Organisers of the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix have announced that Jenny Simpson and Emma Coburn, two of USA&rsquo;s most accomplished middle-distance runners, will return to Boston for the IAAF World Indoor Tour meeting on 26 January.
Simpson will be competing at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix for the eighth time. The Olympic 1500m bronze medallist won the 3000m in Boston last year before going on to set a North American record for two miles in April and a mile PB of 4:17.30 in London in July.
The 2011 world 1500m champion will contest the 5000m in Boston. It will be her first race at the distance since setting a PB of 14:56.26 in 2013.
Following a successful season in which she won her fifth straight national title, world steeplechase champion Coburn will contest the mile in Boston.
While Simpson and Coburn are veterans at this meeting, local sprint star Gabby Thomas will be making her New Balance Indoor Grand Prix debut. Thomas recently completed a notable collegiate career at Harvard University, winning the 2018 NCAA indoor 200m title in a collegiate record of 22.38.
Thomas, who set a 200m PB of 22.18 at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London, will race the 300m in Boston.
Organisers for the IAAF

Organisers of the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix have announced that Jenny Simpson and Emma Coburn, two of USA’s most accomplished middle-distance runners, will return to Boston for the IAAF World Indoor Tour meeting on 26 January.

Simpson and Coburn set for Boston return

Donavan Brazier came a little closer to the sub-1:45 mark in the 800m, Edward Cheserek ran the second half of a remarkable two-day double, and Christian Coleman continued his utter domination of the US 60m season on Saturday (10) at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, the fourth stop on the IAAF World Indoor Tour.
The theme, if there was one, was winning from the front.
Brazier admitted in the pre-meet press conference that he&rsquo;d thought the 50-second pacing target for 400m a little aggressive at last week&rsquo;s Millrose Games, but after following through with a 1:45.35 PB, he had some cause to rethink that.
Tonight, the pacemaker led world indoor champion Boris Berian (50.28) and Brazier (50.68) through 400m in almost the same split before stepping off. Berian, returning from an injury-shortened 2017, soon found the limits of his returning fitness, and Brazier took over at the bell.
Brazier didn&rsquo;t let up, even though Berian was now effectively going backwards. He dug in to complete the fourth and final lap a little faster than the third to shave a few more fractions of a second off his indoor PB, running 1:45.11. He didn&rsquo;t appear to be struggling and held his form until relaxing slightly a few steps before the line. His mark represents the fastest indoor time run by a US runner since 1992 &ndash; six years before Brazier was born.
&ldquo;I'm excited and a little disappointed [to] miss the American record for the second week in a row,&rdquo; said Brazier of Johnny Gray&rsquo;s 1:45.00 North American record. &ldquo;But I'll take what I can get, it's just indoor season. I was happy because it was a steep field, so just competing today was the main goal and coming in first.&rdquo;
Berian, for his part, slid to 1:50.17 for seventh, and suggested afterwards that this might be both the beginning and the end of his indoor campaign; instead of pursuing the indoor season, he might return to altitude and resume training for outdoors.
<h3>Coleman gun to tape</h3>
Christian Coleman was ahead from the gun and won a commanding 60m victory in 6.46, ahead of Xie Zhenye in 6.54. Zhenye was second for the second consecutive year at this meeting. Noah Lyles, who had suggested the only place to beat Coleman was at the start, took third in a PB of 6.57.
&ldquo;The crowd showed up and they were amazing,&rdquo; said Coleman. &ldquo;When you have a lot of people here, the fans charge you up and they're screaming loads and cheering, that really gets you up and going.&rdquo; 
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60m winner Christian Coleman at the IAAF World Indoor Tour meeting in Boston</div>
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Coleman&rsquo;s reaction time was solidly in the middle of all the entrants but his velocity out of the blocks was visibly superior, and he put daylight between himself and his pursuers by halfway down the track. This dominant victory, together with his eye-opening 6.37 clocking last month, put him on a course to tangle with Su Bingtian in Birmingham in just a few weeks.
<h3>Cheserek the King</h3>
Collegiate athletics in the USA can often be a sport of multiple races in a short timespan as athletes stack up points for their team, but few athletes at the professional level attempt a double like the one Edward Cheserek took on here in Boston.
After running a 3:49.44 mile (the second fastest in history indoors) last night at Boston University, Cheserek crossed the city to enter the 3000m here, competing with the likes of Dejen Gebremeskel and Hagos Gebrhiwet, both previous winners of this event. (Gebrhiwet still holds the meeting record.) 
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Edward Cheserek in the 3000m at the IAAF World Indoor Tour meeting in Boston</div>
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It turned out 24 hours of recovery was no big deal for Cheserek. The early going was not taxing &ndash; Adel Mechaal actually held a four-second advantage over the trio of Cheserek, Gebremeskel and Gebrhiwet with four laps remaining &ndash; but just as the crowd was beginning to wonder if Mechaal might get away with a heist of epic proportions, &lsquo;Ches&rsquo; put the hammer down and simply ran away from the two Ethiopians, blowing past Mechaal in the process.
Cheserek&rsquo;s winning time was 7:38.74, with Gebrhiwet (7:41.79) and Gebremeskel (7:42.78) also finding their way past Mechaal (7:44.31).
&ldquo;I kept looking back,&rdquo; said Cheserek. &ldquo;I knew I had something left over and I saved it for the last three laps.&rdquo;
Jenny Simpson admitted that she felt, for the first time, &ldquo;a tiny twinge of guilt&rdquo; as she let world steeplechase champion Emma Coburn set the pace in the women&rsquo;s 3000m. But with a column of pursuers including Fotyen Tesfaye, Steph Twell and Genevieve Lalonde close behind her, Simpson opted for caution, and when she finally did move to the front it was decisive. 
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Jenny Simpson in the 3000m at the IAAF World Indoor Tour meeting in Boston</div>
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Simpson won in 8:40.31 with Tesfaye second in 8:41.08 and Twell third in 8:41.94; all three were PBs. Coburn was fourth in 8:43.57 and Lalonde, in fifth, set an outright PB of 8:49.78.
Sharika Nelvis won the battle of the top-ranked 60m hurdlers, kicking off the meeting with a 7.89. Nelvis bested Christina Manning (also recorded as 7.89) by thousandths of a second, 7.881 to 7.888, with almost all of that coming in reaction time; Nelvis&rsquo;s reaction to the gun was .016 faster than Manning&rsquo;s. Jasmin Stowers (7.98) took third.
&ldquo;I really don&rsquo;t know what happened,&rdquo; Nelvis admitted afterwards. 
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60m hurdles winner Sharika Nelvis at the IAAF World Indoor Tour meeting in Boston</div>
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Dawit Seyaum appeared almost shocked awake by a late-race pass from Jamaica&rsquo;s Aisha Praught-Leer in the women&rsquo;s 1500m, scrambling to a 4:04.38 victory to Praught-Leer&rsquo;s Caribbean indoor record of 4:04.95.
Chris O&rsquo;Hare ran a meeting record 3:37.03 in the men&rsquo;s 1500m, closing strong with fellow Briton Jake Wightman on his heels. The previous record of 3:38.15 was run by Bernard Lagat in 2003.
Jenna Westaway made her case for selection to Canada&rsquo;s team for the World Indoor Championships by running a PB of 2:01.22 almost entirely from the front to win the women&rsquo;s 800m. Westaway was at the front when pacemaker Marisa Turner stepped off after 500m, and simply opened a progressively wider gap on Lyndsey Sharp.
USA&rsquo;s Raevyn Rogers (2:01.73) and Charlene Lipsey (2:02.05) overtook Sharp on the homestretch for second and third, respectively.
&ldquo;I knew if I could take control and lay it all on the line, something good will come of it,&rdquo; explained Westaway.
There may have been bigger names in the women&rsquo;s 400m field but it was Shakima Wimbley who got to the break line first and held on for the win, crossing the line in 51.82.
"I just wanted to make a name for myself,&rdquo; said Wimbley. &ldquo;Show that I can compete with the best, and be confident and strong.&rdquo;
World champion Phyllis Francis challenged Wimbley on the final lap but couldn&rsquo;t draw up on her shoulder, finishing second in 52.38. 
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Shakima Wimbley wins the 400m at the IAAF World Indoor Tour meeting in Boston</div>
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Erika Kinsey won the women&rsquo;s high jump with a 1.91m clearance on her third attempt. Doreen Amata and Alyxandria Treasure attempted the height with her, but couldn&rsquo;t get a clearance; Amata was awarded second place on fewer earlier misses.
Chris Carter won the men&rsquo;s triple jump by reaching 16.67m twice, on his third and fourth attempts.
Noah Lyle&rsquo;s younger brother Josephus was disqualified for a false start in the men&rsquo;s 400m, after which Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s Deon Lendore got first to the break and ran away for the victory in 46.25.
Just moments later, Lendore&rsquo;s compatriot Jereem Richards won the 300m in a national record of 32.10, moving him to seventh on the world indoor all-time list.
Parker Morse for the IAAF

