World indoor 800m one-two Mariano Garcia and Noah Kibet are among the entries for Manchester meeting on Saturday

Meet director Steve Green is optimistic that Trafford will deliver a rousing finale to the 2023 Grand Prix season in Manchester on Saturday evening (August 12), writes Kevin Fahey.

Being part of the World Athletics Continental Challenger Tour has strengthened the depth and quality of overseas runners this summer and that will not better be illustrated than in the exciting line-up for the mens 800m A race.

Normally Green would have been delighted to secure the commitment of one World Indoor Championship medallist to his line-up for the 800m but to land both the current champion and the silver medallist in Spains Mariano Garcia and Noah Kibet of Kenya (main image above) is a real coup.

Garcia also won the European 800m title in Munich last year so to get him in the race is very special for us, said Green. It looks like it is going to be a very exciting evening of racing for the final Grand Prix of the summer.

There is also another fine Spaniard in the race in Javier Miron, who has run 1:46.33 this summer and boasts a lifetime best of 1:44.82 set two years ago while French runner Sacha Cultru, fresh from a lifetime best of 1:46.02 last month, is also in the field.

We are missing the very top Brits for this meeting but we have a couple of guys on the periphery like Thomas Keen and Matt Stonier who have the opportunity to make a real impact in a field of this quality, added Green.

Stonier steps down to the two laps after his recent exploits in the 1500m, clocking a PB of 3:31.36 in the London Diamond League and finishing fourth at the European Under-23 Championships.

Keen has a seasons best of 1:47.75 and would love a return to the form he showed at this same meeting a year ago when clocking his lifetime best of 1:46.18 for third in the 800m A race.

Sarah Billings of Australia is the main overseas presence in the womens 800m and she has clocked 2:01 this summer but will be up against Erin Wallace, who is currently seventh on the 2023 UK rankings with her PB of 1:59.69 at the BMC Gold Standard meeting in June. Jenny Selman, a regular on the BMC circuit, Jenna Bromell and Steph Driscoll are also entered.

Alex Bell has switched from the womens 800m in order to pace the 1500m instead. With five women in the starting line-up having run under 4:05.00 there is the prospect of a fast race and maybe one eye should be kept on the BMC all-comers record of 4:03.09 set by Nancy Chepkwemboi at Watford in 2015.

It is a strong field and with a pacemaker of the quality of Alex Bell, who is going to try and go to 1000m, then we could see something special as long as the weather holds, added Green.

Fastest Brit in the field is Sarah McDonald, who ran a seasons best 4:02.53 in Madrid last month to go fifth on the 2023 UK rankings and looks like she is getting back to the shape that saw her clock her lifetime best of 4:00.46 four years ago.

McDonald may need that sort of form to repeat the 1500m victory she enjoyed at Sportcity in May as among her rivals will be Karissa Schweizer of the United States.

Schweizer was a finalist in the 5000m and 10,000m at the Tokyo Olympics and has twice been an NCAA champion. Last month in Los Angeles she ran 4:04.35 in her only 1500m this summer and boasts a lifetime best of 4:00.25.

Also in the field is Yolanda Ngarambe of Sweden (PB 4:03.98), Laura Galvan of Mexico (PB 4:04.43), three-time Spanish 5000m champion Marta Garcia (PB 4:07) and the experienced Finland runner Sara Lappalainen.

The 31-year-old reached the semi finals of the 1500m at the Tokyo Olympics (4:02.35) and also represented Finland in the heats of the 800m (1:59.41). Lappalainen hasnt raced much this summer but this month clocked an 800m seasons best of 2:01.16 in Tampere so will be a threat.

The mens 1500m looks wide open with a whole host of good British runners more than capable of dipping well inside 3:40 on their day. Alex Botterill has a first (Sportcity) and second (Loughborough) over 800m in Grand Prix races this summer already and at the London Diamond League clocked a PB of 1:44.75. His only 1500m this season was at Trafford in May for a BMC Gold Standard event when he ran a PB of 3:42.04 and he will be one of those more than capable of going inside 3:40.

Archie Davis has done that already in that famous BMC night at Tooting when he ran a PB of 3:37.98 and found that only placed him 10^th! He is also a Grand Prix winner at Loughborough in 3:41.28 and will be hoping to secure his second GP victory.

Davis is 14^th in the 2023 UK rankings and just a place behind him is James McMurray on 3:38.35. McMurray has raced the 800m at the Watford, Loughborough and Birmingham University Grand Prix events so will definitely be a strong contender.

Also in the field will be Will Barnicoat, fresh from his bronze medal over 5000m at the European U23 Championships, and GB international Phil Norman, who showed signs of returning to form after a quiet summer with his 5:29.37 time over the 2000m steeplechase at Birmingham.

There is a strong contingent from Ireland led by three-time national champion Cathal Doyle, who ran a lifetime best of 3:36.85 in Belgium just last month, Charlie ODonovan who clocked a PB of 3:38.11 in Belgium last month and Shane Bracken who ran a PB of 3:39.71 in Holland in June.

Australian James Hansen is also a man to respect as his last two 1500m races have been a PB of 3:37.56 in Belgium and then 3:40.27 in Luxembourg.

The 5000m races will have a strong British presence with Zak Seddon heading the entries for the mens race with Joe Wigfield, who won the A 1500m at the Birmingham University Grand Prix, making his debut at the distance.

Abbie Donnelly (PB 15:42) and Hannah Irwin (PB 15:45) head the womens field.

The meeting starts at 445pm with a programme of 26 races culminating with the womens 5000m at 20:18. Spectators are welcome or watch the live stream via vincosport.com.