Chepngetich and Obiri to highlight London meeting

Olympics 1500m champion Faith Chepngetich takes a breather after a training session in Kigari, Embu County on March 16, 2017. [DENNIS OKEYO/STANDARD]

World champions Faith Chepngetich and Hellen Obiri will headline the 10th stop of the IAAF Diamond League in London today and tomorrow which has attracted 20 reigning world and 10 reigning Olympic champions.

Chepngetich, the 2016 Olympic and 2017 world champion, made her eagerly anticipated return from maternity leave with a 3:59.04 victory over 1,500m at the Prefontaine Classic three weeks ago.

The 25-year-old will square it out with fellow countrywoman Winny Chebet, European champion Laura Muir, rising Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay, German Konstanze Klosterhalfen and Shanghai Diamond League winner Rababe Arafi of Morocco in women’s 1500m today.

Another race today with Kenyan charges will be men’s 800m. The Kenyan trio of Ferguson Rotich (second in Monaco in 1:43.54), Lausanne winner Wyclife Kinyamal (1:43.78 SB) and 2018 sensation Emmanuel Korir (1:44:01 SB) will be out to stop Nijel Amos of Botswana.

Amos posted 1:41.89 run in Monaco, the second-fastest of his career.

After a tumble in Stockholm meeting finishing in 12th position Obiri will be eager to hit back in tomorrow’s women’s 5,000m race.

The Kenya Defence Forces athlete whose time of 14:18.37 over the distance rates her as the fourth fastest ever will square it out with inform Sifan Hassan of Netherlands who is fresh from breaking a world record in the miles in Monaco last week.

The other Kenyan women in the event include World Cross Country Junior Champion Beatrice Chebet, Eva Cherono and Margaret Chelimo who is fresh from winning the hotly contested National Police Championships 10,000m title last week.

The versatile Caroline Chepkoech and Gloria Kite will spice up the event.

Elsewhere, double Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will go head to head with British sprint star Dina Asher-Smith at the Anniversary Games in London this weekend.

Jamaica’s Fraser-Pryce, 32, is returning to a happy hunting ground, having retained her Olympics 100m title in the London stadium in 2012.

Fraser-Pryce, who is returning to her best form after clocking a joint world-leading time of 10.73sec in Kingston in June, also faces world indoor champion Murielle Ahoure and world 200m champion Dafne Schippers.

British record-holder Asher-Smith, 23, set a season’s best time of 10.91 seconds in finishing second behind Fraser-Pryce at the Lausanne Diamond League meeting earlier this month.

In the women’s 200m, the star attraction is Elaine Thompson of Jamaica, who won a 100m and 200m sprint double at the Rio Olympics.

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