The 2022 World Championships marathon silver medallist Judith Korir will be the star attraction at the Sydney Marathon slated for Sunday.
Korir, who bagged the Paris Marathon last year, will be making her debut Down Under.
The 27-year-old, who finished sixth at the London Marathon in April, ran her PB of 2:18:20 when finishing runner-up to Gotytom Gebreslase on the global stage in Oregon last year.
She faces six other sub-2:22 women, including compatriot Angela Tanui, who ran 2:17:57 to win the Amsterdam Marathon in 2021. She went on to place fourth at the Tokyo Marathon the following year and then secured sixth place in Oregon.
Haven Hailu Desse is among the seven Ethiopian athletes in the field and she will look to complete her first marathon since winning in Osaka in 2:21:13 in January. Her PB of 2:20:19 was also set in Amsterdam in 2021.
Eritrea’s Nazret Weldu finished fourth and then eighth in the past two World Championships marathons, while Siranesh Yirga Dagne has a best of 2:21:08.
Australian marathon record-holder Sinead Diver, who broke the national marathon record last year in Valencia with a time of 2:21:34, will lead the local elite field on her Sydney Marathon debut.
The field also features USA’s Betsy Saina, a 2:21:40 marathon runner at her best.
In the men's category, defending champion Moses Kibet will be hoping to retain his title from last year.
He set an Australian all-comers record of record of 2:07:03 to beat his Kenyan compatriot Cosmas Muteti by just two seconds.
Kibet, however, faces a stern test in the shape of Tanzanian record-holder Gabriel Geay, the fastest in the field with a PB of 2:03:00 set in Valencia last year.
The 27-year-old went on to finish second at the Boston Marathon in April, clocking 2:06:04 behind winner Evans Chebet (2:05:54), and he placed seventh at the World Championships in Oregon in 2022.
The field features nine sub-2:06 men, with Geay and Kibet joined by Ethiopia’s Getaneh Molla (2:03:34), Kenya’s Jonathan Korir (2:04:32), Ethiopia’s Abayneh Degu (2:04:53), Kenya’s Abraham Kipkemboi (2:05:04), Morocco’s Othmane El Goumri (2:05:12), Ethiopia’s Amedework Walelegn (2:05:27) and Kenya’s Laban Korir (2:05:41).
