Faith Kipyegon will open her 2024 season on May 25 at the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League meet in Eugene, Oregon. She will race in the 12.5-lap 5000-metre event. Her specialty is the 1500m distance.

Kipyegon holds the Kenyan national record in the 5000m event at 14:05.20, which she ran in Paris last year in June. Her best — the former world record — is over five seconds off Ethiopian, Gudaf Tsegay’s, current world record of 14:00.21, which the 27-year-old set last September in Eugene. Meanwhile, Kipyegon’s 1500m best is the world record at 3:49.11.

It will be interesting for track fans to see if Kipyegon can take back the 5000m world record from Tsegay and perhaps to be the first woman in history to run sub-14:00. A May race is early for Kipyegon to peak while keeping her focus on the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

The next meet on the Diamond League calendar is the Rabat-based event happening Saturday, May 19. The meet focuses more on field events, sprints and middle-distance races. Eugene offers the rare 25-lap 10,000m, 3000m steeplechase and the Bowerman Mile as well as field events and sprints.

The Wanda Diamond League is the premier one-day meeting series in athletics. It comprises 15 of the most prestigious events in global track and field. Athletes compete for points at the 14 series meetings in a bid to qualify for the two-day Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels on 13th-14th September.

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