Double World record holder Faith Kipyegon will be the star attraction at the Diamond league meeting in Monaco on July 21
Kipyegon broke the 1500m world record at the Florence Diamond League on June 2nd before following up with an even more breathtaking record in the 5000m in Paris a week later, making her the first athlete in Diamond League history to break the world record in two separate disciplines on the circuit.
The in-form Kenyan was already on the entry lists for next month's Monaco meeting Monaco, but a change in the schedule means she will now be racing in the mile (1.609 km) rather than the 1500m.
While the Diamond League points she amasses will still go towards the 1500m qualification campaign, the mile will present a new challenge for Kipyegon, who last ran the distance at a Diamond League meeting in Oslo in 2016.
The Stade Louis II stadium certainly has world-record pedigree, with Kipyegon's Dutch rival Sifan Hassan having made history there with 4:12.33 in 2019.
Could Kipyegon go one better and claim a third-world record of 2023? Whether she attempts it or not, the Kenyan will certainly be the firm favourite when the world's best descend on Monaco on July 21.
Elsewhere, world 3000m steeplechase holder Beatrice Chepkoech will be aiming to continue her rich vein of form at the Lausanne Diamond League on Friday.
Chepkoech, who finished second in the 5000m at the Athletics Kenya National Championships at Nyayo Stadium on Saturday, will be returning to the steeple in the Swiss City as she builds towards next week's AK trials.
She teams up with Fancy Cherono as they face a quality field which has Olympic champion and Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Peruth Chemutai of Uganda as well as the Ethiopian quartet of Abebe Mekides, Almayew Sembi, Lomi Muleta and Wondemagegn Zerfe.
Commonwealth Games 800m champion Mercy Moraa will be aiming to lay down a marker in the two-lap race. She will be up against the likes of Great Britain's Keely Hodgkinson, Natoya Goule of Jamaica, Alemu Hbaitan of Ethiopia and Switzerland's Audrey Wero.