Donavan Brazier came a little closer to the sub-1:45 mark in the 800m, Edward Cheserek ran the second half of a remarkable two-day double, and Christian Coleman continued his utter domination of the US 60m season on Saturday (10) at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, the fourth stop on the IAAF World Indoor Tour.

Brazier, Coleman and Cheserek dominate in Boston

The women&rsquo;s 1500m at this year&rsquo;s Prefontaine Classic on 27 May could see the most sub-four-minute times ever recorded at the IAAF Diamond League meeting.
Seven of the 15 entrants already have lifetime bests within four minutes, and when they toe the line on 27 May, it will be the most ever in one race in the US. Their challenge will be to surpass the current record for the most sub-four-minute performances at the Pre Classic, which currently stands at five, achieved in 2014.
Olympic medallists Faith Kipyegon and Hellen Obiri, the two fastest Kenyan women in history over the distance, lead the field.
Kipyegon won the Olympic 1500m title last year with a stunning finish that saw her cover the last two laps in 1:57.2, giving world record-holder Genzebe Dibaba her first loss in almost two years. The world silver medallist clocked a PB and US all-comers&rsquo; record of 3:56.41 when winning the 1500m at last year&rsquo;s Pre Classic.
Obiri held the Kenyan record and US all-comers&rsquo; record before Kipyegon. Last year she won the 5000m at the Pre Classic and went on to take the Olympic silver medal in that event. She ended her season by setting a 5000m PB of 14:25.78.
Laura Muir is the 2016 1500m Diamond Race winner. Last year she reduced the British to 3:55.22, making her the second-fastest woman this millennium and the quickest woman at this year&rsquo;s Pre Classic.
With a best of 3:56.05, world indoor champion Sifan Hassan is the second fastest in the field. Hassan took the bronze medal at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015 and went on to win the Diamond Race that season.
With her third-place finish in Rio, Jenny Simpson earned USA&rsquo;s first Olympic medal in this event. It followed on from her world title in 2011 and world silver medal in 2013. She has bettered the four-minute barrier on eight occasions and owns a career 18-9 edge over domestic rival Shannon Rowbury in the 1500m and mile.
Rowbury, the 2009 world bronze medallist, has finished in the top eight at the past three Olympic Games. The 32-year-old holds the North American records for 1500m and 5000m at 3:56.29 and 14:38.92 respectively.
Dawit Seyaum and Gudaf Tsegay were gold and silver medallists respectively at the 2014 World Junior Championships held at Hayward Field and last year they returned to Oregon to take the silver and bronze medals in the 1500m at the World Indoor Championships in Portland. They will be joined at this year&rsquo;s Pre Classic by fellow Ethiopian Axumawit Embaye, the 2014 world indoor silver medallist.
USA&rsquo;s Kate Grace and Shelby Houlihan were both finalists in their first Olympics last year. Grace finished eighth in the 800m, while Houlihan was 11th in the 5000m.
Morocco&rsquo;s Rababe Arafi was the only woman to reach the finals of both the 800m and 1500m at the 2015 World Championships, finishing fourth and ninth respectively.
Poland&rsquo;s Sofia Ennaoui was an Olympic finalist last year. During the winter season she won the European under-23 cross-country title and earned 1500m bronze at the European Indoor Championships.
Britain&rsquo;s two-time Olympic finalist Laura Weightman earned the bronze medal at the 2014 European Championships three weeks after taking silver behind Kipyegon at the Commonwealth Games.
Australia's Linden Hall returns to the Pre Classic after setting a lifetime best of 4:01.78 when finishing fifth last year.
Organisers for the IAAF
2017 IAAF Diamond League calendar 5 May &ndash; Doha, QAT 13 May &ndash; Shanghai, CHN 27 May &ndash; Eugene, USA 8 Jun &ndash; Rome, ITA 15 Jun &ndash; Oslo, NOR 18 Jun &ndash; Stockholm, SWE 1 Jul &ndash; Paris, FRA 6 Jul &ndash; Lausanne, SUI 9 Jul &ndash; London, GBR 16 Jul &ndash; Rabat, MAR 21 Jul &ndash; Monaco, MON 20 Aug &ndash; Birmingham, GBR 24 Aug &ndash; Zurich, SUI 1 Sep &ndash; Brussels, BEL

The women’s 1500m at this year’s Prefontaine Classic on 27 May could see the most sub-four-minute times ever recorded at the IAAF Diamond League meeting.

