2023 Diamond League Final: Amusan tops list of four Africans returning to Oregon to seek glory again
Former World 100m hurdles champion, Tobi Amusan tops the list of four African athletes who will be seeking glory at the Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, USA,
the scene of their World championships triumph just a little over a year ago.
This time the four, Amusan, Faith Kipyegon, Joshua Cheptegei and Soufiane El Bakkali will be gunning for Diamond League glory in their respective events.
Amusan
The petite Nigerian made history at the Hayward Field when she stormed to a 12.12 world record in the 100m hurdles semifinal before speeding ahead of others
to the finish line in the final less than two hours later to become the first Nigerian to win a world outdoor title.
The 26 year old (25 at the time) may not be returning as the reigning World champion after losing her title to her friend, Danielle Williams of Jamaica in
Budapest, Hungary last month, but she is coming to Oregon this weekend as the defending Diamond League 100m hurdles champion.
Amusan is gunning for a hat-trick of Diamond League trophy wins to become the second woman in competition history after Dawn Nelson-Harper to win the title three consecutive times.
Kipyegon
The phenomenal Kenyan is one of the best things that has happened to track and field this year after setting three world records before becoming the first
woman to successfully complete a 1500m/5000m double at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest.
She won her second of four world titles at the Hayward Field last year.
Kipyegon, 29, is seeking to win the Diamond League 1500m event for the third straight year and fourth since she first won it in 2017. Overall, she has won
four Diamond League titles since 2015 when she won the One Mile trophy in Bruxelles, Belgium.
Cheptegei
Ugandan Cheptegei will be hoping to win his first Diamond League trophy on the ground that gave him his second straight World 10,000m title when he competes
in the final of the 5,000m this weekend at the Diamond League final in Oregon.
The 27 year old was crowned the World champion again last month in Budapest in the 10,000m but will have to in the 5000m this time, an event in which he won
an Olympic gold two years ago in Tokyo, Japan.
El Bakkali
Morocco’s El Bakkali has become the reference point in the 3000 metres steeplechase since last year when he won the first of his two World titles and his first Diamond League trophy.
The 27 year old is unbeaten this year over the distance and won all four of the Diamond League races he competed in, scoring maximum points in Rabat, Stockholm, Silesia and Xiamen to top the standings.
