Ingebrigtsen, Camacho Quinn, Crouser, Bol and Ta Lou ready to light up Athletissima in Lausanne
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Twenty Olympic and world champions will take part at this year’s edition of Athletissima at the Pontaise Stadium in Lausanne. Great performances are expected in middle-distance and hurdles races. The 1500m clash between Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Lamecha Girma, the women’s 100m hurdles head-to-head battle between Jasmine Camacho Quinn and Tobi Amusan, the men’s shot put with world record holder Ryan Crouser and Tom Walsh, the women’s 400 metres hurdles with European record holder Femke Bol, the women’s high jump with world seasonal leaders Yaroslava Mahuchik and Nicola Olyslagers and the women’s 100 metres with African record holder Marie Josée Ta Lou are the highlights of this year’s edition of Athletissima.
Men’s 1500 metres:
Olympic 1500 metres champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen will go head-to-head against Olympic and world 3000 metres steeplechase silver medallist Lamecha Girma in the 1500 metres. It will be their first ever clash in any discipline.
Both middle distance runners wrote the history of middle distance running at the Wanda Diamond League in Paris breaking world records in the 2 miles and in the 3000 metres steeplechase respectively.
Ingebrigten clocked 7:54.10 in the 2 miles to improve Daniel Komen’s world all-times best. Ingebrigtsen went on to break the European record in the 1500 metres with 3:27.95 at the Bislett Games in Oslo. The Norwegian star will chase Hicham El Guerrouj’s 25-year-old world record of 3:26.00 set at the Golden Gala in Rome.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen: “I have 100% more left in me. I just have to keep focused on each race ahead in the build-up to the World Championships in Budapest”.
Ingebrigtsen is chasing his second consecutive win in Lausanne. In last year’s edition the Norwegian star set a world seasonal best of 3:29.05. He improved this time to 3:29.02 in the Wanda Diamond League in Zurich a few weeks later. In his previous two editions he finished second in the 1500 metres in 3:30.16 in 2019 and won the 3000 metres in 7:33.06 in 2021.
Ingebrigtsen is already one of the greatest middle distance runners of all time at the age of 22. He won the Olympic gold medal in the 1500 metres, the gold in the 5000 metres and the silver in the 1500 metres at the World Championships in Eugene, the double European outdoor gold medals in the 1500 and 5000 metres at the past two editions in Berlin 2018 and Munich 2022 and five European Indoor gold medals.
Girma broke Saif Saeed Shaheen’s world record in the 3000 metres steeplechase clocking 7:52.11 on the track of the Paris Charlety Stadium. The Ethiopian 22-middle distance runner improved his PB in the 1500 metres to 3:33.15 at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava last Tuesday. Girma also broke the world indoor record in the 3000 metres with 7:23.81 in Liévin and won the 3000 metres at the Diamond League meeting in Doha with 7:26.18.
Ingebrigtsen and Girma will face two middle distance runners who have dipped under the 3:30 barrier in their careers: Josh Kerr from Great Britain and Stewart McSweyn from Australia. Kerr won the Olympic bronze medal in the 1500 metres with a PB of 3:29.05 in Tokyo and clocked 3:30.07 at the Bislett Games in Oslo this year. McSweyn set two Oceanian records in the 1500m with 3:29.51 in Monaco in 2021 and in the 3000m with 7:28.02 in Rome in 2020.
The line-up also features Neil Gourley from Great Britain, who set the British indoor record with 3:32.48 in Birmingham and won the European Indoor silver medal behind Ingebrigtsen in Istanbul, Teddesse Lemi from Ethiopia and Sam Tanner from New Zealand.
Women’s 100 metres hurdles:
Reigning Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho Quinn will clash against world champion Tobi Amusan in the women’s 100 metres hurdles on the fast track of the Pontaise Stadium in Lausanne.
Camacho Quinn was the most consistent hurdler on the Diamond League circuit over the past two seasons, claiming six wins in nine races over the course of the 2022 season in Eugene, Rome, Stockolm, Chorzow, Lausanne and Brussels. In last year’s edition of Athletissima the Puerto Rican hurdler broke the meeting record with 12.34 improving a mark that had been held by Gail Devers with 12.40 since 2002.
