by Justin Lagat
Justin Lagat wrote this preview for RunBlogRun on the upcoming Lausanne DL, known as the Athletissima, to be held on 26 August 2022.
The Laussane DL is one of the finest one-day meetings in the world. The distance races will be one of the finest clashes of the summer, with some of the key players from the World Champs, Commonwealth Games, and European Champs in one great meeting.
Justin gave us some key views into some of the upcoming races on Friday, August 26, 2022. Make sure you watch them!
Which race are you looking forward to? Let us know at [email protected].
After about two weeks break, the diamond league meetings resume this Friday again with some exciting men’s 1500m, 3000m steeplechase, and women’s 3000m races, among other exciting track action.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen will be the only medalist returning from the Oregon world championships in what would have been another repeat of the World Championships final in the men’s 1500m race. It would have been interesting to see a rematch between Jake Wightman who won the gold medal versus Igebrigtsen who had settled for the silver medal behind him and Mohamed Katir of Spain who had won the bronze medal.
The other two missing here from the finalists are Ignacio Fontes of Spain and Joshua Thompson of the USA.
However, with Australia’s Oliver Hoare having just beaten Wightman at the Commonwealth Games it automatically makes him the man to watch.
The long-standing battle for supremacy in this event between Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot and Ingebrigtsen will also add excitement to the race. Also worth watching out for is the diamond league leader, Abel Kipsang.
Soufianne El Bakkali will have to wait for another day to race Lamecha Girma, who was recently injured in training.
It will also be interesting to see some of the new names being established in this event and that will perhaps take over the mantle from the two front runners in the near future.
Sifan Hassan is the fastest on paper, with a personal best time of 8:18.49 in the women’s 3000m which promises to be another exciting race of the evening. She will be facing Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba, who is back in competition form after having to pull out of the World championships last month, where she was set to run in both the 5000m and 10,000m races due to a stress fracture that derailed her preparations for the championships.
It will remain to be seen how the 3000m event will favor a 1500m runner as Laura Muir, who won the bronze medal in Oregon, lines up at the starting line.
Also in the field will be Kenya’s Margaret Chelimo, who won bronze in the 10,000m event in Oregon and finished just outside the medals in the 5000m event.
Ethiopia’s Egjayehu Taye, who won the Prefontaine Classic 5000m event in May, and her compatriot, who won the 5000m bronze medal at the world championships in Oregon, will be worth watching out for in this race.
