London, United Kingdom — Kenya’s observe queen Religion Kipyegon is amongst ten world record-holders and 23 reigning international particular person champions entered for the star-studded fields for the primary Wanda Diamond League assembly of the yr in Xiamen on Saturday.
This will probably be Kipyegon’s first race of the season that’s anticipated to see her try and develop into the primary lady to run a mile underneath 4 minutes in a Nike sponsored race schedule for June 26 in Paris.
Others world beaters to compete in Xiamen are double Olympic champion Kenyan Beatrice Chebet, Mondo Duplantis, Grant Holloway, Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay.
Season debuts for Kipyegon
Kipyegon claimed her third Olympic 1500m title in Paris final yr and in Xiamen she is going to make her 2025 debut by dropping right down to the 1000m.
The 31-year-old holds world data within the 1500m and the mile, and he or she sits second on the world all-time checklist for the 1000m following her 2:29.15 run in Monaco in 2020 – that efficiency simply 0.17 shy of Svetlana Masterkova’s world document set in 1996.
The Xiamen 1000m will probably be Kipyegon’s first race because the Athlos assembly in September final yr. Earlier that month she received her fifth Diamond League title on the last in Brussels.
She will probably be joined in Xiamen by athletes together with Ethiopia’s world U20 champion Saron Berhe and Olympic 800m silver medallist Tsige Duguma, plus Australia’s Abbey Caldwell, Uganda’s Halimah Nakaayi and Benin’s Noelie Yarigo.
-All Eyes On Chebet-
The ladies’s 5000m will characteristic a conflict of world champions – each of them world record-holders.
Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet achieved an Olympic 5000m and 10,000m title double in Paris and is the world record-holder within the longer distance in addition to for 5km on the roads, whereas Ethiopia’s Tsegay is the world 5000m record-holder who extra lately received the world indoor 1500m title in a championship document in Nanjing.
Their head-to-head document in 5000m observe finals stands at 3-2 in Tsegay’s favour and in Xiamen they are going to conflict for the primary time since final yr’s Olympic Video games.
Amongst these becoming a member of them on the beginning line are Ethiopia’s two-time world indoor champion Freweyni Hailu, Birke Haylom and world U20 steeplechase champion Sembo Almayew, making her 5000m debut.
-Omanyala Units Sights On Maiden Diamond League Title-
The entry checklist for the boys’s 100m stars Botswana’s Olympic 200m gold and 100m silver medallist Letsile Tebogo in addition to all three world indoor 60m medallists – champion Jeremiah Azu, Lachlan Kennedy and Akani Simbine – plus Christian Coleman and Africa File Holder Ferdinand Omanyala.
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Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson continues her comeback within the 200m. The 2-time world champion final raced the gap in Szekesfehervar in July however pulled up injured and didn’t run on the Olympic Video games.
She clocked 36.13 for 300m earlier this month after opening her yr with two 60m races and in Xiamen she is going to face world indoor 60m champion Mujinga Kambundji, Jenna Prandini and Tamara Clark.
-Duplantis returns-
Duplantis returns to the scene of the eighth of his now 11 world pole vault data.
The Swedish 25-year-old, who on Monday was named the Laureus World Sportsman of the Yr, cleared 6.24m in Xiamen final yr and went on to set one other world document of 6.25m in Paris, the place he retained his Olympic title.
He has achieved one other two world data since – 6.26m in Silesia later in August and 6.27m in Clermont-Ferrand in February.
The assembly in Xiamen will probably be his outside season opener as Duplantis competes for the primary time since successful his third consecutive world indoor title in Nanjing final month.
Emmanouil Karalis of Greece improved his nationwide document to six.05m to safe silver and can be in motion this weekend, together with world silver medallist Ernest John Obiena and two-time world champion Sam Kendricks.