Camacho Quinn started her Diamond League season with a win in Doha in 12.48. She also won six more races in Jacksonville in a wind-assisted 12.29, at the Bermuda Grand Prix in Devonshire in a wind-assisted 12.17, in Los Angeles in 12.31, in Montreuil in 12.40 and Chorzow in 12.41 and Ostrava in 12.42.
Jasmine Camacho Quinn: “The goal for Lausanne is just to go out there and do my best. It is important that we race against each other constantly. We know where each other is at and what to expect. It helps to race regularly. It is not easy to be in top form all the time. Things happen, you need to constantly take care of yourself, there are injuries. You need to improve technique to be at top”
Amusan broke the world record clocking 12.12 in the semifinal of the World Championships in Eugene before winning the world gold medal with a wind-assisted 12.06 in the final. One month later she added the Commonwealth Games title to her collection with a win in 12.30 in Birmingham. The Nigerian hurdler picked up two consecutive Diamond League Trophies in Zurich clocking 12.42 in 2021 and a Weltklasse meeting record of 12.29 in 2022, when she beat Camacho Quinn. She improved her seasonal best to 12.47 in Ostrava.
Amusan and Camacho Quinn will take on Pia Skrzyszowska from Poland, Reetta Hurske from Finland and Ditaji Kambundji from Switzerland, three of the best European specialists at the moment.
Skrzyszowska won the European gold medal in Munich 2022 with 12.53 and the European Team Championships in Chorzow last week in 12.77.
Hurske won the European Indoor gold medal in the 60 metres hurdles in Istanbul 2023 equalling the national record with 7.79. The Finnish hurdler set the national record with 12.70 in Jyvaskila.
Kambundji won two bronze medals at the European outdoor Championships in Munich in 12.74 in 2022 and at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul 7.91. The Swiss hurdler, who broke the national indoor record clocking 7.81 to win the national title in St. Gallen last February, won in Turku in 12.79 and finished third in Hengelo in 12.78.
Men’s shot put:
Double Olympic champion and world gold medallist Ryan Crouser will compete for the second time in a European meeting this summer three days after winning in Ostrava with 22.63m
Crouser will return to Lausanne where he won twice in 2017 with 22.39m and in 2021 with 22.81. He finished second to Joe Kovacs with 22.05m in last year’s edition. Two years ago he won his first Diamond League Trophy in Zurich with 22.67m.
Crouser recently improved his world record to 23.56m at the Los Angeles Grand Prix on 27 May. He produced three of the six furthest throws in the same day
Crouser surpassed the previous world record mark of 23.37m, which he achieved at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene. The US shot putter won two Olympic gold medals in Rio de Janeiro 2016 with 22.52m and in Tokyo 2021 improving his Olympic record to 22.30m. He has thrown over the 23 metres barrier seven times. He has produced eight of the twelve best puts in history outdoors.
Ryan Crouser: “I am excited for tomorrow. I guess it should be a better result than in Ostrava. I trained hard just before leaving for Europe. I am more adjusted to the jetlag. I chose to compete at the US Trials. As it is close to my family, I get a chance to see them. As a world champion, I am glad to be part of the selected team because the level in the US is very high. When I was younger, I started with javelin and I practice bot until 2016. After throwing the second best shot put in an indoor competition in 2015, I decided to focus on it and qualified for the Olympics”
Crouser will take on New Zealand’s Tom Walsh, world champion in London 2017 and two-time Olympic bronze medals in 2016 and 2021. Walsh took the win at the Memorial Irena Szewinska in Bydgoszcz with his seasonal best of 22.22m and finished second to Crouser in Ostrava with 22.15m.
Italian shot putters Zane Weir and Leonardo Fabbri will renew their rivalry. Weir won the European Indoor gold medal in Istanbul with the Italian Indoor record of 22.06m. The Italian athlete of South African origin threw over the 21 metres barrier six times this year (21.74m in Halle, 21.60m in Savona, 21.13m at the Golden Gala in Florence, 21.14m in Bydgoszcz, 21.55m in Kladno and 21.59m at the European Team Championships in Chorzow). Weir finished sixth with 21.20m in his previous appearance in Lausanne in 2021 a few weeks after his fifth place at the Olympic Games in Tokyo with 21.41m.
Fabbri won his first Diamond League competition in Florence with 21.73m beating Walsh and Joe Kovacs and threw 21.81m in Pergine Valsugana and 21.37m in Ostrava. The Italian shot putter ranks second in the Italian all-time outdoor list with his PB of 21.99m at the Italian Championships in Padua. Fabbri leads 17-14 in his head-to-head clashes against Weir.