Seven sub-four women in Eugene’s 1500m field – IAAF Diamond League

A women&rsquo;s distance medley relay team featuring three global medallists set a world best of 10:40.31 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, the opening meeting of the 2017 IAAF World Indoor Tour.
The meeting, run at the Reggie Lewis Center at Roxbury Community College for the 21st year, concluded with Olympic 1500m gold medallist Matt Centrowitz&rsquo;s tactically brilliant victory in the mile in 3:55.78, one of four other world-leading marks.
Olympic steeplechase bronze medallist Emma Coburn led off the distance medley relay with a 3:18.40 1200m leg and was closely pressed by Anna Silvander of the European team. Coburn passed to Olympic 400m hurdles semifinalist Sydney McLaughlin, who clocked 52.32 for the 400m leg.
At this point the team was somewhat behind schedule for the record, but 2013 world 800m bronze medallist Martinez, who anchored the previous best team, split 2:01.94 for the 800m leg &ndash; a time which, run in a straight race, would be a world lead &ndash; to put the record back in play.
Martinez passed off to Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Jenny Simpson, who then ran more or less alone to a 4:27.66 1600m leg to secure the mark.
&ldquo;I knew I wasn&rsquo;t just running for myself,&rdquo; said Simpson. &ldquo;I had to not throw away the hard work of the three women in front of me. I wanted to make sure I could still close hard.&rdquo;
The previous best of 10:42.57 was run at this meeting in 2015 by a team of Sarah Brown, Mahogany Jones, Megan Krumpoch, and Martinez.
<h3>Centrowitz&rsquo;s mind control bubble</h3>
Centrowitz stuck to the pacemaker&rsquo;s shoulder for most of the men&rsquo;s mile, then took charge with two laps remaining. After that, it was a signature Centrowitz race, with challenges from Ben True and then Vincent Kibet posed and shrugged off. Centrowitz later admitted he hadn&rsquo;t known who was challenging him, only aware that someone was there.
Kibet came to the finish with arms swinging high, as though trying to claw Centrowitz back to him, but was unable to gain ground and took second in 3:56.09. Third place went to Jake Wightman &ndash; who ran much of the race in sixth or seventh, but came through the pack on the last lap &ndash; in 3:57.24.
Hellen Obiri ran 8:39.08 to best Sifan Hassan and Shannon Rowbury in the women&rsquo;s 3000m, despite doing much of the pace work herself. Obiri and Hassan originally gapped Rowbury with six laps remaining, but then Obiri&rsquo;s varying pace (which wavered between 33 and 36 seconds per lap mid-race) allowed Rowbury to re-establish contact.
Finally at the bell Obiri managed to establish a gap on Hassan, and Hassan on Rowbury, settling the eventual finish order. Hassan clocked 8:40.99 and Rowbury 8:41.94.
<h3>Stefanidi prevails</h3>
The duel of Olympic pole vault gold medallists between Ekaterini Stefanidi and Jenn Suhr became a non-event when Suhr pulled out after her first unsuccessful attempt. After passing to 4.53m, Suhr cited injury, leaving Stefanidi and Canada's Alysha Newman still vaulting. Newman was out at 4.63m, so Stefanidi made three unsuccessful attempts at 4.73m before taking the victory.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m not very good at jumping alone,&rdquo; Stefanidi said afterwards. &ldquo;I wish Jenn could have continued.&rdquo;
English Gardner won the women&rsquo;s 60m in 7.17 by a lean.
&ldquo;I stumbled on about the fourth or fifth step,&rdquo; Gardner said. &ldquo;It was a pretty good start, but it&rsquo;s only about my third time in blocks this year. I knew if I was patient they would come back. My maturity won the race today &ndash; I&rsquo;m proud of myself for holding my composure.&rdquo; Second place went to Dezerea Bryant in 7.19.
Britain's Harry Aikines-Aryeetey won the men&rsquo;s 60m in 6.66 &ndash; the same time recorded by China's Xie Zhenye in second. Aikines-Aryeetey took the victory in thousandths, 6.654 to 6.657, a smaller margin than the difference in the two men&rsquo;s reaction times.
Charlene Lipsey sprung a trap on Ethiopia's Habitam Alemu to win the women&rsquo;s 800m* in a world-leading 2:02.01. Alemu held the lead from 500m, when the pacemaker stepped off the track, but Lipsey knew she had more left.
&ldquo;The whole third lap I was thinking, be patient, be patient,&rdquo; she said. Lipsey pounced a lap later, on the backstretch of the bell lap, and seized the rail before reaching the final bend. Alemu fought hard but couldn&rsquo;t recover the distance; Lipsey took the tape with Alemu second in 2:02.38.
<h3>Chelimo content</h3>
USA's Olympic 5000m silver medallist Paul Chelimo won the men&rsquo;s 3000m in a world-leading 7:42.39, with Britain's Andrew Butchart second in 7:42.97. Hagos Gebrhiwet, who switched back from the mile to the 3000m only the morning before, took third in 7:43.04.
Lawi Lalang took the race out quickly, but too quickly, in Chelimo&rsquo;s judgement. &ldquo;He was 57, 58 for the first 400m,&rdquo; Chelimo explained. He sat back to run his own race, running in second or third and only taking the lead with from Lalang with three laps remaining.
&ldquo;I wanted to run under 7:30, but for the first race of the season, I can&rsquo;t ask for much,&rdquo; said Chelimo.
Butchart, also a 5000m finalist in Rio, forced the pace late, saying: &ldquo;I figured if we weren&rsquo;t going to go with Lawi I&rsquo;d try a little bit. I&rsquo;m in better shape now than I was in Rio, and this is only my third race ever indoors.&rdquo;
<h3>Thomas, Mamona and LaPierre victorious in the jumps</h3>
Donald Thomas, the 2007 world champion, struggled early in the men&rsquo;s high jump, taking two attempts to clear 2.25m when his competitors made it over on the first jump. Once the bar went to 2.28m, however, Thomas cleared on his second attempt to put himself in the driver&rsquo;s seat. Nobody else made that height, leaving Allex Austin and Michael Mason tied for second at 2.25m. Thomas moved the bar to 2.34m, where he took three attempts but did not clear.
Patricia Mamona won the women&rsquo;s triple jump in commanding fashion, reaching 14.01m on her fourth and last jump. All four of Mamona&rsquo;s jumps would have been enough to win.
Fabrice Lapierre and Michel Torneus both jumped 7.80m in the men&rsquo;s long jump, with the victory going to LaPierre on the strength of his second mark of 7.75m. Lapierre reached 7.80m on the second of four rounds, and Torneus on the third; Torneus wasn&rsquo;t able to break the tie in the fourth round, so Lapierre passed his last attempt.
Courtney Okolo held off challenges, first from Candace Hill and then Jessica Beard, winning the women&rsquo;s 300m from the outside lane in 36.87. Noah Lyles out-legged last year&rsquo;s winner Vernon Norwood to take the men&rsquo;s 300m in 32.67, .03 faster than Norwood&rsquo;s winning (and world-leading) time in 2016.
Duane Solomon broke the tape in the men&rsquo;s 600m, but the victory went to Donavan Brazier in 1:16.57. Solomon was disqualified for breaking too early from his lane.
Parker Morse for the IAAF&nbsp;
&nbsp;
*Yuliya Stepanova of Russia competed as a neutral athlete.

A women’s distance medley relay team featuring three global medallists set a world indoor best of 10:40.31 at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix, the opening meeting of the 2017 IAAF World Indoor Tour.

