2019 IAAF World Championships

Jakob Ingebrigtsen Goes For First Diamond League Win | Paris DL Preview

Jakob Ingebrigtsen Goes For First Diamond League Win | Paris DL Preview

Jakob Ingebrigtsen has been close to getting a signature win all season. Can he do it in Paris?

Aug 22, 2019 by Kevin Sully
Jakob Ingebrigtsen Goes For First Diamond League Win | Paris DL Preview
Saturday's Paris Diamond League meet is the final "regular season" event before the Diamond League finals begin. While the specter of the World Championships looms, the fields assembled this weekend will be looking for a good race before that final push to Doha. 

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Saturday's Paris Diamond League meet is the final "regular season" event before the Diamond League finals begin. While the specter of the World Championships looms, the fields assembled this weekend will be looking for a good race before that final push to Doha. 

Here's a rundown of what to watch for on Saturday.

Lil' Brigtsen On The Hunt For First Diamond League Win

There’s no Timothy Cheruiyot and no Americans, but still a compelling field with plenty to sort out. Can Jakob Ingebrigtsen get his first Diamond League win? This year he’s finished sixth, fourth, third, second, second, and second at Diamond League meets across the 1500m, mile, and 5000m. Without Cheruiyot, he could do it in Paris. 

Standing in his way is a stout field that includes his brother Filip, indoor 1500m world record holder Samuel Tefera, and world championship bronze medalist Ayanleh Souleiman. The top two finishers from last week’s 1500m in Birmingham, Ronald Musagala and Stewart McSweyn, are also on the start list. 

This race also marks the Diamond League return of 2012 Olympic champion Taoufik Makhloufi. Makhloufi got a pair of silver medals at the 2016 Olympic Games but didn’t race at all in 2017 and 2018. This year, he came back to the track and has run four races, including a 3:36 1500m.

Holloway-Roberts Rematch Looms Large In 110m Hurdles

Of all the events on the program, the men’s high hurdles will be the most instructive in figuring out what will happen next month at the World Championships in Doha. 

Grant Holloway and Daniel Roberts are both on the start line and will race against each other for the first time since making the U.S. team at the end of July. Those championships weren't either man’s best race — the poor weather didn’t help — but they did accomplish the primary task of placing in the top three. 

Ever since the two ran 12.98 and 13.00 at the NCAA Championships, the rest of the world has been playing catch-up. As the professional season got rolling, the gap began to close. Roberts took fourth in Birmingham last week, perhaps the slightest sign that the long collegiate season is taking its toll. 

Besides Holloway, three men in this field have broken 13 seconds: Sergey Shubenkov, Orlando Ortega, and Pascal Martinot-Lagarde. Ortega has won a pair of Diamond League races and has the fastest time outside of Holloway and Roberts this year, a 13.05 from Lausanne. Shubenkov’s season-best is just 13.12, but he has wins in Rome and Rabat.   

U.S. Brings All-Star Cast To Women’s 400m 

The U.S. squad is deep here with Phyllis Francis, Kendall Ellis, and Shakima Wimbley. Those three make of 75 percent of the American team in Doha. Globally, this is a brutal event in 2019. Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Salwa Eid Naser, and Aminatou Seyni have all run under 49.20. 

Can one of these Americans break up that top three? 

All have run under 50 seconds in their career, but it will take another significant drop in time to get into the low 49-second range. None have had a particularly heavy race schedule this year so they should be poised for a strong final month of the season. 

Noah Lyles Returns To The Track In Men’s 200m

Saturday will mark the first post-USAs race for Noah Lyles. He will be the heavy favorite once again. Bettering his 19.50 will be a tough task given the layoff and travel, but Lyles is good enough now that he’s still solid in races he’s training through. 

The race also includes Canadian champion Aaron Brown, 2017 world champion Ramil Guliyev, NCAA champion Divine Oduduru, and Alex Quinonez, who has run 19.87 this season. None will be in the vicinity with Lyles after the first 100m, but all could use a good race to put themselves in position for a silver or bronze in Doha. 

Murphy, Bosse, McBride, Saruni Headline Men’s 800m

The men’s 800m isn’t a Diamond League event, but it still has an interesting field full of World Championships contenders. Clayton Murphy, second at USAs, is running for the first time since Des Moines. He’s been uber-consistent this year, so expect another solid race from him. Pierre-Ambroise Bosse, the 2017 world champion, opened his season in July and will be racing in his home country. Canada’s Brandon McBride has finished in the top five in all of his Diamond League races this year and has the fastest season-best in the field, 1:43.83. 

The Kenya trials are still a couple of weeks away, so NCAA record-holder Michael Saruni will be trying to sharpen up. It’s a wide-open field, and with the pacemaking from Harun Abda, it should churn out some fast times. 

Can The U.S. Women’s 100m Champ Contend With Elaine Thompson?

Elaine Thompson is the headliner and will get another crack at a fast time. Her last 100m race, at the Pan American Games, wasn’t exactly built for speed so this is her first fast 100m since she ran 10.73 at the Jamaican Trials in June. 

Only Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has been close to Thompson this year, and she’s not on the start line. 

After Thompson, look for Marie-Josee Ta Lou, Dafne Schippers, Teahna Daniels, and Aleia Hobbs to sort out the next places. Daniels will try to continue the post-NCAAs hot streak that took her to a U.S. title. Hobbs will be seeking a bit of redemption after missing the U.S. team. Ta Lou should also be motivated after her struggles in the 200m in Birmingham. Ditto for Schippers, who has yet to break 11 seconds this year. 

Karsten Warholm Aims At Next PR In Men’s 400m Hurdles

Karsten Warholm doesn’t need competition to run fast and he will again have free reign in Paris with Rai Benjamin and Abderrahman Samba not on the start list. In his last Diamond League race, Warholm ran a European record of 47.12, the fastest mark of 2019. That put him on equal footing with Samba and Benjamin, who have run 46.98 and 47.02, respectively. 

Warholm’s quick start usually means that he isn’t in the company of the rest of the field for very long. TJ Holmes, second at USAs, has the next-fastest time on the start list of 48.58. Kyron McCaster has run 47.54 but has yet to crack 48 seconds this year. 

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