Can Chebet top off her historic season with a record?
Beatrice Chebet wrote athletics history in Paris. In her Olympic debut, she became the only athlete to take gold in two individual events (5000m and 10000m) and the first Kenyan to win the longest track race. Her plan for Weltklasse Zürich is to conclude her already historic season with a mic drop.
Four global titles in four disciplines
Beatrice Chebet is the uncontested long-distance queen at this time. A double Olympic, cross country, and 5km road running world champion, she does not only combine four global titles, but also hold the world records in the 10000m and the road 5km.
In Zurich, Chebet can count on the wavelight and on the legendary vibe to guide her on the twelve and a half laps of the race at Letzigrund Stadium. In addition, she will be pushed by strong Ethiopian opponents, including Freweyni Hailu, fourth in the Olympic 5000m final, and by European championship medallists and national records holders Karoline Bjerkeli Grøvdal (NOR) and Marta García (ESP).
Norway’s superhero to try and reclaim the 400m h throne
Karsten Warholm, the fastest 400m h runner of all times suffered a defeat in Paris. Now, the Olympic silver medallist and “Thor of the hurdles” wants to reclaim his position in the athletics pantheon. To begin with, he challenges Mondo Duplantis in an extraordinary 100m duel on the eve of the Weltklasse Zürich meeting. And then, he will clash with former world champion and two-time Olympic bronze medallist Alison dos Santos in the 400m h. He may have been a runner-up in Paris, but Norway’s Karsten Warholm is still the only athlete to have covered one lap and ten hurdles in less than 46 seconds. The Omega timekeepers of Tokyo 2021 timed him at incredible 45.94 seconds.
The 400m hurdlers at number 1 and 3 ...
Even nearly mythological world record holders and Olympic champions have to accept defeat every once in a while. In 2017, 2018, and 2023, three-time world champion Warholm had to settle for second place. Now, he is determined to return to winning ways and dominate over the 400m h, just as he used to when he won the Wanda Diamond League in 2019 and 2021. However, Alison dos Santos, third at the Olympics in 2021 and 2024, and third on the all time top list with a personal best of 46.29, knows how to win a Weltklasse Zürich race as well. In 2022, the South American record holder had been invincible and thus taken the Diamond Trophy.
... and 4 and 5 in the all time top list at Weltklasse Zürich
The highly decorated duo will be joined by two further hurdling greats, one on, the other off the track. After two injury-plagued years, two-time Olympic finalist Abderrahman Samba (QAT) is on his way back to the form that placed him at number five on the all-time top list (46.98). And Olympic champion Kevin Young, who held the world record for 29 long years (46.78; between 1992 and 2021), becomes a prominent member of the Weltklasse Zürich media team.
A duel for the win in Zurich, a three-way battle for the Swiss national record
The theme of this year’s 800m story will be the clash between world indoor champion Tsige Duguma and world outdoor champion Mary Moraa, or between the Olympic silver and bronze medallists. The two will be chased by the members of a Swiss trio that just mastered their Olympic debut in Paris, and are now on the hunt for a new national record.
Kenya’s Mary Moraa has fond memories of Weltklasse Zürich. After all, Letzigrund Stadium is the stage on which she won her first Diamond Trophy in 2022. The world champion and Olympic bronze medallist intends to repeat the feat this year. A plan that might prove hard to put into practice. Even at the young age of 23, world indoor champion and new Olympic silver medallist Tsige Duguma (ETH) knows how to tackle a big race. She managed to keep her opponents at bay in Glasgow this spring, including local hero Jemma Reekie. Reekie, in turn, is determined to settle the score in Zurich. And so is Moraa, who placed third in Paris. Either way, the scenario ensures a gripping showdown.
Three Swiss Olympians
As many as three Swiss athletes, including national champion Rachel Pellaud, Valentina Rosamilia, and Audrey Werro, will try and fulfil the hopes of local fans in the prestigious race. The three may have followed very different athletics paths, and they may have experienced very different seasons so far, but their goal is the same. The all would like to improve the national record set by Selina Rutz-Büchel in 2015. Will it be Pellaud, Rosamilia, or Werro, who can snatch it from her?
Which stars will compete at Letzigrund Stadium on 5 September? All competitors confirmed for Weltklasse Zürich 2024 are listed here.
