Ah yes, beautiful Monaco. 

The tiny zillionaire hotbed with the world’s highest GDP per capita plays host each July to the crown jewel of Diamond League meetings, the Herculis Monaco. With stunning views of the Mediterranean Sea, ideal weather, and gambling as its top economic resource, it’s not hard to imagine how this one features the world’s best each and every year. I mean, the meet is named after a mythological hero known for his incredible strength, it’s gotta be good. 

Just check out the views from the press conference:

Men’s 1500m (8:15pm) - Mo Farah v. Asbel Kiprop Part II

Last year’s Monaco 1500m was one of the best metric miles in history. Seven men broke 3:30, with Silas Kiplagat’s winning time of 3:27.64 making him the fourth fastest ever. With another epic field assembled for tomorrow night, a new name on the all-time top 5 list could certainly be in the cards. The 2013 race featured Asbel Kiprop and Mo Farah, who will clash once again in Monaco. 

 

Any discussion about the Monaco 1500m starts and ends with Asbel Kiprop. The 26-year-old Olympic and World champion has run the three fastest 1500m races of his career at this meet, including his 3:27.72 from 2013 that ranks him as the fifth best all-time. Riding the high of winning the Monaco 1500 in back to back years in 2012 and 2013, Kiprop announced prior to last year’s race that he was planning an assault on El Guerrouj’s 3:26.00 World record, only to finish second to Silas Kiplagat in 3:28.45. 

Asbel Kiprop sprinted away from Mo Farah in the 2013 Monaco 1500m with both men setting their PRs in that race. Their highly anticipated rematch happens tomorrow

The Kenyan has made no such foolhardy claim in the build up to this year’s race, but let’s remember that he ran 3:29 in May of last year, the fastest time ever run before July, so he had every reason to talk a big game then. He may not be making bold statements this time around, but the fitness is certainly there as always. Sure, there are no sub-3:30s for Kiprop yet (no one has broken 3:30 in 2015), but he won the Oslo mile in June over Kiplagat and Ayanleh Souleiman, two of the most elusive scalps to be had. 

 

Interestingly enough, neither Kiplagat or Souleiman will run the Monaco 1500m, as the former is skipping this meet altogether, while the latter will race the 800, the event in which he owns the 2015 World lead (1:43.08). The fact that this race is not officially a Diamond League event in Monaco is likely the culprit for this micro-tragedy, as no points towards the end-of-year Diamond Race award will be tallied here. Luckily for us, the meet directors have offered Mo Farah as a consolation prize for this race which lacks the defending champ (Kiplagat) and a 3:47 miler (Souleiman). Well ok, I guess the double Olympic champ will have to do. 

 

The facts are plain on Farah. Although June was undoubtably a pretty tough month for the 32-year-old with the NOP doping allegations swirling, his resounding victory in last week’s Lausanne 5K over many of his main rivals for Beijing was clearly a tremendous weight off of the shoulders. With the victory in hand, Farah celebrated ahead of the finish line with exuberant bravado, a puffing of the chest usually reserved only for championship races. With his theatrics still fresh in our minds, Farah returns to the Monaco 1500 just two years removed from his jaw-dropping 3:28 British record.

 

His 3:28.81 runner-up finish in 2013 makes him the seventh-fastest 1500m runner ever, which is unfathomable for a 5K/10K specialist. Humans aren’t supposed to be able to have PRs of 3:28 (1500), 8:03 (2-mile), 12:53 (5K), 26:46 (10K), and 59:32 (1/2 marathon), but that’s exactly the resume Mo Farah has accumulated since he took over the distance running world back in 2011. Would I be shocked if he lowers his 1500 PR on Friday? At this point, only failure is surprising with Farah. 

 

The always-entertaining Taoufik Makhloufi has raced sparingly during 2015, only three times, but the form he’s shown in the few appearances he’s had suggest a return to the Makhloufi that won gold in London. 

 

The Algerian mystery (this should be his nickname, by the way) randomly ran a 2:13 1K in France on July 1st, good for fourth all-time and the fastest since Noah Ngeny’s 2:11 World record in 1999. He complimented that with a solid 3:30.50 fourth place finish in the Paris 1500 on July 4th. Big Makh has outstanding finishing speed, and appears destined for his first career sub-3:30 in Monaco with Kiprop and Farah to chase. 

