Sprint heavyweights Lamont Marcell Jacobs and Noah Lyles will go head to head over 100m for the very first time at the Meeting de Paris on June 9th, with both looking to stake an early claim for the Wanda Diamond League title.
Two of the greatest sprinters of their generation, Olympic 100m champion Jacobs and double 200m world champion Lyles have never met on the track.
Fresh from his much-anticipated battles with world 100m champion Fred Kerley in Rabat and Florence, Italy's Jacobs will be keen to make his mark against another titan of the sprints as he searches for his first ever victory in the Diamond League.
On paper, 100m specialist Jacobs appears to be the favourite. Yet with 18 Diamond League wins and five Diamond Trophies, the USA's Lyles is always a force to be reckoned with on the WDL circuit. He also knows how to win in Paris, having claimed an impressive victory in the French capital in 2019, a year in which he won both the 100m and 200m titles.
The two men have personal bests of 9.80 and 9.86 respectively in the 100m, and both of them may have half an eye on Usain Bolt's meeting record of 9.79 when they take to the blocks in Paris.
They will be joined on track by Jamaica's Yohan Blake, Botswana's Letsile Tebogo and Kenya's Ferdinand Omanyala.
The Wanda Diamond League Paris is the fourth 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.
