•Obiri has experience in the 1,500m having been an African champion in 2014 and a Commonwealth Games champion in the same year.
•The Kenyan trio will be up against Commonwealth Games champion Winnie Nanyondo of Uganda and Great Britain’s Laura Muir
Image: REUTERS
Olympics 1,500m champion Faith Kipyegon faces a stellar field as the Diamond League meeting heads to Stockholm this Sunday.
Fresh from breaking winning the Diamond League 1,000 metres record, a world lead and area record last week in Monaco (2:29.15), Kipyegon will face double 5,000m world champion Helen Obiri and Africa 1,500m champion Winnie Chebet.
Obiri was in fine form in Monaco, winning the 12-lap race in 14:22.12, a meet record and has experience in the 1,500m having been an African champion in 2014 and a Commonwealth Games champion in the same year.
The Kenyan trio will be up against Commonwealth Games champion Winnie Nanyondo of Uganda and Great Britain’s Laura Muir who finished second behind Kipyegon in Monaco last week.
In the men’s race, world champion Timothy Cheruiyot will be aiming for his second successive win after triumphing in Monaco last week.
Cheruiyot clocked 3:28.45 to win the race and will be up against Norwegian brothers Jakob and Filip Ingebrigsten. Jakob finished second in Monaco after registering 3:28.68 and will be aiming to topple Cheruiyot in the Swedish capital. Cheruiyot will have Timothy Sein for company in the competitive race.
Ethiopia’s 10,000 world silver medallist Yomif Kejelecha will be the dark horse for the event.
In the 800m race, Ferguson Rotich will be the country’s representative and will be seeking to bounce back after finishing eighth after posting 1:45.48 in Monaco. Cheruiyot will be up against World champion Donovan Brazier of USA and world silver medallist Amel Tula of Bosnia and Herzegovina. World champion Halima Naakayo of Uganda will be the only African in the women’s race
The series will then take a two-week break before returning September 2 with an exhibition street event in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Elsewhere, Olympic Marathon champion Eliud Kipchogehas said his mission in London will be purely to win the title.
Speaking during a food distribution programme, where Eliud Kipchoge Foundation partnered with ABSA Bank in North Rift areas of Iten, Kaptagat and Kapsabet, Kipchoge said he will be chasing another title when he paradaes in the streets of London in October.
He said he is especially inspired by the fact that he will be taking on the second fastest marathoner in the world, Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele.
“My target is winning the London Marathon. I am not going for anything less because my training is great. It has been a while in the competition but all will be well when the day comes,” he said.
Bekele missed Kipchoge’s world record (2:01.39) by two seconds in Berlin last year. The London Marathon is the only remaining World Marathon Majors (WMM) race after the others were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The race, which is traditionally held on April 26, was postponed to October 4.