With the conclusion of National and Continental Championships around the world, attention will now shift to the ninth leg of the IAAF Diamond League series in Monaco, where several African and European Champions are set to light up the Herculis Meeting on Friday, July 15th.
Top on the list is European 100m Champion Dafne Schippers, who clocked an impressive 10.90s on her way to retaining her title in her home city of Amsterdam.
The European 200m record holder boasts of an impressive Season’s Best (SB) of 10.83s, and will hope to go much faster when she lines up against a field that includes Tianna Bartoletta, who won Double Silver at the US Trials in Eugene few days ago.
Bartoletta clocked a Personal Best (PB) of 10.78s to finish behind English Gardner (10.74s). This feat came a day after jumping a wind assisted SB of 7.02m in the Long Jump, thereby winning Silver behind Olympic Champion Brittney Reese, who recorded a PB/SB of 7.31m.
Also included in the line-up is Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown, who will be aiming for a win after failing to finish in the Top 3 at the Jamaican Trials. USA’s Morolake Akinosun (10.95s) will also be hoping to make her first Diamond League berth a remarkable one.
World 400m Champion Wayde Van Niekerk has enjoyed an unbeaten season so far, with his latest victory coming at the African Championships in Durban, South Africa.
The South African hero clocked an SB of 20.02s en-route his victory in the 200m, before going on to help the 4x100m relay team to a GOLD medal finish.
This time around, the 24-year old will be racing in his trademark event, the 400m where he has an SB of 44.11s. Also included in the line-up is USA’s Tony McQuay (44.24s), Micheal Cedenio of Trinidad and Tobago (44.37s), Grenada’s Bralon Taplin (44.41s), and former African Champion, Isaac Makwala (44.85s).
Meanwhile Double African Champion and World Leader in the 800m, Caster Semenya, will be another athlete to watch out for on the night. The South African re-wrote the record books in Durban, ending the championship as the only athlete to win three GOLD (800m, 1500m and 4x400m).
Semenya has also been unbeaten this year, and will be favourite once again when she races against No.2 on the 2016 rankings, Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi. Newly crowned Kenyan 800m Champion, Margaret Nyairera, and European 1500m Champion Angelika Chichocka, are also expected to be stiff competitors.
Another mouthwatering event to watch out for is the men’s 110m Hurdles, where African Champion Antonio Alkana of South Africa, will go against newly crowned European Champion and one of the home favourites, Dimitri Bascou.
Favoured for maximum points on the night will be Jamaica’s Omar McLeod, who is the World Leader (WL) with 12.97s. Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, and Spain’s Orlando Ortega may also be in for possible upsets.
The women’s 400m Hurdles will feature newly crowned European Champion Sara Petersen of Denmark, and USA’s Ashley Spencer who qualified for the Olympics after finishing 2nd at the US Trials behind Dalilah Muhammad.
Shamier Little and Cassandra Tate will be seeking redemption after failing to make the US Olympic team. African Championships GOLD medallist Wenda Theron Nel and Asian Champion, Kemi Adekoya, are also included in the mix.
World 1500m Champion Asbel Kiprop, will headline the middle distance events as he goes against a stacked field that includes London 2012 GOLD medallist Taoufik Makhloufi, World Bronze medallist Abdelaati Iguider and 5,000m/10,000m Olympic Champion Mo Farah.
Diamond Race leader in the 3000m Steeplechase Conseslus Kipruto, was handed his first defeat this year by Alex Kibet at the Kenyan Championships.
Fortunately he has enjoyed an undefeated Diamond League season, and will aim to extend his lead when he races against teammates Abraham Kibiwott and Paul Koech, as well as Bahrain’s John Koech.
World Indoor High Jump Champion Gianmarco Tamberi, has had an outstanding season so far with his latest feat coming at the European Championships, where he won the GOLD medal with an SB of 2.36m.
The Italian Champion will have his hands full when he goes against world leader Mutaaz Essa Barshim, Ukraine’s Bohdan Bohdanrenko, Syria’s Majed Ghazal and European Silver medallist Robbie Grabarz of Great Britain.
Beijing 2015 Triple Jump Champion, Caterine Ibarguen was handed her first defeat in three years by Olga Rypakova at the Birmingham Diamond League.
The Colombian will be aiming for revenge when she goes against Rypakova once again, while Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas won’t be a push over after becoming the youngest athlete ever to join the 15m club at the IAAF World Challenge in Madrid a few weeks ago.
Meanwhile in the women’s Pole Vault, at least five women that have gone above the 4.80m mark will be competing, making it one of the exciting events to watch out for at the Monaco Diamond League.
European Discus Champion Piotr Malachowski will be aiming to extend his lead on the Diamond standings against compatriot Robert Urbanek and Estonia’s Gerd Kanter, who was a surprise Silver medallist at the European Championships.