Women’s 400 metres hurdles:
Dutch star Femke Bol will chase her third consecutive win in the women’s 400 metres hurdles at Athletissima in Lausanne after finishing first in 2021 in 53.05 and 2022 in 52.95. Bol, who is trained by Swiss coach Laurent Mewly, also won the Diamond League Trophy in the past two editions of the Weltklasse Zurich in 2021 and 2022.
The Dutch star started the 2023 Diamond League season with two wins in Florence with 52.43 and Oslo with 52.30, setting meeting records in both meetings.
Bol won the Olympic bronze medal in Eugene in the 400 metres hurdles in a European record of 52.03, the world silver medal in Eugene 2022 in 52.27. With her unprecedented triple European gold medals in the 400 metres in 49.44, in the 400 metres hurdles in 52.67 and in the 4x400 relay in 3:20.87 Bol emulated her compatriot Fanny Blankers Koen, who won three European outdoor gold medals at the 1950 European Championships in Brussels in the 100m, 200m and in the 80m hurdles and the silver medal in the 4x400 relay.
Last winter Bol smashed the long standing world indoor record in the 400 metres held by Jarmila Kratochvilova, clocking 49.26 at the Dutch Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn. Two weeks later Bol retained her European Indoor titles in the 400 metres with 49.85 and in the 4x400 relay in 3:25.66.
Femke Bol: “I am pretty happy with my shape. This is my highest-level competition in four weeks. I am hoping to be in my best shape for Budapest. I made technical adjustments to improve. I raced a little bit less than what I normally do. It is important for me to be aware of where I am, feel my shape getting better. I feel good in my new technique with 14 steps until the seventh hurdle. I am a bit uncomfortable with it at the moment, which is not necessarily bad. Improving technique is always a difficult process and takes a few years to come through. I am still young, and I am curious to see where this new technique places me”.
The line-up also features Ukrainian specialists Anna Ryzhikova and Viktoriya Tkachuk, who finished fifth and sixth in the Olympic final in Tokyo, Gianna Woodruff from Panama, seventh in the Olympic Games in Tokyo and in the World Championships in Eugene, Jessie Knight from Great Britain, winner in two Continental Tour races in Turku in 54.32 and Ostrava in 54.96, Ayomide Folorunso from Italy, seventh in the European Championships in Munich 2022 and second at the European Team Championships in Chorzow in a seasonal best of 54.79, and Viivi Leihkonen from Finland, national record holder with 54.40 in Huelva this year.
Men’s 5000 metres:
The men’s 5000 metres race will feature six athletes, who have broken the 13 minutes barrier in their career. The line-up includes Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei, world record holder in the 5000 metres with 12:35.36 and 10000 metres with 26:11.00, Olympic champion in the 5000m in Tokyo 2021 and world gold medallist in Eugene in the 10000 metres. Cheptegei will run his second 5000 metres race this season after finishing fourth at the Golden Gala in Florence in 12:53.81 in a race, where 13 men dipped under the 13 minutes.
Cheptegei will go head to head against Ethiopian stars Yomif Kejelcha and Selemon Barega. Kejelcha finished second at the Golden Gala in Florence in 12:52.12 just two hundredths of a second behind Mohamed Katir and won a very close race at the Bislett Games in 12:41.73 edging Jacob Kiplimo by three thousandths of a second.
The other athletes to watch are Ethiopian runners Berihu Aregawi, winner in the Diamond League Final in Zurich in 2021 and winner at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene in the 5000m in a PB of 12:50.05, Telahun Bekele, third at the Bislett Games in Oslo this year in a PB of 12:46.21, Birhanu Balew from Barhein, sixth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and 12:56.26 performer in the 5000m, Muktar Edris, two-time 5000m world champion and Athletssima meeting record holder with 12:55.23, Sweden’s Andreas Almgren, who finished second at the European Team Championships in Chorzow and improved the national record in the 1500m to 3:32.00 in Oslo, and Switzerland’s Jonas Raess, who improved two national indoor records in the 3000m with 7:35.24 in New York and 13:07.95 in the 5000m in Boston and improved his PB to 13:13.83 in Montesson on 10 June.
