The 5000m has an exceptional line-up. No less than nine of the competing athletes have already dipped under 13 minutes, including the world record holder and Olympic champion Joshua Cheptegei. The Ugandan will make his second outing of the season and will want to have his revenge after his 4th place in Florence at the beginning of June. The Ethiopians, led by Olympic 10’000m champion Selemon Barega and Yomif Kejelcha, will be looking to counter him, as will the phenomenal Dominic Lobalu, the South Sudanese refugee in Switzerland for four years, who wrote history last year by winning the 3000m as a refugee in Stockholm.
The Wavelight technology will be used to help the athletes surpass their limits, as well as for the other highlight of the evening, the 1500m. Olympic distance champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who is in exceptional form, has promised to look for a “big” result, and to go as much as possible under 3’30”. The 2019 and 2022 world champions Timothy Cheruiyot (KEN) and Jake Wightman (GBR), will be formidable competitors.
The “Wavelight” technology will make the women's 3000m steeplechase even more interesting. Will world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech (KEN) shatter the 9-minute "barrier" again? Facing her, there will be three Ethiopians at the start like Sembo Almayew, No. 1 of the year. They are stronger than ever. The Swiss Chiara Scherrer will make her comeback in the event.
Tentoglou, Crouser, Joseph for a feat
In the technical disciplines, the men's long jump will bring together Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou (GRE), 2019 world champion Tajay Gayle (JAM), 18-year-old Italian prodigy Mattia Furlani and Swiss star Simon Ehammer, bronze medalist at the 2022 Worlds in long jump but also, above all, an outstanding decathlete.
All the stars of the shot put will be there, starting with the world record holder Ryan Crouser (USA), who is at his best. The "cream of the cream" will also be present in the women's pole vault with the Olympic champion Katie Moon (USA), up against the best Europeans, including the Swiss Angelica Moser.
In the javelin, the Indian Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra will be challenged by the Czech Jakub Vadlejch and German Julian Weber.
A Swiss victory, which would be exceptional in the Diamond League, is not impossible. Jason Joseph, European indoor champion this winter, will be one of the big favourites in the 110m hurdles against the European stars.
In the women's 100m, Mujinga Kambundji is also expected to take centre stage, although she has yet to race this season due to a foot injury. The German Gina Lückenkemper, who had blown her gold on the line at the Europeans 2022 in Munich, will also be there, as well as the Ivorian Marie-Josée Ta Lou, favourite of the event. The proximity of dates of the American and Jamaican trials has changed the situation for Athletissima.
The Femke Bol Phenomenon
The 100m hurdles promise to be explosive, with a duel between the Olympic champion, the Puerto Rican Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, and the record holder and world champion, the Nigerian Tobi Amusan. European indoor champion Reetta Hurske (FIN) and Switzerland's Ditaji Kambundji will want to confirm their progress. In the 400m hurdles, the spotlight is on Dutch prodigy Femke Bol, reigning triple European champion and new indoor world record holder in the 400m.
The women's 800m will capture all the attention of the public with the presence of the Swiss Audrey Werro, on the rise, and Lore Hoffmann, facing the vice-world champion Keely Hodgkinson (GBR) and the Kenyan Mary Moraa.
At the end of the meeting, the 4x100m will see the Swiss (with Mujinga Kambundji and Sarah Atcho) defend their "title" after their victory last year over the Netherlands.
New this year, the Athletissima week will be embellished with the "Track Festival", which will present a host of activities and events the days preceding the meeting, including accompanied jogging for all ages (see timetables). The Place de l'Europe in Lausanne will be the heart of these festivities, with the highlight being the "City Event", on Thursday, 29th of June, with a women's high jump competition stamped "Diamond League". Three stars will be part of this competition, to which access will be free for the public: the Belgian Nafissatou Thiam, the Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh and the Australian Nicola Olyslagers.
There will be action all over the stadium!
For the meeting, there are still a few hundred places available, but the stadium promises to be full, like last year.
