By Citius Mag Staff
May 30, 2023
The Florence Diamond League has assembled the deepest men’s 5000m field of the year outside of the world championships.
Here’s what you need to know:
– World record holder and Olympic silver medalist Joshua Cheptegei headlines the field in his first 5000m since finishing ninth at last year’s World Championships. This will be his first track race of the year after opening up in 2023 with a bronze medal finish at the World Cross Country Championships and a runner-up finish at the NYC Half in March.
– This field features eight of the 15 finalists from last year’s World Championships.
– In 2021, Jakob Ingebrigtsen won this race in 12:48.45 to break the European record and led seven men under 13:00.
– This year’s field features 13 sub-13:00 runners. There are eight sub-12:50 runners. (Joshua Cheptegei, Moh Ahmed, Selemon Barega, Grant Fisher, Yomif Kejelcha, Nicholas Kipkorir, and Jacob Krop) There is one sub-12:40 runner. (Joshua Cheptegei)
– The current world-leading time of 13:00.17 by Kenya’s Richard Etir is certainly going down.
Our Take
We have yet to see many of these men race a big one so far this season, but it’s going to give us a lot of indication about who might be the favorite for Worlds — besides Jakob. The Ethiopian depth right now is unreal and this field doesn't even include Lamecha Girma. - Kyle Merber
Such a stacked race. With it being the first big 5k of the season it’s hard to know where each individual is at, but we’ll soon know! I’m excited to see Joe Klecker race especially coming off his indoor season, where he went 12:54.99 indoors. Hopefully, they all get after it and we see some big times being dropped! - David McCarthy
How to Watch
Time: 1 p.m.
Where: Stadio Luigi Ridolfi in Florence, Italy
Live stream: You will be able to stream the meet on Peacock. You can always watch it on the Diamond League YouTube channel with a VPN.
TV: The meet will be televised on CNBC.
Citius Mag Staff