Women’s 800 metres:
Keely Hodgkinson started the 2023 outdoor season with a win in the women’s 800 metres in the Paris Diamond League meeting improving her British record to 1:55.77. The British middle-distance runner won the Olympic silver medal in Tokyo in 1:55.81, the world silver medal in Eugene in 1:56.38, the European outdoor gold medal in Munich 2022, two European indoor titles in Torun 2021 and Istanbul 2023 and the Diamond League Trophy in Zurich 2021.
Hodgkinson will renew her rivalry against Kenya’s Mary Moraa, who won the world bronze medal in Eugene, the Commonwealth Games title in Birmingham and the Diamond League title in Zurich last year. The Kenyan runner clocked a seasonal best of 1:58.72.
The line-up also features Habitam Alemu from Ethiopia, 37-year-old veteran Noelle Yarigo from Benin, Jemma Reekie from Great Britain, who finished fourth in the Olympic final in Tokyo, Catriona Bisset from Australia, Oceanian record holder, and Olympic finalist Natoya Goule from Jamaica. The Swiss crowd will cheer on 19-year-old Audrey Werro from Switzerland. Werro, who grew up in Fribourg near Lausanne, won the world under 20 silver medal in Cali 2022. Earlier this month Werro improved the world under 20 record to 2.34.89 in the 1000 metres in Nice.
Women’s 3000 metres steeplechase:
World under 20 silver medallist Sembo Almayew from Ethiopia will make an attempt to break the 9 minutes in the 3000 metres steeplechase for the first time in her career after setting a world-leading PB of 9:00.71 at the Diamond League in Florence. Almayew will renew her rivalry against 2021 world under 20 gold medallist Jackline Chepkoech, who finished second in Florence, world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech and world bronze medallist Mekides Abebe.
Women’s high jump (City Event):
Reigning European indoor and outdoor champion Yaroslava Mahuchik from the Ukraine will go up against Olympic silver medallist Nicola Olyslagers from Australia and double Olympic and world heptathlon champion Nafissatou Thiam from Belgium in the women’s high jump, which will be held at the Place Centrale at Flon district in the centre of Lausanne on 29 June in the evening before the main meeting at the Pontaise.
For the first time the Lasuanne City City Event will be a Diamond League competition, where points can be collected to qualify for the Diamond League final in Eugene (16-17 September).
Both Mahuchik and Olyslagers cleared the world-leading mark of 2.01m this season respectively in Rabat and Turku. They have not faced each other yet this season. Mahuchik won their last clash at the Diamond League final in Zurich with 2.03m last September, as Olyslagers placed third.
Mahuchik started her 2023 season with three consecutive wins in Nairobi with 2.00m, in Rabat with 2.01m and Hengelo with 2.00m.
The Ukrainian star won the Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo 2021 with 2.00m a few weeks before placing second in her first appearance at the Athletissima meeting with 1.98m. The Ukrainian jumper went on to win her second consecutive world outdoor title with 2.02m in Eugene and her first European outdoor gold medal in Munich with 1.95m. She also won the world indoor title in Belgrade 2022 with 2.02m and two consecutive European indoor gold medals in Torun 2021 and Istanbul 2022. She set her PBs indoors with 2.06m in Banska Bystrika and 2.05 in Brussels in 2022.
Yaroslava Mahuchik: “I have the same feeling as Nicola regarding the high jump competition at Athletissima in 2021. It was a joyful experience with nice memories in the city. Jumping in a City event is a different feeling than jumping in the stadium. The public is much closer and dedicated to our competition. In Zurich, two years ago it was a great experience. The cheering of the crowd, along with the chance to choose a music track for our jumps, makes us jump higher in the City Event. I have had no injuries recently and it is wonderful to be able to compete consistently at my highest level”.
Olyslagers showed her recent good form by winning two competitions in Paris with 2.00m and Turku with 2.01m. The Australian jumper set a national record of 2.02m to win the Olympic silver medal in Tokyo in 2021 and went on to finish third in Lausanne with 1.95m.
Nicola Olyslagers: “In 2021, the Athletissima meeting after the Olympic Games was a very enjoyable experience. The pressure from the Olympics was off and it was nice to compete in a full stadium in the pandemic period. I think that performing in the city makes you jump higher, like in the Zurich City Event. The atmosphere from the crowd lifts you higher. Jumping in the city instead of the stadium is a very joyful experience. My goal is not to get as many medals as possible, but possible to put my focus on jumping higher. For me it is important to be consistent in my jumping, reaching the 2 metres, so that I can be stronger. It is so good to jump with Yaroslava. We have not competed against one another yet this season. We push each other to jump higher”.