World best in distance medley relay highlights World Indoor Tour opener in Boston

The Olympics ended less than a week ago, but Rio rematches won&rsquo;t be the only theme for Saturday&rsquo;s IAAF Diamond League meeting in Paris on Saturday (27).
Jenny Simpson and Emma Coburn, Olympic bronze medallists in the 1500m and the 3000m steeplechase respectively, are out chasing fast times, too.
The two US training partners had travelled to Paris right after their races last week in order to beat the jet-lag, train and enjoy some recovery ahead of Saturday&rsquo;s event.
&ldquo;We came here straight from Rio &ndash; on the 19th &ndash; so we&rsquo;ve been here for about a week now, just training,&rdquo; said Coburn at the pre-event press conference in Paris. &ldquo;We spent a long time in Rio, so to be able to come out of the craziness of the Olympics and come over here and been able to get ready for the race has been really enjoyable.&rdquo;
&ldquo;It was important to both of us that we got here with enough time,&rdquo; adds Simpson, who celebrated her 30th birthday in the French capital earlier this week.
Simpson holds special memories of the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Paris from two years ago, when she finished second to Sifan Hassan and recorded a personal best of 3:57.22 &ndash; her fastest time to this day.
The 2011 world champion admits that having the energy to keep going after a major championships can be challenging, but is hopeful her experience will give her the edge over her competitors.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been fortunate to have been in this sport for such a long time and I know what it takes to come back and put out a really great performance,&rdquo; said Simpson. &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve done that before after I&rsquo;ve won a medal and I definitely plan to do that again here.&rdquo;
<h3>Sub-four the aim for Simpson</h3>
With the pace plan set for 64.00 at 400m, 2:08 at 800m and 2:40 at 1000m, Simpson says a sub-four-minute performance is her main aim come Saturday.
&ldquo;I am very excited the pace is set for a good sub-four effort,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;This is the first time I think in a few years that I haven&rsquo;t gone under four minutes yet, so that&rsquo;s certainly a goal of mine here.&rdquo;
Simpson isn&rsquo;t the only one chasing times in Paris.
In May, Emma Coburn broke the North American 3000m steeplechase record at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene. Last week, she bettered her own record to 9:07.63 during her bronze medal-winning run in Rio.
She is up against Olympic champion Ruth Jebet, who already ruled out the possibility of a world record attempt, having missed the mark by the narrowest of margins twice this season. Olympic silver medallist and world champion Hyvin Kiyeng will be another force to be reckoned with, but Coburn is confident.
&ldquo;I am racing here in Paris and then next week in Zurich and I want to try in both races to beat some of the women who beat me in Rio and try to better my personal best that I set in Rio,&rdquo; said Coburn.
Unlike Simpson, who already has two World Championship medals to her name, the Olympic bronze she took in Brazil last week was Coburn&rsquo;s first global medal. It helped the 25-year-old stay motivated for the remainder of the season.
&ldquo;For me it just makes it all a little bit better, a little happier,&rdquo; she says. &ldquo;I am still just as focused and just as motivated as I was before Rio.&rdquo;
<h3>Feeding off each other&rsquo;s strengths</h3>
Despite competing in different events, the pair heavily rely on each other &ndash; not only in training.
&ldquo;Because our training is so similar, we often do well at the same time, which has been really fun over the years,&rdquo; explains Simpson.
&ldquo;But certainly when something goes wrong for one person, it definitely helps to keep the lows a little bit higher and when one of us has a really great day to feed of that energy. That&rsquo;s really important.
&ldquo;Also, we don&rsquo;t get lonely on the road when we&rsquo;re travelling together and I think that&rsquo;s really helpful. This life, going from meet to meet, the weeks in between can get lonely when you&rsquo;re all by yourself.&rdquo;
The benefits of being surrounded by teammates and feeding off each other&rsquo;s successes became visible in Rio with the US team winning an impressive six medals in middle-distance events.
In Coburn&rsquo;s case, however, it wasn&rsquo;t just seeing fellow steeplechaser Evan Jager finish second in the same event, but also had a more practical aspect to it. The silver medallist in the men&rsquo;s race &ndash; famous for his long blonde locks &ndash; lent Coburn his hair tie minutes before her race because she had misplaced hers.
&ldquo;Wearing Evan&rsquo;s hair tie was really helpful because running with this down,&rdquo; she says pointing at her hair,&rdquo; would have been very annoying.&rdquo;
Jager broke the North American steeplechase record in Paris last summer, despite taking a fall at the last barrier. His race left a lasting impression on Coburn.
&ldquo;I think Evan has really done a remarkable job in the steeplechase and to be a silver medallist against the men he is up against is really an incredible thing.
&ldquo;So if I can emulate his run from [this meeting] last year &ndash; minus that last barrier &ndash; tomorrow, I&rsquo;ll be really happy.&rdquo;
Michelle Sammet for the IAAF

The Olympics ended less than a week ago, but Rio rematches won’t be the only theme for Saturday’s IAAF Diamond League meeting in Paris on Saturday (27).

Simpson and Coburn aim for strong runs in Paris – IAAF Diamond League

She could see her rivals looking, but Jenny Simpson tried not to notice. &nbsp;
It was Tuesday evening in Rio, minutes before the start of the women&rsquo;s 1500m final, and the 2011 world champion couldn&rsquo;t stop coughing.
Simpson was one of the leading contenders, possessing as she does a finishing kick so renowned and potent that she had long been touted as the athlete to deliver the USA their first Olympic women&rsquo;s 1500m medal.
After winning the US title in impressive style in July, Simpson went back to training and prepared assiduously for the task at hand.
&ldquo;I had some of the best training of my life,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;But then I got a cold.&rdquo;
Less than two weeks before she got her Olympic campaign under way, Simpson awoke one morning with a dry, scratchy throat, a flicker of illness that would soon explode into a full-blown infection.
Elite athletes are highly-strung beings at the best of times, but two weeks out from the Olympics, this was a disaster, at least in the small part of Simpson&rsquo;s mind that was starting to panic.
&ldquo;It made me nervous that it was going to compromise my performance but I just kept my head above water,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I was drinking peppermint tea, getting enough sleep and rest and the people closest to me, my coaches and husband, kept telling me I&rsquo;d been great at championships before when I hadn&rsquo;t been at my best. They kept telling me this will not hold you back, though I never believed it.&rdquo;
Within a week, Simpson started to come around, but that scratchy cough still wouldn&rsquo;t leave her be. It was the latest annoyance in an Olympic year that started in the worst possible circumstances for a high-level athlete: with severe injury.
<h3>Giving her rivals a head start</h3>
It was December last year when her foot first started hurting. Simpson, a rigorous trainer with impressive durability, had not picked up a serious injury since 2010, at least not anything that stopped her running.
When the diagnosis was confirmed &ndash; a stress reaction in the metatarsal bone in her foot &ndash; she had to come to terms with eight weeks of no running at all. In the race to Rio, she was giving her rivals a whopping head start.
&ldquo;That was a real challenge, to keep my head in the game,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I was cross training for eight weeks and I was surprised and grateful no one really asked me about it.&rdquo;
Simpson bypassed the indoor season, making her seasonal debut with a win at the Drake Relays in April. After that she raced sparingly &ndash; once in Shanghai, once in Eugene, where she finished sixth and fourth respectively over 1500m &ndash; before setting her sights on the US Olympic Trials.
After she made the team, Simpson channelled all her energies into returning to the kind of form that saw her swoop to the world title in 2011 in Daegu. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s hard, hard training,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Intervals, long runs, doing everything I can to be the best in the world.&rdquo;
With the late illness and doubts about her health, it was surviving the preliminary rounds that made her most anxious when she got to Rio.
&ldquo;I was so much more nervous for the semi-final,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;When you make the final, you think: &lsquo;this is where I want to be, this is what I craved, what I&rsquo;ve worked for, just to have a shot'.&rdquo;
Cough or no cough, Simpson knew she had a legitimate medal chance.
The early pace was slow, with Britain&rsquo;s Laura Weightman taking the field through 400m in 76.57 seconds. Only with 700m to run was the first decisive move made, as world champion Genzebe Dibaba surged to the front. Kenya&rsquo;s Faith Kipyegon and Britain&rsquo;s Laura Muir were the only two to follow suit, with Simpson staying in the chasing pack, following the instructions of her coaches and waiting to play her cards late.
<h3>Playing the predator</h3>
&ldquo;My coaches gave me a mantra coming in that was: position for the first two laps, then be a predator the second two laps. They know what brings out the best in me and that I would be in the best position if I could see the medals and go get them.&rdquo;
Simpson was in sixth position at the bell, but those out front were beginning to suffer the consequences of going with Dibaba, who dropped a sub-57-second third lap. Simpson followed Hassan into the home straight as she overtook a tiring Muir, then changed gears in that familiar style and moved into the bronze medal position.
To hold it, she had to repel the challenge of teammate Shannon Rowbury, but she was up to the task and crossed the line in 4:10.53, completing a dream that had taken shape many years before.
&ldquo;The first time I dreamed about being in the Olympics, I was in equestrian sports in middle school,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Winning an Olympic medal is this childhood fantasy, and I&rsquo;ve been working at this for 10 years now. When I made my first World Championships in Osaka, I said, &lsquo;I can be great at this'.&rdquo;
Along the way, there have been as many dispiriting lows as there were euphoric highs, such as in Beijing last year, where Simpson faded out of contention and finished 11th after losing a shoe on the penultimate lap. Shortly after her race in Rio, Simpson had a flashback of that race.
&ldquo;I was doing a victory lap and stopped on the other side of the track to see my parents,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;The first thing I thought was that this time last year I was over on the back stretch picking up my shoe, and now here I am with an American flag.&rdquo;
She was the first US athlete ever to do a lap of honour after an Olympic women&rsquo;s 1500m final, a feeling that brought home to Simpson just why she put her whole life, her whole being, into doing what she does best.
&ldquo;The last 100 metres, when I was running my guts out, that&rsquo;s my favourite part of this race,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;This is a beautiful sport. I love it.&rdquo;
Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF

