Cheruiyot and Chepkoech hoping to break records in Lausanne Diamond League Circuit
By Joel Sang, June 27, 2023Timothy Cheruiyot and Beatrice Chepkoech will be among the athletes that will be closely followed during the Lausanne Diamond League Circuit set for Friday, June 30, 2023.
Fans expect to see a new world record in the men’ 1500m when Cheruiyot comes up against the world’s best in Jakob Ingebrigsten and reigning world gold medallist Jake Wightman. Ingebrigtsen returns to chase the fastest time ever in the 1500m.
Long-time record
In mind, Cheruiyot will be hoping to break the world record that has stood since 1998. Hicham El Guerrouj’s 3:26.00 mark has never been broken, but Ingebrigsten came close to shattering it in Oslo when he ran for 3:27.95, and this catapulted him into sixth place on the all-time list.
Meanwhile, Chepkoech, a world record holder in the women’s 3000m women’s steeplechase, will be hoping to break the 9-minute mark for the first time in nearly a year.
In the men’s 5000m race, Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei will be under a considerable highlight as he will be competing in his only second race this season after a fourth-place finish in Florence.
Cheptegei – Olympic and world gold medallist – remains the favourite to win in the race that will also see Ethiopia’s Oslo winner Yomif Kejelcha and Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega compete.
After losing to Kejelcha in a photo finish in the men’s race at the Bislett Games, Uganda’s world half-marathon record holder Jacob Kiplimo will also compete in the 5000m.
Kenya’s Mary Moraa is also expected to compete in the Laussane Circuit and will come up against Keely Hodgkinson in the 800m rematch.
Moraa, a Commonwealth Games champion, will hope that her recent success at the National Championships in Nairobi will catapult her to success. Moraa is returning to the circuit, seeking her second win in the women’s two-lap race.
Moraa’s outdoor season opened up in Botswana, where she won the 400m race before crossing the line at the Diamond League in the 800m in Rabat, Morocco. The Kenyan star did not participate in the Paris Circuit, which paved the way for Hodgkinson to win the race.
She made a tactical retreat from the Florence and Paris Circuits and chose to compete in the Kenya Police Athletic Championship that was held in Nairobi in June.
Moraa and Hodgkinson haven’t raced together since the World Indoors in Torun, where the latter took revenge for her Commonwealth Games defeat to the Kenyan.
The 400m hurdles race is set to attract stiff competition as Femke Bol returns to the track just days after a fast 400m run at the European Team Championships in Silesia.
In-form Bol
In-form Bol had a dominant win in Oslo, and the Dutch Olympic bronze and world silver medallist will have her morale boosted after she broke the longest-standing 400m world indoor record last February.
Much of the focus in Lausanne will be on the middle and distance running events, where the return of Wavelight technology will be used to help runners try to surpass their limits.
So far, the Paris circuit remains the outstanding event because two world records and a world best were set on June 9. Kenya’s superstar Faith Kipyegon set her second world record in the women’s 5000m while Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia broke the mark in the men’s 3000m steeplechase.
The 2023 Diamond League in Lausanne will be streamed on the Diamond League YouTube page at 20:00 local time (GMT+2).
Lausanne 2023 Diamond League full schedule
19:15 Javelin Women
19:35 Shot Put Men
20:04 800m Women
20:06 Pole Vault Women
20:16 110m Hurdles Men
20:25 3000m Steeple Women
20:35 Long Jump Men
20:42 100m Women
20:48 Javelin Men
20:50 5000m Men
21:13 100m Hurdles Women
21:20 200m Men
21:28 400m Hurdles Women
21:39 1500m Men