Diamond League action returns at Friday’s Herculis EBS Meeting and the fields are stacked

Friday August 14 is the day that Diamond League action returns and it looks set to be quite the comeback. The fields for Monaco’s  Herculis EBS Meeting are stacked and fans are ready to tune in across the world.

WATCH THE DIAMOND LEAGUE’S LIVE STREAM OF THE ACTION RIGHT HERE – SCROLL DOWN FOR COVERAGE

Numerous global gold medallists are set to compete in what will be the first more traditional style Diamond League meeting of the year following exhibition events in Oslo and Zurich because of the coronavirus pandemic.

They include world 10,000m winner Sifan Hassan (pictured), 5000m champion Hellen Obiri and 3000m steeplechase gold medallist Beatrice Chepkoech, who all clash over 5000m, plus sprint star Noah Lyles, 400m hurdles champion Karsten Warholm, pole vault winner Sam Kendricks, triple jump talent Yulimar Rojas, 800m champions Donavan Brazier and Hamilah Nakaayi, 1500m winner Timothy Cheruiyot and 10,000m champion Joshua Cheptegei.

The Stade Louis II stadium will also welcome spectators, with 5000 fans set to attend.

Here we highlight some of the action on offer and host the Diamond League’s live stream, which will be available for fans in the UK and a number of other countries across the world (click here to view the list).

Not only will the women’s 5000m feature three world champions in Hassan, Obiri and Chepkoech but they will be joined on the start line by world 10,000m silver medallist Letesenbet Gidey, plus Britain’s world finalists Laura Weightman and Eilish McColgan.

In the men’s 5000m, Cheptegei has his sights on Kenenisa Bekele’s world record of 12:37.35, which has stood since 2004. The world cross country champion’s CV so far includes world record-breaking runs on the road over 5km (12:51), 10km (26:38) and 15km (41:05), with that 5km mark having been set in Monaco in February.

“I was encouraged with my 5km world record in Monaco and I thought there is no better place or time to attack the world 5000m record than this year,” he said in an NN Running interview.

“In 2021 we now have the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics, followed by World Championships in 2022 and 2023 and the following year the Paris Olympics. I believe if there is a time to attack the world record, it is this year. It is now or never.”

Fresh from their brilliant battle over 800m at the Triveneto Meeting in Italy, Britain’s Jemma Reekie and Laura Muir again go head-to-head but this time over 1000m. The Andy Young-coached training partners were separated by just 0.02 there, with double European under-23 champion Reekie taking almost two seconds off her previous outdoor best with 1:59.52 and European 1500m champion Muir running 1:59.54.

But it won’t just be Reekie v Muir as the entry list also includes world 800m champion Nakaayi, Olympic 1500m winner Faith Kipyegon, world 800m silver medalist Raevyn Rogers and Ciara Mageean, who broke the Irish 800m record with 1:59.69 in Switzerland last month.

READ MORE: Diamond League deal means live stream coverage for fans in UK

The men’s 800m sees Brazier line up alongside the three men who finished behind him at the world championships in Doha – Amel Tuka, Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich and Bryce Hoppel – plus Britain’s 2017 world fourth-placer Kyle Langford. Two Brits feature in the men’s 1500m as Jake Wightman and Charlie Da’Vall Grice go up against Cheruiyot, world indoor mile record-holder Yomif Kejelcha and double European champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

World leader Andrew Pozzi will hope to continue his winning ways in the 110m hurdles where he faces world champion Grant Holloway and Olympic silver medallist Orlando Ortega, while the 400m hurdles features two-time world title winner Warholm, who clocked a world 300m hurdles best in Oslo in June.

In the men’s 200m, Lyles wants to run “really fast”.

“I told my coach after the virtual Zürich Diamond League that I really wanted to run a fast time in Monaco,” the world champion told the Diamond League. “I know it’s going to be a really good track, I know it’s probably going to be wind legal. I want to do everything in my power to make sure that this race is really fast.”

Joining him on the start line will be his younger brother Josephus, Britain’s 2017 world relay champion Adam Gemili and the winner of the world 200m title that year, Turkey’s Ramil Guliyev.

Multiple world medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou features in the women’s 100m field alongside Britain’s Daryll Neita.

After their virtual pole vault clashes this year, world record-holder Mondo Duplantis will take on world champion Kendricks as well as Olympic champion Thiago Braz, while Britain’s Naomi Ogbeta joins world indoor record-holder Rojas in triple jump action.

World heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson goes in the high jump against world silver medallist Yaroslava Mahuchikh.

Timetable

(Times are local time, BST +1)

19:40 M Pole vault
20:03 M 110m hurdles
20:05 W High jump
20:12 M 800m
20:17 W Triple jump
20:19 W 5000m
20:42 M 400m hurdles
20:50 W 100m
20:57 M 1500m
21:07 W 400m
21:13 M 5000m
21:32 M 200m
21:39 W 1000m
21:47 M 3000m steeplechase

Entry lists and live results can be found here.

Live stream

Fans in a number of countries including the UK, Ireland, Germany, New Zealand, Australia and Austria will be able to watch the action live via the Wanda Diamond League YouTube channel below.

Coverage will also be shown on BBC iPlayer, Red Button and the BBC Sport website from 7pm for viewers in Britain.

Details of how fans in other countries can watch the Monaco Diamond League can be found here.