She could see her rivals looking, but Jenny Simpson tried not to notice.  


Tears of joy for Simpson after rocky road to Rio

Kirani James edged close rival Lashawn Merritt to take victory over 400m in a world-leading 44.08 at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, USA, on Friday (29).
Despite cold and blustery conditions, James produced the second fastest 400m time ever run in the first four months of the year, behind only Michael Johnson&rsquo;s 43.75 from 1997, and his time was also a Drake Relays record.
For the 23-year-old Grenadian, it continued what has been a promising start to the year, having opened his season with a 44.36 run in Nassau two weeks ago.
In Friday night&rsquo;s race, James held a one-metre lead over Merritt as the pair turned into the home straight but, try as he might, it was a lead Merritt simply couldn&rsquo;t close on the run to the line.
Merritt finished runner-up in 44.22, the second fastest time in the world this year while James&rsquo;s fellow Grenadian, Bralon Taplin, finished third in 44.92, with USA's David Verburg fourth in 45.03.
In the women&rsquo;s long jump, Great Britain&rsquo;s Lorraine Ugen exacted some revenge on Brittney Reese, taking victory with a best of 6.82m. Ugen finished third at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Portland last month, an event won by the American, but this time around the Briton made best use of a strong tailwind (+3.5 m/s) to record her winning effort in the opening round.
With none of her six jumps aided by such a strong wind, Reese could only respond with a best of 6.74m in the third round. Chelsea Hayes was third with 6.32m, while Nigeria's Blessing Okagbare was well off her best in fourth, jumping a best of 6.25m.
<h3>Simpson makes impressive start</h3>
Former world champion Jenny Simpson made an impressive start to her season, powering away from the field in the women&rsquo;s 1500m to win in 4:06.44 ahead of fellow Americans Kate Grace and Heather Kampf, who were second and third in 4:07.15 and 4:07.26 respectively.
Off a steady early pace &ndash; the field passed 800m in 2:14.4 &ndash; Simpson used her renowned finishing kick to good effect down the home straight, recording a 61.97 final lap to hold off her rivals.
In the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, former world champion Bershawn Jackson opened his season with a 49.30 win over fellow Americans Michael Tinsley (49.36) and Kerron Clement (49.86). Jeffery Gibson, of the Bahamas, was fourth in 49.98, while two-time world silver medallist Javier Culson was well adrift of the pace, finishing seventh in 50.44.
In the men&rsquo;s pole vault, world champion Shawn Barber scored a narrow victory over Sam Kendricks, with both men managing a relatively modest 5.50m in the windy conditions.
However Barber went clear at his first attempt, while Kendricks did so on his second, which handed the Canadian victory on count-back.
Derek Drouin won the men&rsquo;s high jump in similar fashion, his best clearance being at 2.24m, the same height cleared by runner-up Bryan McBride, who lost out due to an earlier failure at 2.14m.
World indoor champion Michelle Carter was handed a surprise defeat in the women&rsquo;s shot put, managing a best of just 18.72m, which was good enough only for second behind winner Tia Brooks, who equalled her personal best with 19.37m in the fifth round.
<h3>Penn State and Villanova supreme at Penn Relays</h3>
At the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, the college distance events&nbsp;proved the highlights on the second day of competition on Friday, with Penn State taking the men&rsquo;s title and Villanova the women&rsquo;s.
Penn State&rsquo;s anchor runner Brandon Kinner ran a 4:00.77 1600m leg in the men's distance medley relay to hand his college victory in 9:35.51 ahead of Georgetown, who were second in 9:36.32.
In the women&rsquo;s 4x1500m, Villanova's Siofra Cleirigh-Buttner unleashing a strong kick on the anchor leg (4:21.7) to hand them victory in 17:44.29, just coming home ahead of the University of Oregon who were second in 17:44.67.
The high school distance medley relay&nbsp;provided the finish of the day as Loudon Valley of Virginia edged victory by one thousandth of a second from La Salle, Rhode Island, with both teams credited with a time of 10:00.00. Their star performer was Drew Hunter, who split 4:00.73 on the anchor 1600m leg, the second fastest high school 1600m leg in Penn Relays history behind Alan Webb's 3:59.9.&nbsp;
The University of Florida was a dominant winner of the sprint men&rsquo;s sprint medley relay, their quartet&rsquo;s winning time of 3:16.87 leaving them well clear of runner-up BYU (3:16.87). The University of Oregon were equally dominant in the women&rsquo;s event, taking a decisive victory in 3:46.40 ahead of Clemson (3:50.62).
Earlier in the day, the Oregon women were also successful in the college 4x100m in 43.44, with Tennessee second in 43.72.
In the high school events, Jamaican school Edwin Allen once again asserted their dominance over their American rivals, taking victory in the high school girls&rsquo; 4x100m in 45.73. They made it a double later in the day, winning the high school girls&rsquo; 4x400m in 3:40.88 ahead of their compatriots and rivals St. Elizabeth Tech, who were second in 3:41.17.&nbsp;
The Penn Relays action continues on Saturday for what is the&nbsp;third and final day of competition.&nbsp;
Cathal Dennehy for the IAAF

Kirani James edged close rival Lashawn Merritt to take victory over 400m in a world-leading 44.08 at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, USA, on Friday (29).