Thiam won back-to-back Olympic gold medals in the heptathlon in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2021 becoming the only second woman after Jackie Joyner Kersee to successfully defend an Olympic title in this event. The Belgian athlete won two world outdoor titles in London 2017 and Eugene 2022 and two European outdoor gold medals in Berlin 2018 and Munich 2022. Last March she broke the world indoor record in the pentathlon with 5055 points at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul. She set the world record for the high jump withing a heptathlon competition with 2.02m in Talence in 2019.
Women’s 100 metres:
Marie Josée Ta Lou will be aiming to win her third Diamond League race in the women’s 100 metres race in 2023. The three-time world medallist won at the Golden Gala in Forence in 10.97 and at the Bislett Games in Oslo in 10.75 setting a meeting record and a world leading time. The 34-year-old sprinter from Ivory Coast just missed her African record of 10.72 set at the Monaco Diamond League meeting last year. She has already dipped under the 11 seconds six times this season.
Marie Josée Ta Lou: “I am in my best shape. I am trying some things and seeing if it is working. I am not only focusing on Jamaican or American sprinters. We all have the same talent. We are going to compete hard and give our best. It was sad that my first coach passed away recently. I moved to Los Angeles recently. I am trying to get people to see his legacy through my performance. I am what I am because of him. He brought me to this level”.
Daryil Neita from Great Britain also showed her best form this year breaking the 11 seconds twice in Savona with 10.97 and in Oslo with 10.98. The European indoor and outdoor bronze medallist also improved her PB in the 200 metres with 22.23 in Bydgoszcz. Another British sprinter Imani Lansquot in the line-up also performed well on the Diamond League finishing third in Florence in 11.16.
The Swiss crowd will give a strong support for Mujinga Kambundji, who won the world indoor title in Belgrade 2022 in a national record of 6.96, the gold medal in the 200 metres in 22.32 and the silver medal in the 100 metres in 10.99 at the European Championships in Munich 2022 and the European Indoor gold medal in the 60m in 7.00m in Istanbul 2023. Kambundji will make her seasonal debut after being sidelined by a foot injury after the indoor season.
Mujinga Kambundji: “It’s been some difficult months, but I am getting better. It’s difficult to say where I am at the moment exactly. I am looking forward to competing in Lausanne. Athletissima is always a great place to come to. The objective is not the time. It’s mainly about the atmosphere. I am going to stick to 100 metres. It’s difficult to run the 200m, especially because of the bend, as I feel my foot a lot more in the bends. I will be able to tell you more about Budapest after the race. The first step is to get the season started. I will like to see how it goes and how foot reacts”.
Kambundj will renew her rivalry against Gina Luckenkemper in a re-match of the 100m final at the European Championships in Munich last year, when the German sprinter won gold medal in 10.99 beating her Swiss rival by five thousandths of a second.
Ewa Swoboda from Poland won the European indoor silver medal in the 60 metres in 7.09 and started her outdoor season with a PB of 11.03 at the Memorial Kusocinski in Chorzow. The Polish sprinter clocked 11.07 in Oslo and won at the European Team Championships in Chorzow in 11.09.
The line-up also features Zoe Hobbs from New Zealand, who set the Oceanian record with 10.97 in Sydney this year, and 2018 world indoor champion Murielle Ahouré Demps from Ivory Coast, who clocked a seasonal best of 11.09 in Nashville.
Men’s 200 metres:
Letsile Tebogo from Botswana will run his third 200 metres race this season after finishing second to Christian Coleman in 20.00 in Miramar and first at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Gaborone in front of his home fans in a PB of 19.87. Tebogo also ran a wind-assisted 9.91 in Gaborone and clocked 10.09 in Rabat and 10.05 in Paris.
The young African sprinter won the gold medal in the 100m in a world under 20 record of 9.91 and the silver medal in the 200 metres in 19.96 at the World Under 20 Championships in Cali last year.