 

If it wasn’t for Matt Centrowitz laying an egg at the Lausanne 800m last week by finishing ninth in 1:49, we would likely be leading with a “Centro is going after the American record!” tagline. While his rare off-race in Switzerland may have slowed the hype surrounding his chances to run under Bernard Lagat’s 3:29.30 US record, his performances throughout the rest of 2015 do not eliminate the possibility. Outside of his dominating win at USAs, Centro’s two races to point to are his 1:44 800m PR in New York and his 3:51 runner-up finish in the Bowerman mile at the Pre Classic.

Centrowitz talks about his chances for sub-3:30 tomorrow in Monaco:

The 25-year-old reigning World silver medalist beat Kiprop at Prefontaine, and a repeat of that in Monaco would likely require something at or near an American record effort. He set his 3:31 PR in Monaco last year. 

 

Nick Willis and Leo Manzano both beat Centro in Monaco a year ago, with Willis running a 3:29.91 PR and Manzano just slipping under 3:31 with his 3:30.98 PR. 

 

Willis just showed that he’s very fit with his 1:46 800m time trial this week, but sub-3:30 is always a tall order, especially when peaking at Worlds is his primary goal. Willis only ran 3:39 in the Lignano 1500 last week, but that race was not paced even close to what Monaco will be, not a good indication of his true mile fitness.

 

Manzano hasn’t run a fast 1500 yet in 2015, and thus will be standard-chasing (3:36.20) in Monaco. This shouldn’t be a problem for the Olympic silver medalist in the world’s fastest 1500m.

 

Women’s 3,000m Steeplechase (9:45pm) - Fresh off Lausanne disappointment, does Emma Coburn have the American record in her legs?

Emma Coburn will face an even deeper field in Monaco than she saw in Lausanne

After Emma Coburn won USAs in 9:15, I didn’t think Jenny Simpson’s 9:12.50 American record would survive past Lausanne last Thursday. Unfortunately, the race in Switzerland wasn’t meant to be a sub 9:12 performance, as Coburn led the chase pack behind the pacers through the opening kilometer in 3:08. Conditions were windy, and the rest of the field was more than happy to have Coburn dictate the pace for them. The 24-year-old was ultimately swallowed up with 600m to go by Virginia Nyambura and Hiwot Ayalew and finished third in 9:20.67.  

 

Of course, Coburn already broke Simpson’s American record last July in Glasgow by running 9:11.42, but that mark was wiped out because Coburn didn’t know she had to go for drug testing afterwards. That won’t ever count as an official record, but it does give a good indication of what she’s capable of given the right race. The question is, will Monaco be that race?

 

Coburn herself has said that she’s not too concerned with so-called “record attempts”, choosing to focus more on being competitive in the last lap. Chasing records has to take a back seat to fine-tuning racing tactics during a Worlds year, and Coburn will have another chance to hone her craft in Monaco. No one has run faster than 9:15 this year, so it would require a pretty heroic effort by Coburn tomorrow to secure the record. 

 

Nyambura and Ayalew will both be in Monaco looking to establish themselves as the favorite for Beijing. The Kenyan Nyambura has already won three Diamond League steeples in 2015, including the season opener in Doha in which she was originally slated to be the pacer. The 21-year-old has a modest 9:15.75 PR from Rome in June, but there is clearly a lot of room for improvement as her PR entering 2015 was 9:58. 

 

Ayalew is the 10th fastest steepler in history with her 9:09.61 PR from 2012. She finished runner-up to Nyambura in Doha and Lausanne.

 

2015 World leader Hyvin Kiyeng of Kenya and 2012 Olympic silver medalist Habiba Ghribi of Tunisia should also contend up front. Kiyeng beat Nyambura and Ayalew in Rome with a 2015 best of 9:15.08, while Ghribi owns a 9:08.37 PR from 2012 which stands as the seventh fastest all-time. The Tunisian will run her first race since February.