The 2017 Diamond League series kicks off Friday in Doha, Qatar. Forty-three global medalists, including 16 world and Olympic champions, headline the field. Below, get a taste of the events we're most looking forward to, and check back Friday for live coverage.

Women's 800m

Who: Caster Semenya, Margaret Wambui, Genzebe Dibaba, Eunice Sum, Joanna Jozwik, Natoya Goule, Charlene Lipsey
When: 11:25 AM CT
Why: It might be hard to believe, but Genzebe Dibaba, the world record-holder and 2016 Olympic silver medalist for 1500m, has never raced an 800m. In Doha, she'll have Caster Semenya and Margaret Wambui, the 2016 Olympic gold and bronze medalists for 800m, to compete against. Dibaba's 2015 1500m record of 3:50.07 is worth about 1:53.2 (!) according to the IAAF scoring tables, which is faster than the highly suspect world record of 1:53.28, set by Jarmila Kratochvilova of the Czech Republic in 1983.

OK, so it's highly unlikely that anyone is breaking the world record this weekend and even more unlikely that Dibaba beats out Semenya, the most dominant half miler in the world since winning the World Championship in 2009. For the record, Semenya ran 1:55.28 in Rio last year, which ranks No. 11 in world history, and Wambui ran 1:56.89.

It is, however, extremely likely that Dibaba breaks two minutes in her debut 800m, as the three-time world champion has closed the back half of a 1500m in under 1:57 before. Semenya enters the first Diamond League meeting with a season's best of 2:00.99.

Jenny Meadows of Great Britain will take the field through 400m in 57.0. If the field can run an even split, that's 1:54.0.

Charlene Lipsey is the sole American here. The 25-year-old enjoyed a breakout year indoors after joining Ajee Wilson's training group; Lipsey lowered her all-time PB to 1:58.64, which makes her the second-fastest American all-time indoors only after Wilson and won the U.S. indoor national 1K title. She has never broken two minutes outdoors.

Charlene Lipsey explains how her life has changed since joining Ajee Wilson's training group:

Women's 3K Steeplechase

Who: Ruth Jebet, Hyvin Kiyeng, Emma Coburn, Sofia Assefa, Habiba Ghribi, Beatrice Chepkoech, Colleen Quigley, Courtney Frerichs, Aisha Praught Leer, Genevieve LaCaze, Stephanie Garcia
When: 12:05 PM CT
Why: The three medalists from the 2016 Olympic Games will all race here: gold medalist and world-record holder (8:52.78) Ruth Jebet of Bahrain, silver medalist and 2015 world champion Hyvin Kiyeng, and bronze medalist and American-record holder (9:07.63) Emma Coburn.

Doha marks the first track race of 2017 for both Jebet and Kiyeng; both women competed in cross during the early part of the year, as Kiyeng placed fourth and Jebet was seventh at the IAAF World XC Championships in Kampala, Uganda. Coburn was part of the Team USA world record-setting distance medley relay in January with fellow New Balance athletes Jenny Simpson and Brenda Martinez, plus high school phenom Sydney McLaughlin, but has otherwise trained through the year so far. Doha marks her first individual race since switching coaches from her college mentors, Mark Wetmore and Heather Burroughs of Colorado, to her fiancé, Joe Bosshard. Coburn's training partner, Aisha Praught Leer, is also entered here and could be in PB shape after taking a close third at the Carlsbad 5K behind Violah Lagat and Shannon Rowbury.

Coburn's fellow 2016 U.S. Olympians Colleen Quigley (eighth in Rio) and Courtney Frerichs (11th in Rio) will also race. Quigley is the only one of the Americans who raced more than once so far this year; she set an indoor mile PB of 4:24.88 and took runner-up honors in the short event at the U.S. indoor nationals.

Women's 200m

Who: Elaine Thompson, Dafne Schippers
When: 11:35 AM CT
Why: Sprint fans, rejoice! 2016 Olympic 200m gold and silver medalists Elaine Thompson of Jamaica and Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands will battle in the first Diamond League event of 2017. So far in 2017, double Olympic champion Thompson has clocked 10.75 (+2.2) for 100m and anchored winning relays in the 4x100m at Penn Relays and the 4x200m at World Relays, the latter of which was a national record 1:29.04. Schippers is undefeated this season over the likes of U.S. Olympian Tianna Bartoletta and clocked season-best marks of 10.95 (+0.8) for 100m and 22.29 (+1.4) for 200m, both of which rank No. 2 in the world this year.

Watch Dafne Schippers run 10.95 (+0.8), what was at the time the world lead for 100m, over Tianna Bartoletta at the Bryan Clay Invitational:

Men's 100m

Who: Andre De Grasse, Justin Gatlin, Asafa Powell, Kim Collins, Ronnie Baker, Akani Simbine
When: 12:25 PM CT
Why: Track fans didn't get quite the showdown desired between Canada's Andre De Grasse and the United States' Justin Gatlin in the IAAF World Relays 4x100m, as the 22-year-old Canuck smoothly ran past the 35-year-old American on the anchor leg in the prelims, but his team dropped the baton in the final before his leg as the Americans took home gold. The rivals get another shot at their Rio rematch here in Doha, as Gatlin earned silver and De Grasse earned bronze behind world-record holder Usain Bolt in Rio last summer. Both athletes have yet to run an individual race yet in 2017, preferring instead to focus on relays during the early outdoor season.

Twenty-three-year-old Akani Simbine of South Africa, who placed fifth in the 100m finals in Rio, is ranked No. 2 in the world so far this season and has already clocked five sub-10 efforts with a season's best of 9.92 (+1.2). U.S. indoor national 60m champion Ronnie Baker anchored America's gold medal-winning 4x100m at the World Relays and ranks No. 5 individually in 2017 with his season's best 9.99 (+0.1).

Watch U.S. indoor 60m champion Ronnie Baker win the Mt. SAC Relays in 9.99 (+0.1):

Men's 3K

Who: Paul Chelimo, Edwin Cheruiyot, Ben True, Thomas Longosiwa, Andrew Butchart, Albert Rop, Edris Muktar, Caleb Ndiku, Yomif Kejelcha
When: 12:45 PM CT
Why: The United States' Paul Chelimo shocked many by running to Olympic silver in the 5K in Rio last summer -- and lowering his PB from 13:19.54 to 13:03.9 in the process. In 2017, the 26-year-old is undefeated on the track including a win in the U.S. indoor nationals two mile. He set his 3K PB last summer in 7:37.98 after the Olympics and will see how he fares in his first big-time event since Rio.

The top challengers include two Kenyan Olympic bronze medalists in 31-year-old Edwin Soi, who was third in Beijing 2008, and 35-year-old Thomas Longosiwa, who was third in London 2012. Soi owns beefy PBs of 12:51.34 for 5K and 7:27.55 for 3K, which date back to 2013 and 2011, respectively, though he did run 13:03.26 at the Prefontaine Classic last year. Longosiwa's PBs of 12:49.04 for 5K and 7:30.09 for 3K date back to 2012 and 2009. He ran 13:01 last year and was runner-up behind Sam Chelanga at the Healthy Kidney 10K in New York City this spring.

Nineteen-year-old Yomif Kejelcha set the 3K world junior record last summer in 7:28.19 and won the IAAF World Indoor Championship 3K title last March as an 18-year-old over Chelimo and Caleb Ndiku, who at the time was the defending world indoor champion and whom will also race in Doha. Neither Kejelcha nor Ndiku have raced yet in 2017.