Letesenbet Gidey and Valarie Allman are two headliners headed for a World Continental Tour date on Sunday
Photo Credit: Kirby Lee/USA Today
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Ethiopian distance star Letesenbet Gidey and American discus thrower Valarie Allman will be among the headliners at the Continental Tour ISTAF Berlin meeting on Sunday.
Gidey, the world record holder at 10,000m and the half marathon, is coming off a silver-medal-winning performance in the 10,000m at the World Championships in Budapest. The 25-year-old will conclude her racing season in the 5,000m on Sunday.
Her team is installing LED wave lights around the blue track at Olympiastadion to provide additional pace setting throughout the race. She ran her personal best of 14:06.62 -- at the time, a world record -- in Valencia in 2020.
Kenya's Faith Kipyegon lowered the world record at the distance to 14:05.20 in June.
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Allman, the American record-holder and reigning Olympic champion in the women's discus, also comes to Berlin fresh off winning silver at Worlds. Allman led the competition in Budapest through five rounds with an opening throw of 69.23m before fellow American Laulauga Tausaga-Collins set a new four-meter PR of 69.49m to usurp the lead and gold medal.
Allman still holds the best mark in the world this season at 70.25m. Among Allman's chief competitors will be Jorinde Van Klinken of the Netherlands, who finished fourth at Worlds. In June, she wrapped up her collegiate career for the University of Oregon setting the NCAA Championships record in winning her third consecutive title in the discus. Her first two titles came while she was at Arizona State. She graduated from Oregon as a valedictorian with an accelerated MBA in Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
Two-time Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas will make her debut at this meet in the 400m, just 136 days after giving birth to her son, Maicel Uibo Jr., on April 20.
Jamaica's Danielle Williams, who won her second world championship in the women's 100m hurdles eight years after claiming her first, figures among the marquee attractions in the sprints. She will face fellow Jamaican Megan Tapper, a 2016 Olympic and 2017 World Championships semifinalist, and American Tia Jones, the 2018 U20 world champion.
The home crowd will turn its attention to the field event apron, where German Julian Wegner will be the favorite in the men's javelin. Wegner, the 2022 European Championships gold medalist, finished fourth at Worlds, less than a meter off the podium.