Top-quality clashes abound in Monaco

There are so many potential highlights of Friday’s (9) Herculis EBS meeting in Monaco, the next round of the Wanda Diamond League, that it’s hard to know where to start in writing a preview.

The sprint and distance fields are equally stacked, as are the field events, with 10 reigning world champions, and many more Olympic and world medallists, preparing to shine in what will be the last competitive outing for many before the Tokyo Olympic Games.

In recent years, Monaco has gained a justified reputation for staging outstanding middle-distance events, with world records set in the women’s 3000m steeplechase (Beatrice Chepkoech in 2018) women’s mile (Sifan Hassan in 2019) and men’s 5000m (Joshua Cheptegei in 2020) in successive years and a host of other world-leading times.

This year’s 1500m fields suggest that there are more fireworks on the way as world champion Hassan returns to one of her favourite hunting grounds to extend her growing rivalry with Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon, while world champion Timothy Cheruiyot takes on European champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and the rising Australian Stewart McSweyn, fresh from running the fastest mile in the world for the last seven years in Oslo.

Hassan has announced that she will take on the 5000m-10,000m double at the Tokyo Olympic Games, rather than the 1500m, so she will be determined to make her mark on the metric mile here to underline her superiority across her exceptional range.

The overall world No.1 ranked woman, Hassan is already a world record-breaker this year over 10,000m and triumphed when she and Kipyegon met in Florence over 1500m last month but had to run the fastest time of the year (3:53.63) to overcome the classy Kenyan.

The men’s match-up is similarly enticing. Cheruiyot bounced back from the disappointment of a fourth-place finish at the Kenyan trials, which put his Olympic ambitions in doubt, to win the 1500m in Stockholm last weekend, while Ingebrigtsen overcame a world-class 5000m field, including Cheptegei, at his last outing in Florence. The young Norwegian withdrew with a minor illness from the mile in Oslo last week, where McSweyn was a commanding winner, but is expected to be back to his combative best in Monaco.

Timothy Cheruiyot wins the 1500m ahead of Jakob Ingebrigtsen in Monaco (© Philippe Fitte)

The 800m and 3000m steeplechase line-ups are equally impressive.

The pick is probably the women’s steeplechase where the top four women from the last world championships will meet. World champion Beatrice Chepkoech revisits the scene of her world record in need of some of that inspiration as her Kenyan compatriot Hyvin Kiyeng has dominated their meetings so far this season. But they won’t have the race to themselves with 2017 world champion Emma Coburn, in-form German Gesa Krause and Bahrain’s Winifred Yavi also on the start list.

The men’s steeplechase includes five of the top eight from the last world championships, led by silver medallist Lamecha Girma.

The women’s 800m features five of the top seven women this year, led by Rose Mary Almanza of Cuba and Jamaica’s Natasha Goule, as well as reigning world champion Halimah Nakaayi, while the men’s event will see the return of Olympic silver medallist Nijel Amos taking on four men who have already bettered 1:44 this year, including Stockholm winner Ferguson Rotich, and US Olympic Trials winner Clayton Murphy, the world leader with 1:43.17.

Turning to the sprints, the women’s 200m and men’s 100m feature all-star casts.

The 200m showdown will see world 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce taking on Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo, American Tamara Clark and the in-form Blessing Okagbare and Marie-Josee Ta Lou.

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Gateshead (© Getty Images)

The first three finishers from the US Olympic Trials – world leader Trayvon Bromell (9.77), Ronnie Baker and Fred Kerley – will feature in the 100m, taking on African record-holder Akani Simbine, fresh from his 9.84 clocking at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Hungary on Tuesday (6), and Olympic medallist Andre De Grasse.

The men’s 400m hurdles has been denied the much-anticipated match between world record-holder Karsten Warholm (46.70) and the only other man under 47 seconds this year, American Rai Benjamin, as Benjamin decided not to travel to Europe for this race.

But Warholm, in his first race since setting that sensational world record in Oslo, will still be challenged by Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos and Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands, who are both in career-best form.

The field offers a range of intriguing contests, not least the men’s long jump where world champion Tajay Gayle takes on world leader Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece (8.60m), regular sparring partner Juan Miguel Echevarria and American Marquis Dendy.

Meanwhile, world triple jump champion Yulimar Rojas has been in a class of her own this year, having jumped 15.43m, and will look to extend her advantage in Monaco.

Yulimar Rojas competes in Monaco (© Philippe Fitte)

The vertical jumps are also stacked with talent as world leader Katie Nageotte (4.95m) takes on world champion Anzhelika Sidorova, Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi and silver medallist Sandi Morris, and British record-holder Holly Bradshaw.

In the men’s high jump, the year’s two pace-setters will clash. World medallist Ilya Ivanyuk and Belarusian Maksim Nedasekau have both cleared 2.37m this season, Nedasekau just last night in Hungary.

The women’s javelin offers a field worthy of the only throws event on the programme as world leader Maria Andrejczyk of Poland (71.40m) meets the world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber, world No.2 Christin Hussong and multiple world and Olympic champion Barbora Spotakova.   

Zurich’s reputation for offering the Olympics on one night could be matched in Monaco this year.

Nicole Jeffery for World Athletics