Kirani James flies to world-leading 44.08 at Drake Relays

This year&rsquo;s Prefontaine Classic will bring together eight global championship medallists to compete over 1500m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene on 28 May.
Five of the women in the field have PBs faster than four minutes, meaning the US all-comers&rsquo; record of 3:57.05 &ndash; set at this meeting in 2014 &ndash; could be under threat.
With a best of 3:56.05, Dutch record-holder Sifan Hassan is the fastest in the field. The 23-year-old achieved her first sub-four-minute performance at this meeting in 2014 before going on to win European titles indoors, outdoors and at cross country.
Hassan was the 1500m Diamond Race winner last year and took bronze in that event at the IAAF World Championships Beijing 2015. More recently, she won the world indoor 1500m title in Portland last month.
Kenya&rsquo;s Faith Kipyegon has a rare collection of medals. She won the world youth 1500m title and world junior cross-country title in 2011 and followed it with world junior 1500m gold and a second world junior cross-country title in 2012. One year later, she set a Kenyan senior and African junior record of 3:56.98.
Winner at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and twice a champion at the hotly contested Kenyan Cross Country Championships, Kipyegon took the silver medal at last year&rsquo;s World Championships and rounded out her season by winning the mile at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Brussels with an African record of 4:16.71.
Compatriot Hellen Obiri has twice broken the US all-comers&rsquo; 1500m record in Eugene, first with her 3:58.58 victory in 2013 and then with her 3:57.05 triumph one year later. The 26-year-old owns global medals of every colour: 3000m gold at the 2012 World Indoor Championships, 3000m silver at the 2014 World Indoor Championships and 1500m bronze at the 2013 World Championships. Obiri took last year off to give birth to her daughter, but returned to action last month and clocked a 5000m PB of 15:28.5 at altitude in Nakuru.
USA&rsquo;s Jenny Simpson and Shannon Rowbury have an intense rivalry going back seven years.
Simpson, the 2011 world champion, won the 1500m in Eugene last year. Her 3:58.28 clocking to finish third in Eugene in 2014 is the fastest time ever achieved by a US woman on home soil.
But while Simpson has a global title to her name, Rowbury owns the North American record. The 31-year-old clocked 3:56.29 in Monaco last year to break Mary Slaney&rsquo;s mark that had stood since 1983. Rowbury earned world 1500m bronze in 2009 and world indoor 3000m bronze last month in Portland.
Ethiopia&rsquo;s Gudaf Tsegay is the world junior silver medallist and world indoor bronze medallist at 1500m. Earlier this year, the 19-year-old set a world indoor U20 record of 4:01.81.
Fellow Ethiopian Axumawit Embaye took 1500m silver at the 2014 World Indoor Championships while still a teenager and went on to set a lifetime best of 4:02.35 later that year.
Brenda Martinez will be stepping up in distance in Eugene. The 28-year-old is better known as an 800m runner, having taken bronze in that event at the 2013 World Championships, but earlier this year she won the US indoor title at 1500m and has a best of 4:00.94.
Britain&rsquo;s Laura Weightman is the European bronze medallist and Commonwealth silver medallist. An Olympic finalist in 2012 at the age of 21, she has a 1500m PB of 4:00.17.
Morocco&rsquo;s Rababe Arafi was the only woman to reach the finals of both the 800m and 1500m at least year&rsquo;s World Championships. The 25-year-old won the African 1500m title in 2012 and has a PB of 4:02.71.
The field also includes six-time Polish champion Renata Plis and USA&rsquo;s Kerri Gallagher.
Put simply, this year&rsquo;s Prefontaine Classic will feature potentially the best women&rsquo;s 1500m field in the 41-year history of the meeting.
Organisers for the IAAF
2016 IAAF Diamond League calendar 6 May &ndash; Doha, QAT 14 May &ndash; Shanghai, CHN 22 May &ndash; Rabat, MAR 28 May &ndash; Eugene, USA 2 Jun &ndash; Rome, ITA 5 Jun &ndash; Birmingham, GBR 9 Jun &ndash; Oslo, NOR 16 Jun &ndash; Stockholm, SWE 15 Jul &ndash; Monaco, MON 22-23 Jul &ndash; London, GBR 25 Aug &ndash; Lausanne, SUI 27 Aug &ndash; Paris, FRA 1 Sep &ndash; Zurich, SUI 9 Sep &ndash; Brussels, BEL

This year’s Prefontaine Classic will bring together eight global championship medallists to compete over 1500m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Eugene on 28 May.

Hassan and Kipyegon face USA’s best over 1500m in Eugene – IAAF Diamond League

Jenny Simpson is approaching the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 as one of the medal contenders in the 1500m. With the first round in this event set to get underway on the first day of the competition, Saturday 22 August, Simpson was beaming with confidence at the USA team press conference held at the Bird&rsquo;s Nest stadium on Friday (21).Having switched events from the 3000m steeplechase to the 1500m in 2010, Simpson won the World Championships on her first try at her new event, just one year later. In Moscow, two years ago, she finished a close second behind Sweden&rsquo;s Abeba Aregawi.Simpson&rsquo;s track record in 2015 is impressive too: a North American indoor best in the two miles (9:18.35), two IAAF Diamond League wins and a national title. However, her last race before Beijing, the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco, left Simpson with mixed feelings of optimism and frustration.In Monaco, Simpson ran a season&rsquo;s best and her second-fastest time ever 3:57.30 only to finish fourth, while Genzebe Dibaba set a world record of 3:50.07, dominating the field by almost seven seconds.&ldquo;Monaco is a great example of a situation when if someone beats you when you&rsquo;re running a great race, you just need to respect them and move on to your next challenge,&rdquo; said Simpson. &ldquo;That race motivated me to work even harder in training, that&rsquo;s why I&rsquo;m coming here better prepared than I was in Monaco.&rdquo;Simpson also noted that she is rarely the favourite on paper, yet usually it doesn&rsquo;t prevent her from getting to the top.&ldquo;I often race people who are better than me, but I find ways to be with them and, on some occasions, to beat them,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Nobody knows what my preparation was like, except for me. And the best thing you can do at the World Championships is to focus on the task you know you are able to carry out.&rdquo;Simpson&rsquo;s forte is her proven ability to race through the qualification rounds of the major championships.&ldquo;One of the great equalisers is that starting line of the round one,&rdquo; Simpson said. &ldquo;Rounds are a different story, there are no pacers. Hopefully, if history repeats itself, they will serve to my favour and give me another opportunity to show my consistency and strength over the course of several days.&rdquo;Indeed, since finishing ninth in the steeplechase at the 2008 Olympics, Simpson has reached three World Championships finals. Simpson, who turns 29 on the day of the 1500m semi-finals in Beijing, admits that the key to doing well in preliminary rounds is mental preparation and focus, rather than a particular training regimen.&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t train specifically to run on consecutive days. I train to be good every time I step on the track, whether it&rsquo;s a Diamond League race or rounds of major championships,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s about learning to stay calm and handle the task in hand. When the challenge is here, I&rsquo;m excited to rise to the occasion.&rdquo;Simpson&rsquo;s affair with the 1500m started with an injury that forced her to step away from the steeplechase for a while, but the quick success in her new event convinced her to stick with it and she eventually fell in love with the distance.She still ponders if she could run a sub-nine-minute steeplechase, with her personal best from 2009 being 9:12.50, and doesn&rsquo;t rule out a potential return to tackling the barriers. But Simpson is sure that it won&rsquo;t happen anytime soon.&ldquo;The women&rsquo;s 1500m is a fine space in athletics to run really fast, and the women keep raising the bar every year,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Right now, it is a great event to be in.&rdquo;Elena Dyachkova for the IAAF

Jenny Simpson is approaching the IAAF World Championships, Beijing 2015 as one of the medal contenders in the 1500m. With the first round in this event set to get underway on the first day of the competition, Saturday 22 August, Simpson was beaming with confidence at the USA team press conference held at the Bird’s Nest stadium on Friday (21).