Reyner Mena from Cuba has the second fastest time in 2023 among the entrants with his seasonal best of 19.95 in Savona. Mena, who set his PB of 19.63 at the Chaux de Fonds meeting near Lausanne last year, finished second at the Bislett Games in Oslo in 20.09.
World 4x100 relay champion Aaron Brown from Canada also showed his good form winning in Nairobi in 20.12 and finishing third in two Diamond League races in Doha in 20.20 and in Florence in 20.31.
Olympic 200 metres champion André De Grasse will try to improve his seasonal best of 20.33 set in Oslo. The Canadian sprinter holds a national record of 19.62 and won six Olympic medals and four world medals in his career.
Olympic and world finalist Joseph Fahnbulleh from Liberia will run his sixth 200 metres race this season after clocking 20.14 in Gaborone, 20.29 in Doha, 20.19 in Nairobi, 20.51 in Florence and 20.23 in Oslo.
Women’s pole vault:
The women’s pole vault will bring together the best specialists in the world, apart from Sandi Morris, who will be absent. Olympic and world champion Katie Moon will go head-to-head against Tina Sutej from Slovenia, European outdoor and indoor champion champion Wilma Murto from Finland, former Olympic, world and European champion Ekaterini Stefanidi, Olympic bronze medallist Nina Kennedy from Australia.
Moon started the Diamond League season with two wins in Doha with 4.81m and Florence with 4.71m and finished third with 4.71m.
Sutej won at last year’s edition of Athletissima with 4.70m. The Slovenian pole vaulter claimed the European indoor silver medal in Istanbul with 4.75m and finished second in her first two Diamond League competitions in Doha with 4.76m and in Florence with 4.71m. She won at the European Team Championships Second Division with 4.70m.
Nina Kennedy from Australia made a major breakthrough in 2022 winning the world bronze medal in Eugene with 4.80m and the Diamond League Trophy in Zurich with 4.81m. This year Kennedy finished third in Florence with 4.61 and won in Paris with 4.77m.
European indoor and outdoor champion Wilma Murto from Finland returns to Lausanne where she finished third with 4.60m. Murto set a seasonal best of 4.75m at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku.
The line-up also features Olympic bronze medallist Holly Bradshaw, who placed third in the Lausanne City Event in 2019 with 4.72m, former Olympic, world and European cahmpion Ekaterini Stefanidi, winner in Lausanne in 2018 with 4.82m, Italian record holder Roberta Bruni, fourth in last year’s edition of Athletissima with 4.60m, Angelica Moser from Switzerland, European Indoor champion in Torun 2021 with 4.75m, Margot Chevrier from France, second in Paris Charlety this year with 4.71m, Alysha Newman, Canadian record holder with 4.82m, and Eliza McCartney from New Zealand, Commonwealth Games silver medallist with 4.70m in Gold Coast 2018.
Men’s long jump:
Swiss decathlon and long jump star Simon Ehammer will compete for the first time in his career in the long jump in Lausanne. Ehammer won his first Diamond League competition in Oslo with 8.32m and finished second in Paris with 8.11m.
Ehammer won the world indoor silver medal in the heptathlon with a national record of 6363 points, the world bronze medal in the long jump with 8.16m in Eugene and the European outdoor silver medal in the decathlon with 8468 points in Munich. The Swiss athlete set the world all-time best for long jump in decathlon competition with a jump of 8.45m at the Hypo meeting in Goetzis.
Simon Ehammer: “I still want to focus on the long jump and the decathlon and have goals in both disciplines. I want to score more points in the throws. Then I will only focus on the long jump. Only the long jump is much easier. When I travel, I don’t need to take 10 pairs of shoes with me. I can train longer, and for the longer process, it is much easier to practice only one discipline”.
Ehammer will renew his rivalry with Miltiadis Tentoglou, who beat the Swiss athlete in Paris with 8.13m and finished third in Oslo with 8.21m. Tentoglou won the Olympic gold medal with 8.41m, the world indoor title in Belgrade 2022 with 8.55m, the European outdoor title in Munich with 8.52m and the Diamond League final in Zurich with 8.42m.
