9th July 2015

Farah Returns To The Track

09 July 2015

The IAAF Diamond League returns tonight with Lausanne hosting the ninth stage of the series, which will welcome a whole host of British stars to the Swiss city.

Mo Farah (coach: Alberto Salazar) will mark his return to competitive track action in the 5000m, where he will face Hagos Gebrhiwet, who beat the double Olympic champion over 3000m in Doha at the opening meet of the IAAF Diamond League. Also in the field is European silver medallist Andy Vernon(Nic Bideau), who will be looking to build on his second place finish at the Sainsbury’s British Championships on Saturday. 

British record holder Shara Proctor (Rana Reider), who claimed her fourth British title last weekend takes her place in the long jump where she will face one of the toughest fields of her season to date. World leader Tianna Bartoletta, who jumped to her personal best of 7.12m in Eugene will look to continue her rich vein of form, while there are a further three athletes who have gone beyond 6.95m in 2015.

Fresh from equalling the British record of 1.97m at the Sainsbury’s British Championships, Isobel Pooley (Fuzz Ahmed) will take on the world’s best high jumpers, which includes Ruth Beitia, who is the only female athlete to clear two metres in 2015 and reigning Olympic champion Anna Chicherova.

Also making his first appearance since winning his maiden British title is sprinter Zharnel Hughes (Glen Mills), who will take his place on the 200m startline where he will look to put pressure on the likes of USA’s Isiah Young, the quickest athlete in the field with a season’s best of 19.93.

USA will occupy six out of the eight lanes in the women’s 100m hurdles, but one athlete who will be looking to upset the party is Tiffany Porter (Reider), who will be looking to get the better of the top two ranked athletes in the world in the form of Sharika Nelvis and Jasmin Stowers.

Bianca Williams, who won double sprint silver in Birmingham will go head-to-head with world leader and multiple global gold medallist Allyson Felix in the 200m, while European U20 1500m number one Bobby Clay (Peter Mullervy) will join fellow Brit Rosie Johnson (Eddie Bairstow) in the U20 1500m in Lausanne.  

For full start-lists, please visit: http://lausanne.diamondleague.com/en/disciplines-results/2015-disciplines/

Watch live coverage of the IAAF Diamond League in Lausanne tomorrow on Eurosport 2 from 19:00 and catch the highlights on BBC Two from 11:00 on Saturday 11 July.

Don’t forget you can still buy tickets for the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games on 24-26 July, which will welcome the likes of Jess Ennis-Hill, Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford among a whole host of international stars to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Visit here for more information: http://www.britishathletics.org.uk/british-athletics-series/sainsburys-anniversary-games/