NAIROBI, Kenya, August 20, 2026 – All roads lead to Stade de la Pontaise in Lausanne, Switzerland as the 12th leg of the Diamond League comes to town.
A number of Kenyan athletes will be among those who will be lining up at the start line in their chase for the ultimate prize of the Diamond League trophy, which is set for Brussels on September 4-5.
Fresh from winning the Commonwealth Games title in Glasgow, youngster Faith Cherotich will be in action in the women’s 3000m steeplechase.
The world champion will be part of an elite startlist that also includes Tunisian Bouzayani Marwa, who leads the Diamond League standings with 25 points.
Even though she is yet to win a Diamond League race this year, Olympic champion Winfred Yavi of Bahrain is another one to watch in this water-jump-and-barrier race that is expected to spark fireworks across the Lausanne night-sky.
Coming up after Cherotich and Co exit the stage will be the men’s 800m where another Kenyan, Emmanuel Wanyonyi, will be hoping to take one step closer to the Diamond League Trophy with victory on the day/night.
The Olympic and world champion leads the standings with 27 points, six better than Canadian Marco Arop and Ben Pattison, who sit second and third respectively.
Wanyonyi will be buoyed by his world record in the men’s 1000m, set at the Monaco Diamond League, where he stopped the clock at 2:11.83.
This feat was, however, soured by his fourth-place finish at his last competition, the London Diamond League, where he clocked 1:43.31 in the men’s 800m.
Meanwhile, Olympics silver medallist Arop comes into the race as the fastest man in the field this year, timing 1:41.84 at the Paris Diamond League in June.
Also a point of headache for Wanyonyi will be Djamel Sedjati of Algeria, the Olympics bronze medallist boasting a season’s best (SB) of 1:43.19.
American Brandon Miller further stands as another stumbling block to Wanyonyi’s aspirations, having beaten the Kenyan at the London Diamond League, where he clocked 1:42.19 for the win.
Elsewhere, newly-crowned Commonwealth Games 5000m champion Matthew Kipsang will be hoping to carry on his good form from Glasgow when he lines up in the 12-and-a-half lap race.
He will be one of five Kenyans in contention, the others of which include Laban Kosgei, Charles Kiboino, Jacob Krop, and Cornelius Kemboi.
Kipsang’s victory in Lausanne will also be redemption for his last Diamond League race in Paris where he finished a disappointing eighth in 12:58.95.