The rising star to watch is Italy’s Mattia Furlani, who won two European Under 18 gold medals in the long jump with a national under 18 record of 8.04m and in the high jump with 2.15m. Furlani broke the European under 20 indoor record with a leap of 7.99m in Stockolm. Last May Furlani jumped a wind-assisted 8.44m at the Memorial Giulio Ottolia in Savona. Furlani set the longest under 20 performance in all wind conditions in history doing better than Kareem Street Thompson (8.40m with +3.2 m/s) and US legend Carl Lewis (8.35m with a wind of +2.2 m/s in 1980). It would have been the world under 20 record if the wind had not been just above the legal limit at 2.2 m/s. Furlani went on to win his first Continental Tour Gold competition in Hengelo with 8.24m and jumped again over the 8.00m barrier at the Italian Club Championships in Palermo with 8.04m.
The line-up also features India’s Sreeshankar, who placed third in Paris Charlety with 8.09m and improved his PB to 8.41m at the National Championships in Bhubaneswahar, Jamaica’s Tajay Gayle, world champion in Doha with a national record of 8.69m, Thobias Montler from Sweden, European indoor and outdoor silver medallist and Diamond League champion in Zurich in 2021, Yuki Hashioka from Japan, world under 20 champion in Tampere 2018 and sixth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021, Cheswill Johnson from South Africa, second in Hengelo with 8.08m.
Men’s 110 metres:
European Indoor champion Jason Joseph from Switzerland will chase his own Swiss record for the second time in this season’s Diamond League. Joseph finished second at the Golden Gala in Florence behind Grant Holloway improving his national record by 0.02 with 13.10. The Swiss hurdler won the European Indoor gold medal in the 60 metres hurdles in a national record of 7.41 (the second fastest time in the history of these championships behind Colin Jackson’s 7.39 winning time in Paris Bercy 1994). Last weekend Joseph won at the European Team Championships in Chorzow in 13.12. He achieved his best result at Athletissima and finished second in 2021 in a wind-assisted 13.11.
Joseph will go up against Japanese record holder Shunsuke Izumyia and European bronze medallist Just Kwaou Mathey. Izumyia set the second fastest time in the world this year with his national record of 13.04 set at the Japanese Championships in Osaka and won at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Yokohama in 13.07.
Mathey improved his PB from 13.25 to 13.09 at the Diamond League meeting in Paris Charlety.
Another Frenchman in the line-up is 2021 European Indoor champion Wilhelm Belocian from France, who showed his good form this year by clocking 13.24 in Montreuil and 13.20 in Paris.
The line-up also features Spain’s Enrique Llopis, European Under 23 bronze medallist in Tallin 2021, Italian’s Lorenzo Simonelli, who finished fourth at the European Indoor Championships in Istanbul in the 60 metres hurdles in a lifetime best of 7.59 and improved Laurent Ottoz’s long standing Italian under 23 record with 13.40 in Agropoli, Rafael Pereira from Brazil, South American record with 13.17.
Men’s javelin throw:
Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra made history at last year’s edition of Athletissima when he claimed victory with 89.08m in the men’s javelin throw becoming the first Indian athlete to win a Diamond League competition. Chopra went on to win the Diamond League final in Zurich with 88.44m. He started his defense of the Diamond League title with a win in the first meeting of this season in Doha with 88.67m.
Chopra will go head-to-head against Olympic silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch from Czech Republic, who set the world seasonal lead with 89.51m in Turku and won four of his five competitions this year. He finished runner-up to Chopra with 88.63m in Doha.
Another in-form thrower in the line-up is reigning European champion Julian Weber, who set a seasonal best of 88.37m in Rehlingen and won in Hengelo with 87.14m and at the European Team Championships in Chorzow with 86.26m. Former world champion Johannes Vetter is on a comeback trail from injury. Vetter set the second best performance in history with 97.76m in Chorzow.
Anderson Peters set his PB of 93.07m at the Diamond League meeting in Doha and won two world titles in Doha 2019 and Eugene 2022. The Grenadan thrower set a seasonal best of 85.88m in Doha and won in two Continental Tour meetings in Nairobi with 85.72m and in Los Angeles with 83.16m.
Women’s javelin throw:
World bronze medallist Haruka Kitaguchi from Japan will seek her third consecutive win on European soil after victories in Paris and Ostrava. Kitaguchi will take on two-time world champion Kelsey Lee Barber from Australia, who finished second in Paris, last year’s European champion Elina Tzengko, European silver medallist Adriana Vilagos from Serbia, Norway’s Sigrid Borge, who improved her PB by more three metres to 66.50m in Halle and Mackenzie Little from Australia.
