanley Waithaka, and Jacob Krop being headliners.

The trio will be up against this year’s world leader Berihu Aregawi and a high-class quartet of his compatriots Telahun Bekele, Hagos Gebrhiwet, Samuel Tefera, and Kuma Girma. Uganda’s world cross-country champion Jacob Kiplimo will also be in the mix.

The men’s 800m has five of the six fastest men this year, including youngster Emmanuel Wanyonyi (world leader with 1:43.27), Wycliffe Kinyamal and Olympic and world champion Emmanual Korir, in-form Canadian Marco Arop, as well as the Algerian duo of Slimane Moula and Djamel Sedjati, who have both run well under 1:44 this year.

Kenya’s Commonwealth champion Abraham Kibiwot (8:05.51 this year) leads a solid 3000m steeplechase field, which also features former world and Olympic champion Conseslus Kipruto who will be seeking redemption after missing out on Team Kenya to the World Championships.

World 400m hurdles champion and record-holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will continue her flirtation with the flat 400m in Monaco and she will be up against in-form Moraa who also set a national record during the World Championships National Trials.

The men’s 100m has an African flavour, with Omanyala taking on Akani Simbine of South Africa and Botswana’s world U20 champion Letsile Tebogo.

The Jamaican trio of Yohan Blake, Ackeem Blake, Kishane Thompson, and USA’s Courtney Lindsey will give the Kenyan a run for his money.