Faith Kipyegon reveals first stop in 2024 Diamond League campaign
29th March 2024
The race will also mark Kipyegon's first race this year.
- Kipyegon will be seeking to emulate the eye-catching displays she registered last year.
- She broke three world records within two months last year.
- She also made history in becoming first Kenyan woman to be crowned World Athlete of the Year (track) in 2023.
Kenya’s middle distance specialist Faith Kipyegon is
expected to open her 2024 season on Saturday, April 20 at the Xiamen Diamond
League Meeting in China.
Kipyegon would be seeking to emulate the eye-catching
displays she registered last year which saw her smash three world records in
less than two months that led to her being crowned the 2023 Women’s World
Athlete of the Year (Track).
In Xiamen, the 30-year-old will go head-to-head with her
main rival Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia in the 1500m discipline.
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Tsegay, who recently represented her country at the 2024
World Indoor Athletics Championships in Glasgow, Scotland currently holds both
the 1500m indoor and 5000m outdoor world records.
Besides Tsegay, Kipyegon is also expected to face a stiff
challenge from the likes of Freweyni Hailu and Diribe Welteji.
Meanwhile, 3000m steeplechase rivals Beatrice Chepkoech and
Kenyan-born Bahraini runner Winfred Yavi Mutile will also face each other for
the first time this year in Xiamen.
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Unlike Yavi, Chepkoech, who set the world record of 8:44.32
at the Monaco Diamond League in 2018, has taken part in various races since the
start of the year.
The former world champion was part of the Kenyan team which
graced the just ended African Games in Accra, Ghana and the Indoor World
Champions in Glasgow.
On the other hand, Yavi has been training in Kenya with the
intention of securing the coveted 3000m steeplechase title at the upcoming
Paris Olympic Games.
Yavi and Chepkoech will battle it out for glory in Xiamen
with other star runners such as the reigning world U20 champion Faith
Cherotich.
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Wycliffe Kinyamal is another Kenyan who will race in the
first Diamond League meeting of the season. Some of the other top entries for
the 800m race are Canada’s Marco Arop and United States’ Clayton Murphy.
Elsewhere, United States’ sprinting sensation Sha’Carri
Richardson will race in the 200m discipline.
The one-time 100m world champion is expected to battle it out for the top prize with her compatriots Anavia Battle and Tamara Clark.
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