Two Days of Track and Field Highlight London Diamond League Meeting

By Adam Kopet

Sifan Hassan will be looking to continue her speedy momentum Sunday on the second day of the London Diamond League meeting as she takes on a strong field in the 5,000 meters.

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After breaking the mile world record last week in Monaco, Hassan is stepping up in distance as she returns to the stadium where she captured a bronze medal over 5,000 meters at the 2017 IAAF World Outdoor Championships. She ran well in this meet in 2018, running 4:14.71 for the mile. At the time, that ranked her third all-time.

This will be Hassan's second 5,000-meter race this year. She finished second in Hengelo last month, running 14:38.54, but she holds a personal best of 14:22.34 from last year. That run gave her the European Athletics record. Earlier this year, when Hassan placed her focus on the roads, she broke the world record for the road 5K, running 14:44.

Facing off against the Dutch athlete will be Kenya's Hellen Obiri and Ethiopia's Netesenbet Gidey. Obiri won the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in March and she was victorious over 3,000 meters at the Doha Diamond League meeting in May. However, since she fell in a 5,000-meter race in Stockholm, Obiri has not quite had her usual edge. She finished sixth in the 3,000 meters at the Prefontaine Classic. Hassan won that race in 8:18.49, ranking her fourth on the all-time list.

Gidey will be coming off a fast 10,000-meter race Wednesday when she toes the line Sunday. She won the Ethiopian 10,000-meter trials in Hengelo in a world-leading 30:37.89. However, if Gidey can appropriately recover in time, she holds a personal best of 14:23.14.

The men's 5,000 meters will take place Saturday. Morgan McDonald of Australia will be making his professional debut following a successful career at Wisconsin that saw him win four NCAA Division 1 titles across cross country and both indoor and outdoor track and field. Also racing is young Kenyan Rhonex Kipruto, who broke the event record earlier this month at the Peachtree Road Race, and Jakob Ingebrigtsen of Norway, who had clocked 3:30.16 for 1,500 meters earlier this month in Lausanne..

Mutaz Essa Barshim of Bahrain will make his return Sunday to the Diamond League in the men's high jump. He has competed once since he ended his 2018 season early with an injury. He jumped 7-5.25 (2.27m) to win last month in Sopot, Poland. He jumped 7-10.50 (2.40m) twice last year before getting hurt.

With the USATF Outdoor Championships taking place next week, the number of American athletes competing in London is limited. Sandi Morris had been scheduled for the pole vault, but after some difficulty with a previous back injury, she has opted to stay home and prepare to compete next week in Des Moines.

Brittney Reese, who won the 2012 Olympics and the 2017 IAAF World Outdoor Championships long jump in the stadium hosting the London Diamond League meeting, is set to compete as she prepares to defend her world title. She has jumped 22-9.75 (6.95m) this year, but will face world leader Malaika Mihambo of Germany, who has jumped 23-2.50 (7.07m) this year.

Kara Winger and Kori Carter are also set to compete in London in the javelin and 400-meter hurdles, respectively.

The two-day London program includes multiple para events, a collection of relay events and 15 Diamond League events.