Simpson ready to rise to the occasion

Reigning 1500m Diamond Race winner Jenny Simpson recently clocked a season&rsquo;s best of 3:57.30 at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco.The 2011 world champion from the USA delves into her memory bank to talk about some areas of her life which mean a lot to her.<h3>My best friend in athletics</h3>Without doubt it is Emma Coburn (US steeplechase champion). There is nothing like being able on a real mission on your career and having a friend in that fight and I definitely feel that way with Emma.<h3>My best achievement in athletics</h3>By far it was winning the Diamond Race last year. I have had many high and low moments in my career, but what I am really impressed with is putting together an impressive body of work and I feel winning the Diamond Race is representative of that.Winning the Diamond Race means I wasn&rsquo;t great on one day or I was the beneficiary of chance &ndash; it means that over the course of an entire season I was the most consistent competitor at the highest level. I&rsquo;m really proud of having that body of work.<h3>My greatest rival</h3>I would have to say that is Anna Willard from my steeplechasing days. I think to have a great rival, one of the prerequisites is for both athletes to trade wins and that is certainly true of Anna and me. We traded the American record, she won the Olympic Trials and I won the US Championships; we had these back-and-forths.We also have very different personalities which really added fuel to a rivalry and was fun for fans. In the midst of all that, we were friendly towards each other, so we had all the elements of a great rivalry.&nbsp;&nbsp; <h3>My greatest disappointment</h3>Missing out on the 1500m final at the 2012 Olympics. Coming off a World Championships win (in 2011) put a lot of pressure on me and a lot was riding on that Olympic experience. It was really disappointing to me, although I didn&rsquo;t feel that anyone stole anything from me because that season I was consistently running 4:05 or 4:06 and in that semi-final (Jenny was 12th and last) my fastest time of the year would not have advanced me to the final, so that shows me I just wasn&rsquo;t ready to make the final. <h3>My greatest indulgence</h3>This has become a learned behaviour, but I would say since becoming a professional athlete I have allowed myself to feel less guilty about napping. I&rsquo;m so tempted to fill every hour of my day with meaningful things, but I&rsquo;ve learned that to be the best athlete I can, I have to simplify my life by resting more, so my greatest indulgence is taking a nap.<h3>The best track venue</h3>Any time I race at an Olympic stadium is my favourite experience. Of course, I have competed at the Beijing and London Games, but outside of that I&rsquo;ve also competed at the Stockholm, Rome, Berlin, Tokyo and Moscow Olympic stadiums.You can&rsquo;t beat the intersection of your own career with the history of the sport. It is so special being able to walk into an Olympic stadium with my spikes on thinking I&rsquo;m sharing this track with many others who have experienced so many Olympic moments.<h3>My best ever race</h3>It has to be the 2011 World Championships final when I won gold. It was my first time competing in the 1500m at a major championship and just navigating through the rounds was hard enough. In the final I was in seventh or eighth at the bell, but believed in my own kick to charge for the lead and managed to execute the race perfectly. Whether that was more through luck than any technical prowess I don&rsquo;t know, but I looked like a seasoned 1500m runner, even though I probably had no idea what I was doing.<h3>My best achievement outside of track and field</h3>My younger sister (Emily) and I were typical angry siblings growing up. We got along and then we fought and we didn&rsquo;t keep in close touch when I left for college. I have always loved her and we would see each other in holidays but despite our different paths (Emily is in the US Army) we have become best friends and I think my friendship with her and learning how to connect with her is one of my greatest achievements.<h3>The best athlete I have ever seen</h3>For sure it is Jackie Joyner-Kersee (world record-holder in heptathlon). I first got to meet her at high school and getting the chance to meet the best in the world at something leaves a strong impression. She was this woman in track and field that could do everything and there is nobody who can quite compare to her. On top of that she is the most incredibly gracious and sweet person in our sport and that makes her very special.&nbsp; Steve Landells for the IAAF

Reigning 1500m Diamond Race winner Jenny Simpson recently clocked a season’s best of 3:57.30 at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Monaco.

