Thompson is now the 5th fastest woman ever in the 200m. (Photo Credit: Making of Champions/PaV Media)

Attention will now shift to the Paris Diamond League this Saturday where many World and Olympic champions have been confirmed for the prestigious Meeting Herculis, following the conclusion of several National Championships staged last weekend,.

Athletes will no doubt view Paris as a befitting meet to not only ascertain their readiness for the IAAF World Championships in August, but would also hope to use the meet to put finishing touches to their preparations, having just a little over a month to be ready for London.

There are so many match-ups to expect that it is quite difficult to place a finger on the event that would be the most entertaining, as there promises to be many mouthwatering contests.

Fresh from retaining her 100m Jamaican title last weekend with a World Leading (WL) mark of 10.71s, Elaine Thompson will no doubt be the favourite to win this weekend when she faces the Ivorian duo of Marie-Josee Ta Lou and Murielle Ahoure, with Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare and USA’s Morolake Akinosun among some of the other notable names in the starting line up.

Following the news that Thompson will only compete in the 100m in London, it is not surprising that she is putting enormous focus into winning the event in August, with the Paris DL no doubt providing her the perfect tune up for London. Thompson will be hoping to end the week on another high, having celebrated her 25th birthday on Tuesday.

 

Her fellow Jamaican Omar McLeod, who like Thompson, would be hoping for his first individual World title, is the star name in the men’s 110m Hurdles. The event, which starts with a semifinal on the day, will see McLeod try to replicate his huge Personal Best (PB) of 12.90s set last weekend in Kingston.

McLeod, who is the Olympic champion, has already signaled his intention to match Aries Merritt’s World Record (WR) of 12.80s; it is left to be seen if he can do that in Paris, or if he will save it for a bigger occasion. Although he is the installed favourite to win on Saturday, he will have to navigate through the semis first, and hope he can then beat the likes of Sergey Shubenkov, Devon Allen and Andrew Pozzi.

In the men’s 800m, it will be a battle of which Kenyan athlete crosses the line first as Kipyegon Bett, Alfred Kipketer and Cheruiyot Ferguson Rotich, all capable of running under 1min: 45s, square up against each other. However, the men’s 800m is always filled with surprises, with other major contenders Nijel Amos, Amel Tuka and Pierre-Ambroise Bosse likely to have a say in the outcome of the race.

While I think other events will be exciting, my smart money seems to be on the women’s 3000m Steeplechase to provide us with the entertainment we crave for. This event used to be just between Ruth Jebet and Hyving Kiyeng. However, there’s a new kid on the block, Celliphine Chepteek Chespol to watch out for. You might want to call her Triple C!

Chespol has been so good this season that she is currently the only one to have gone under 9mins in 2017, clocking 8:58.78. If you factor in the fact that Jebet set her WR of 8:52.78 in Paris, you will then understand why we have a competition to savour this weekend.

Field Events

Running out in front of his home fans where he hardly loses, Renaud Lavillenie will hope he can get his first win in men’s Pole Vault this season. Competing alongside his younger brother Valentin who has shaken off a horrific injury sustained last year, his main competition though would come from America’s Sam Kendricks who has twice beaten him this season.

In fact, Kendricks has been so good this year that he became the 22nd person in history to clear the 6.00m height, a mark that earned him the US national title last weekend.

Moving to another exciting competition to watch out for, all eyes would be on Mutaz Barshim who jumped 2.38m in Oslo where he was the only athlete left to compete in the men’s High Jump after the 2.29m mark .

With Bohdan Bondarenko steadily making his return back to form, and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi now back to fitness after the ankle injury that ruled him out of the Rio Olympics, Barshim might have a competition on his hands, and who knows, we might see a 2.40m soon.

In the men’s Javelin, we wait with bated breath to see how farther Thomas Rohler can go again. The German doesn’t seem to be comfortable throwing marks less than 90m any longer, but rather relishes the experience of landing the spear at a distance that elicits huge cheers.

Having thrown a PB of 93.90m in Doha earlier this season, and just recently winning in Ostrava with a mark of 91.53m, Rohler is in an incredible form, and who knows what mark that the spear will land on in Paris this Saturday.

SHARE
Christopher Maduewesi
Athletics coverage was a discovery, having to move away from regularly writing about Football. Although it was initially daunting, but now being an authority in it makes the past effort worthwhile. From travelling on the same international flight with Nigerian athletes, to knowing you could easily interview: World Record holder Tobi Amusan, then Ese Brume, I have cut my teeth in this beat earning the trust of Athletics sources. Formerly the Content Manager-Sports at Ringier media Nigeria, Chris is a Senior Sports writer, Photographer & Community manager at Making of Champions.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here