Wanyonyi faces tough test in Monaco meet

Canada's Marco Arop and Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi cross the finish line in the men's 800m final of the athletics event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. [AFP] Seven of the eight finalists from the men's 800m at the Paris Olympic Games will clash again at the Herculis EBS Meeting, providing what looks set to be one of the highlights of the Diamond League meeting in Monaco today. It's one of eight disciplines in Monaco in which the Olympic champion is set to compete. The men's 200m, meanwhile, boasts two Olympic gold medallists in the form of Noah Lyles and Letsile Tebogo. Olympic 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi heads to Monaco off the back of two wins on the Diamond League circuit, topped by his world-leading 1:41.95 run in Stockholm last month - the fifth sub-1:42 clocking of his career. But today's race could be the toughest test of his season so far as he takes on the two men who joined him on the Paris podium last year: Canada's Marco Arop and Algeria's Djamel Sedjati. Arop, the world champion, is undefeated over 800m this year, but he hasn't contested any Diamond League races so far this season. Sedjati, the winner in Monaco last year in a meeting record of 1:41.46, finished second to Wanyonyi in Stockholm last month, clocking a season's best of 1:42.27, his fastest time since the Olympic final. The field also includes two other men who broke 1:42 last year: France's Gabriel Tual and USA's Bryce Hoppel. The addition of world indoor champion Josh Hoey and Algeria's Slimane Moula means there'll be eight men with sub-1:43 PBs on the start line. World and Olympic gold medallist Noah Lyles will make his highly anticipated Diamond League debut. The 27-year-old opened his outdoor season in April with a low-key appearance over 400m (45.87) but was forced to delay the start of his international campaign due to some ankle troubles. He won't have it easy, though, as he'll be up against the man who beat him to the Olympic 200m title last year: Botswana's Letsile Tebogo. The 22-year-old, who clocked a world-leading 19.76 in Eugene last weekend, will be looking for a repeat performance of last year's Monaco victory in a race that also features Alexander Ogando and Jereem Richards. The Olympic podium will be reunited in the men's pole vault with world record-holder Mondo Duplantis taking on Sam Kendricks and Emmanouil Karalis - three of the seven men in the field with PBs higher than six metres. Duplantis has been beaten in two of his three Monaco appearances to date, and Monaco remains one of just three Diamond League meetings in which the Swede doesn't hold the meeting record. The world champion will no doubt have his eye on Piotr Lisek's meeting record of 6.02m, and if the conditions are good, he could even look to improve on the 6.28m world record he set in Stockholm last month. Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred will be looking for a second successive Herculis victory after winning in Monaco last year with 10.85. The St Lucian has a best this year of 10.75, though her 10.77 clocking into a -1.5m/s headwind in Eugene last weekend suggests she's capable of going much faster. She'll face Jamaican twins Tia and Tina Clayton as well as USA's Jacious Sears, who ran 10.85 last weekend. World and Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino, competing in Monaco for the first time, headlines a women's 400m field that includes Olympic bronze medallist Natalia Bukowiecka, NCAA champion Aaliyah Butler, Diamond League record-holder Nickisha Pryce and Chile's Martina Weil. In the women's 100m hurdles, Olympic champion Masai Russell takes on Grace Stark - winner at the Paris Diamond League last month in 12.21 - and 2021 Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper.

Wanyonyi faces tough test in Monaco meet

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