Richardson, Ingebrigtsen and the 10,000 meter showdown are the highlight of the Eugene Diamond League

Issued on: 25/05/2024 – 00:01

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Richardson, who launched her 2024 campaign with a relay in March and followed up with a pair of slow 200m performances in China in April, returns to her signature event at the same Hayward Field circuit in Eugene that will host the U.S. Olympics June 21-30 tests will take place. .

Richardson will face Jamaica’s five-time Olympic gold medalist Elaine Thompson-Herah, who won 100m gold in Rio in 2016 and in Tokyo in 2021.

Since Tokyo – where she completed a treble of 100m, 200m and 4x100m – the 31-year-old has endured a rollercoaster ride, partly thanks to problems with her Achilles tendon.

Last year, Thompson-Herah had to make do with bronze in the 4x100m relay at the World Championships before ending the year on a high, despite a stormy divorce from her coach.

She kicks off her season in Eugene, a month before the Jamaican Trials.

The women’s 100 meters also include world indoor 60 meters champion Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia and Ivory Coast Marie-Josee Ta Lou.

Ethiopian 10,000m world champion Gudaf Tsegay, who broke the 5,000m world record at the Diamond League final in Eugene in September, plans to break her compatriot Letesenbet Gidey’s 10,000m world record of 29:01.03 in June 2021 to match.

Tsegay, who is also the world record holder in the 1,500 meters indoors, showed impressive form early in the season with a 1,500 meters of 3.50.30 in Xiamen last month.

Both the women’s and men’s 10,000m races will be given extra spice as the Olympic selection races for Kenya.

Eugene’s signature event, the Bowerman Mile, will feature Norwegian Olympic 1,500m champion Ingebrigtsen and his British rivals Josh Kerr and Jake Wightman.

Wightman stunned Ingebrigtsen at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene and Kerr did the same in Budapest last year.

© 2024 AFP