World champion Fred Kerley and Olympic champion Lamont Marcell Jacobs will resume their rivalry over 100m at the Meeting International Mohammed VI in Rabat on May 28th, in the first of two much-anticipated Wanda Diamond League clashes.
Kerley and Jacobs, who have not faced each other since the Olympic final in Tokyo in 2021, had already confirmed they would meet at the third Wanda Diamond League meeting of the season in Florence on June 2nd.
But now their long-awaited reunion has been moved forward a week, with the two men set to go at each other at the second leg of the season in Rabat later this month.
Kerley has been talking up his chances of beating Jacobs in recent weeks. "If it happens, I'll be there and I'll definitely win. I don't know if he'll show up," he said at the press conference ahead of the Wanda Diamond League season opener in Doha last week.
The American got his Diamond League campaign off to a winning start in the 200m in the Qatari capital, while Jacobs has not appeared on the circuit since his third-place finish in Monaco in 2021, just before his Olympic triumph.
The two champions will have their work cut out against a stellar field in Rabat. Reigning Wanda Diamond League champion Trayvon Bromell will also be hoping to launch his title defence with a win, while Canada's Andre De Grasse will be out to claim his 12th victory in the Diamond League.
Other big names in the Moroccan capital include South Africa's Akani Simbine, Jamaica's Yohan Blake and local star Chakir Machmour.
The Wanda Diamond League Rabat is the second leg of athletics' premier one-day meeting series, which comprises 14 of the most prestigious events in global track and field. Athletes compete for points at the 13 series meetings in a bid to qualify for the two-day Wanda Diamond League Final in Eugene on 16th-17th September.
Click here to see the 2023 Wanda Diamond League calendar in full.
