Having provided some of the standout moments at the past two editions of the London Athletics Meet, world champions Noah Lyles and Femke Bol return to the Wanda Diamond League meeting in the British capital today (19) looking to work their magic once more.

For the third year in a row, Lyles will take on Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo, the world athlete of the year. Just 0.03 separated them when they clashed over 200m in London two years ago, Lyles winning in 19.47. When they raced in London last year, both men emerged with 100m PBs, Lyles once again winning, 9.81 to Tebogo’s 9.88.

After a slightly delayed start to his Diamond League campaign, Lyles returned to action in Monaco last week and beat Tebogo over 200m, 19.88 to 19.97. The Olympic 100m champion will be keen to keep his London streak alive, but Tebogo will be fired up after their recent Monaco showdown.

On Saturday they will line up over 100m in a race that also includes South Africa’s Akani Simbine, who finished in between Lyles and Tebogo in London last year. World indoor champion Jeremiah Azu, world 100m bronze medallist Zharnel Hughes and Jamaican duo Oblique Seville and Ackeem Blake are also part of the high-quality line-up.

Bol is another athlete who has fond memories of this meeting. The Dutch 400m hurdler broke 52 seconds for the first time when winning in London in 2023, clocking a Diamond League record of 51.45. She improved on that when winning in London last year with 51.30.

Fresh from clocking a world-leading 51.95 in Monaco, Bol will take on a field that includes USA’s Jasmine Jones and Jamaica’s Andrenette Knight.

Having broken 10.80 in her past three Diamond League races over 100m, Olympic champion Julien Alfred moves up to the 200m in London, where she’ll be hoping to improve on her world-leading mark of 21.88. She’ll face 2019 world champion Dina Asher-Smith, Olympic finalist Daryll Neita, Spanish record-holder Jael Bestue and Ireland’s Rhasidat Adeleke.

In the men’s 400m, world leader Zakithi Nene takes on Matthew Hudson-Smith and Muzala Samukonga, the Olympic silver and bronze medallists respectively.

In the men’s discus, world record-holder Mykolas Alekna takes on the three men who, between them, have claimed every global title on offer from 2019 onwards.

Alekna, who won in Eugene at the start of the month, will take on two-time world champion Daniel Stahl, Olympic champion Roje Stona and 2022 world champion Kristjan Ceh, who has won his past nine competitions.

The men’s long jump is of a similarly high quality as the field includes all of the medallists from the 2024 Olympics, 2023 World Championships and 2025 World Indoor Championships.

World leader Miltiadis Tentoglou, winner of multiple major titles, takes on world indoor champion Mattia Furlani, Australia’s Liam Adcock, Swiss decathlete Simon Ehammer and leading Jamaican trio Tajay Gayle, Carey McLeod and Wayne Pinnock.

The women’s event, meanwhile, brings together two-time world champion Malaika Mihambo, world indoor champion Claire Bryant, European indoor champion Larissa Iapichino, 2023 European indoor champion Jazmin Sawyers and world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson.

Elsewhere in the jumps, Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh takes on 2022 world champion Eleanor Patterson in the women’s high jump, while world champion Katie Moon faces 2024 world indoor champion Molly Caudery in the women’s pole vault.

The three men who claimed the 800m medals at the 2023 World Championships will reunite over two laps in London.

Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi, who recently clocked a world-leading 1:41.44 in Monaco, will face world champion Marco Arop of Canada and world bronze medallist Ben Pattison. The field also includes Spanish record-holder Mohamed Attaoui and 2019 world champion Donavan Brazier.

Kenyan teenager Phanuel Koech has been one of the revelations of this season, having set a world U20 1500m record of 3:27.72 in Paris in what was just his second race over the distance, then following it with a 3:29.05 victory in Ostrava.

But the majority of the home crowd will be cheering on the likes of world champion Josh Kerr, British 3000m and 5000m record-holder George Mills and 2022 world champion Jake Wightman. Australia’s Cameron Myers and Portugal’s Isaac Nader will also fancy their chances, given their recent good form.

Two-time world champion Gudaf Tsegay returns to the scene of her 4:16.14 PB and headlines a women’s mile field that also includes Olympic silver medallist Jessica Hull and Ethiopian youngster Birke Haylom.

A closely matched women’s 800m field, meanwhile, features Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Georgia Hunter Bell, USA’s Addison Wiley, 2019 world champion Halimah Nakaayi and Olympic finalist Shafiqua Maloney.

[World Athletics]