Sprint rivalries on the track
The men’s 100m is set to be one of the most anticipated races of the year, with storylines as fierce as the race itself. Lyles renews his rivalry with Kishane Thompson of Jamaica in a blockbuster rematch of their Paris 2024 Olympic duel, where both stopped the clock at 9.79 seconds.
Kenneth Bednarek, the Olympic 200m silver medallist, also lines up, eager to rebound after his unbeaten streak in both sprints this season was snapped by Lyles at the US National Championships. South Africa’s Akani Simbine, with three Diamond League 100m wins this year, adds more firepower, alongside the American trio of Christian Coleman, Courtney Lindsey, and Trayvon Bromell, and Jamaica’s Ackeem Blake.
The women’s 100m brings together US sprint stars and training partners Richardson and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, the latter the world leader this season. They will face Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith and Jamaica’s dynamic sisters Tina and Tia Clayton.
In the 200m, Jamaica’s three-time Diamond League champion Shericka Jackson returns to the curve, sharpening her form ahead of Tokyo.
The hurdles promise drama of their own. The women’s 100m hurdles will be contested in two heats featuring Nigeria’s world record holder Tobi Amusan, USA’s Olympic champion Masai Russell, and Jamaica’s formidable trio of Ackera Nugent, Megan Tapper, and Danielle Williams.
Olympic champion Grant Holloway, will meanwhile, face stiff competition from countryman Cordell Tinch in the men’s 110m hurdles.
On the one-lap, the women’s 400m is set to ignite the home crowd, with European champion Natalia Kaczmarek racing on home soil against Dominican Republic Olympic gold medallist Marileidy Paulino and Bahrain’s former world champion Salwa Eid Naser. With seven of the eight Olympic finalists from Paris in the line-up, this is one of the deepest fields of the season.
Middle-distance fans can look forward to a men’s 800m that could push the event’s limits, with Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya facing Canada’s silver medallist Marco Arop, both chasing times under 1:42.
Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen also returns to Silesia, where he shattered the 3000m world record last year in 7:17.55, aiming for another memorable performance.
There will also be plenty of interest in the women’s 800m, with Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson of Great Britain set to finally open her long-delayed 2025 campaign.
On the field, Duplantis arrives fresh from his 13th world record in Budapest, clearing 6.29m, and will look to go even higher at the venue where he set a world mark last year.
The men’s shotput will see four-time Diamond League winner Tom Walsh, come up against two-time world champion Joe Kovacs and world indoor champion Leonardo Fabri in what should be a fierce showdown.
Paris 2024 Olympic champion Hamish Kerr will contend with Tokyo 2020 champion Gianmarco Tamberi and 2023 world championship silver medallists JuVaughn Harrison in the men’s high jump.