With a Personal Best time of 14:31.95 set at the same venue in Paris, Kipyegon will look to kickstart her journey to what could lead her up to taking the long distance as she faces tough opposition on the night in World 10,000m champion Letesenbet Gidey, Beatrice Chepkoech and Ejgayehu Taye.
World record holder over 5000m Gidey, hasn’t raced since the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst in February, where she was leading up until the final 20 meters before her legs gave way.
The line-up will also include world indoor 3000m champion Lemlem Hailu of Ethiopia, Olympic 1500m silver medallist Laura Muir of Great Britain, 2019 world silver medallist Margaret Kipkemboi, world cross-country bronze medallist Agnes Ngetich, North American 10,000m record-holder Alicia Monson, and up-and-coming Kenyan Grace Loibach Nawowuna, who recently clocked 29:47.42 for 10,000m.
A shot above her personal best time is expected for Kipyegon, who on Thursday expressed her quest to break the world record over 1500m again saying: “If I stay healthy, I hope to go under the 3:49.11 in future. I don’t know if it will happen soon, it will be perfect. Everything is possible as Eliud always says.”
The race will start at 2224 hrs.
In another highly anticipated event, Kenya’s sprint star Ferdinand Omanyala will be in against it for the third time in a row in a Diamond League event that will now include the reigning Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs who will be hoping to get his 2023 campaign under way in Paris after missing out on the last two events due to a back injury.
In a race that will miss World Champion Fred Kerley – winner of the last two Diamond League legs in Rabat and Florence – Omanyala will look to boss a field that will also include American Noah Lyles, double world 200 m champion.
Omanyala – a second placed finisher behind Fred Kerley in Florence in a time of 10.05 will also contend against 2011 world champion Yohan Blake, 2018 world indoor bronze medallist Ronnie Baker and world U20 record-holder Letsile Tebogo.
The race starts at 2312 hrs.
In the men’s 800m event, Olympic and World Champion Emmanuel Korir will make his second Diamond League appearance this season alongside budding talent and winner of the Rabat leg Emmanuel Wanyonyi in a rich two-lap race that will also feature Doha winner in Algeria’s Slimane Moula and his compatriot – world silver medallist Djamel Sedjati.
World U20 cross-country champion Ishmael Kipkirui and the Kenyan duo Abraham Kibiwot and Benjamin Kigen will elsewhere be on the spotlight of the men’s 3000m steeplechase that will draw significant attention given that Norwegian World and Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen will be contemplating his best performance in the world of all time over 2 miles.
The world best time of the event stands at 7:58.61.
The race starts at 2332 hrs.