Personal bests – Jenny Simpson

The 40th edition of Lausanne&rsquo;s famous Athletissima meeting, the ninth event in this season&rsquo;s IAAF Diamond League, offers a welter of events featuring that priceless commodity within any sport &ndash; true competition.A total of 10 reigning Olympic champions, seven world champions and nine European champions will converge on the Stade De La Pontaise on Thursday night. Among the most eagerly awaited confrontations will be the re-match between the two triple jumpers who reached historic heights &ndash; or rather, lengths &ndash; in the opening IAAF Diamond League meeting of the season in Doha, Cuba&rsquo;s Pedro Pablo Pichardo and Olympic champion Christian Taylor.No other triple jump competition had previously involved more than one man surpassing 18 metres, but the pair became only the fourth and fifth men in history to better that mark as Pichardo eventually triumphed with an IAAF Diamond League record of 18.06m, with his US rival just two centimetres behind.Since then, Pichardo, who jumped 18.08m in Havana less than a fortnight after Doha, has established himself as a clear leader in the Diamond Race with victories in Rome and New York. The Cuban, who turned 22 last week, is also unbeaten this year and has fond memories of Lausanne after getting his first big international victory as a senior here two years ago.Taylor, who won in Birmingham a month ago, will be eager to demonstrate his enduring competitiveness as the two men face each for the second time this year.Competition will be just as tight in some of the marquee events on the track.Britain&rsquo;s Mo Farah faces a strong Ethiopian trio in the 5000m comprising Hagos Gebrhiwet, Imane Merga and the prodigious 17-year-old who won in Rome in a world-leading time of 12:58.39, Yomif Kejelcha.<h3>Thrilling two laps beckon</h3>It took a time of 1:43.56, the fastest run so far this year, for Ethiopia&rsquo;s world 800m champion Mohammed Aman to defeat Olympic silver medallist Nijel Amos of Botswana in Rome.Amos, who clocked 1:43.80 on that night, will have his chance for revenge here, but the issue will be more complicated, indeed much more complicated, given the presence of resurgent Olympic champion and world record-holder David Rudisha.The Kenyan, who has suffered with intermittent injury problems in the past couple of seasons, won in New York in the second-fastest time seen so far this year, 1:43.58.Add to that two other men who have already dipped under 1:44 this season, Kenya&rsquo;s Job Kinyor and Pierre-Ambroise Bosse of France, and it is clear the final track event of the evening is set to be an outstanding race.The same will be true of the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles, where local hero Kariem Hussein &ndash; known in the many parts of the local media as the &lsquo;Swiss Pharoah&rsquo; because of his Egyptian origins &ndash; takes on a field including USA&rsquo;s 2005 world champion Bershawn Jackson, who heads this year&rsquo;s world lists with 48.09.There is tight competition too in the women's 1500m, where the in-form Jennifer Simpson, Sifan Hassan and Dawit Seyaum, who finished respectively first, second and third in Rome, will be on the start line, as will Sweden&rsquo;s world champion Abeba Aregawi.Swiss local star Mujinga Kambundji will contest the 200m, but she will be hard pushed to keep up with the world&rsquo;s two fastest women of last year, US Olympic champion Allyson Felix and European champion Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands.Felix got her 2015 IAAF Diamond League campaign off to a tremendous start in Doha with a 21.98 200m, which equalled the IAAF Diamond League record. It was the fastest time in the world since her Olympic triumph three years ago.Schippers, meanwhile, recently set a Dutch 100m record of 10.94 and will now be keen to better her own 22.03 national 200m record set last year in Zurich.<h3>Lavillenie looking to put things right</h3>After his underwhelming performance on home soil last Saturday, when he could only finish joint fifth with a best of 5.71m in Paris, 2014 world athlete of the year Renaud Lavillenie has an early opportunity to get back to business as usual in the pole vault.The world record-holder faces some of the event&rsquo;s strongest contenders in Germany&rsquo;s Raphael Holzdeppe, who beat Lavillenie to the world title two years ago and who recently cleared 5.92m, and Greece&rsquo;s Konstantinos Filippidis, who won in Paris with a national record of 5.91m. The Olympic champion has won in Lausanne four times, his best performance of 5.87m being just four centimetres short of the stadium record set by USA&rsquo;s Brad Walker eight years ago. This looks like an attainable target by Lavillenie and, perhaps, several others.The men&rsquo;s javelin event has already produced some of the kind of excitement generated by the men&rsquo;s high jump last year, and all the usual suspects are in the field including Finland&rsquo;s 2007 world champion Tero Pitkamaki, who threw 89.09m in Turku last month, Trinidad and Tobago&rsquo;s Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott, Czech Republic&rsquo;s world champion Vitezslav Vesely, who threw 88.18m at Birmingham last month, and the Kenyan who trumped that effort with his final throw of 91.39m, Julius Yego. Fitness concerns may have forced Usain Bolt to cancel his planned appearance in the men&rsquo;s 200m, but the Stade de la Pontaise has what Bolt has described as &ldquo;one of the best curves in the world&rdquo;. This could bring out the best in South Africa&rsquo;s fast-improving Anaso Jobodwana, who has managed 20.04 this season, and Britain&rsquo;s Zharnel Hughes, who ran Bolt close in New York.The men&rsquo;s shot put will bring together the best athletes from the USA and Europe as Germany&rsquo;s two-time world champion David Storl and Poland&rsquo;s double Olympic champion Tomasz Majewski face US champion and world leader Joe Kovacs as well as two-time world indoor champion Ryan Whiting.The two US athletes who head the lists in the 100m hurdles this year, Sharika Nelvis (12.34) and Jasmin Stowers (12.35), look the most likely winners in this event, but the presence of four other top US hurdlers including 2008 Olympic champion and 2015 US champion Dawn Harper Nelson means nothing can be taken for granted.Unfortunately an achilles tendon problem has robbed the women&rsquo;s high jump of Croatia&rsquo;s two-time world champion Blanka Vlasic, but the presence of Olympic champion Anna Chicherova and two-time European champion Ruth Beitia means the contest will be of the highest quality.The first of the evening&rsquo;s Diamond League events, the women's discus, offers Sandra Perkovic, unbeaten in her four IAAF Diamond League outings this year, the chance to secure an early win in the Diamond Race but she will possibly have her hands full against Cuba&rsquo;s much-improved Denia Caballero, who recently produced a world-leading throw of 70.65m in Bilbao.The men&rsquo;s 100m, which is not a Diamond League event here, brings together the two fastest men so far this year, USA&rsquo;s Justin Gatlin and Jamaica&rsquo;s Asafa Powell. Mike Rowbottom for the IAAF

The 40th edition of Lausanne’s famous Athletissima meeting, the ninth event in this season’s IAAF Diamond League, offers a welter of events featuring that priceless commodity within any sport – true competition.

Pichardo vs Taylor triple jump rematch eagerly anticipated in Lausanne – IAAF Diamond League

The 40th edition of Lausanne&rsquo;s famous Athletissima meeting on 9 July, an IAAF Diamond League meeting, continues to add to its star-studded fields and the meeting organisers announced a host of top distance runners, sprint hurdlers and field event exponents on Thursday (21).The men&rsquo;s 5000m will feature the strong Ethiopian trio of Yomif Kejelcha, the winner in Rome in what is currently the world-leading time of 12:58.39, Hagos Gebrhiwet and Imane Merga, as well as Mo Farah, with the double Olympic, world and European champion running in Lausanne for the first time. Kenya&rsquo;s Olympic bronze medallist Thomas Longosiwa will also be in the race. In the women's 1500m, the in-form Jennifer Simpson, Sifan Hassan and Dawit Seyaum, who finished 1-2-3 in Rome, will be on the start line. Sweden&rsquo;s world champion Abeba Aregawi, a winner in Lausanne in 2013 when Hassan was second, completes a top-quality quartet of runners in this race.<h3>The barriers are back</h3>For just the third time in the meeting&rsquo;s history, there will be a women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase.Kenya&rsquo;s Virginia Nyambura and Ethiopia&rsquo;s Hiwot Ayalew are the star names in that discipline, the latter taking the honours the last time Lausanne had a women&rsquo;s steeplechase two years ago.Early in the evening, the women's discus will be one of several exciting field events and Sandra Perkovic, unbeaten in her four IAAF Diamond League outings this year and just one win away from clinching the Diamond Race, will be looking for another victory to add to her one in Lausanne in 2013 when she threw 68.96m.Perkovic will face Cuba&rsquo;s much-improved Denia Caballero, who produced a world-leading throw of 70.65m in Bilbao on Saturday.Tero Pitkamaki, who hurled his javelin to 89.09m in Turku on Thursday, and world champion Vitezslav Vezely will duel in their specialist event.Regular rivals Jasmin Stowers and Sharika Nelvis will do battle again in the 100m hurdles while Tianna Bartoletta and Shara Proctor will again face each other in the long jump.Organisers for the IAAF2015 IAAF Diamond League calendar Doha, QAT &ndash; 15 May Shanghai, CHN &ndash; 17 May Eugene, USA &ndash; 30 May Rome, ITA &ndash; 4 June Birmingham, GBR &ndash; 7 June Oslo, NOR &ndash; 11 June New York, USA &ndash; 13 June Paris, FRA &ndash; 4 July Lausanne, SUI &ndash; 9 July Monaco, MON &ndash; 17 July London, GBR &ndash; 24-25 July Stockholm, SWE &ndash; 30 July Zurich, SUI &ndash; 3 September Brussels, BEL &ndash; 11 September

The 40th edition of Lausanne’s famous Athletissima meeting on 9 July, an IAAF Diamond League meeting, continues to add to its star-studded fields and the meeting organisers announced a host of top distance runners, sprint hurdlers and field event exponents on Thursday (21).