Running News Daily

Middle-distance stars added to Monaco line-up

Four more world champions have been added to the fields for Meeting Herculis EBS as the middle-distance events once again look set to provide the highlights at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Monaco on 9 July.

World champion Sifan Hassan and Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon will renew their rivalry in the 1500m. Their head-to-head record, which Kipyegon currently leads at 7-6, dates back to 2014 and includes three World Championship finals, one Olympic final and nine Diamond League meetings.

This will be the first time they have clashed in Monaco, though, and it follows on from their recent encounter in Florence, where Hassan finished just ahead of her rival, clocking 3:53.63 to Kipyegon’s Kenyan record of 3:53.91.

Timothy Cheruiyot’s winning streak may have recently come to an end at the Kenyan Olympic Trials, but the world champion feels at home in Monaco. The 25-year-old has won there for the past three years, producing the two fastest times of his career.

He’ll take on Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen in Monaco. Although Cheruiyot has won all 11 of their clashes to date, Ingebrigtsen has consistently been the Kenyan’s biggest challenger on the circuit in recent years. He will also be buoyed by his recent European 5000m record of 12:48.45, set in Florence.

World champion Beatrice Chepkoech will return to the scene of her world steeplechase record and will take on USA’s 2017 world champion Emma Coburn. World 800m champion Halimah Nakaayi will contest her specialist event and will face France’s two-time European silver medallist Renelle Lamote.

Other additions to the field include European champion Miltiadis Tentoglou in the men’s long jump and world silver medallist Amel Tuka in the men’s 800m.