Oakley to face stern test in Monaco

Monaco will be in the spotlight tomorrow as the Louis II Stadium hosts the Herculis EBS meeting, the 10th stop on the Wanda Diamond League series, with eight Jamaicans set to compete.
From a Jamaican standpoint, the women’s 400 metres will attract the most attention as the unbeaten Dejanea Oakley, following a winning start to her professional career a week ago at the Paris Diamond League, faces her toughest test yet.
Unbeaten in the event this year, Oakley will come up against Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic, the world leader with 48.48 seconds. The two were scheduled to meet in Paris, but Paulino withdrew at the last minute, paving the way for Oakley to claim victory.
With a season’s and personal best of 48.79 seconds, Oakley will have to run even faster if she is to deny Paulino, who will be making her third Diamond League appearance of the season. World indoor champion Gloria Manuel of the Czech Republic (49.37), American Aaliyah Butler (49.78) and Jamaica’s Nickisha Pryce, who has a season’s best of 49.75 seconds, will also be hoping to spring an upset in what promises to be a highly competitive race.
National champion Demisha Roswell will line up in the women’s 100m hurdles, where she will face the in-form Masai Russell of the United States, who owns a personal best of 12.14 seconds, just 0.02 outside the world record.
Roswell, the fastest Jamaican in the event this season with 12.40 seconds, will be aiming for an even quicker time as she looks to bounce back after the disappointment of being left off Jamaica’s Commonwealth Games team. The field will also include world champion Ditaji Kambundji of Switzerland, who has a season’s best of 12.62, and the consistent Nadine Visser of the Netherlands, whose best this season is 12.41.
World 100m champion Oblique Seville, the world leader with 9.82 seconds, will contest the men’s 100 metres. Coming off a second-place finish in Paris, Seville will be eager to return to winning ways.
After clocking a wind-assisted 9.67 seconds (4.1 m/s) a few days ago, Italy’s Marcel Jacobs, whose legal season’s best is 9.96 seconds, Colombia’s Ronal Longa (9.85), American Jordan Anthony (9.91) and Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo (9.95) will all be aiming to upset the Jamaican.
Four other Jamaicans will be in the field, with Ackelia Smith facing a stacked women’s triple jump field. Romaine Beckford competes in the men’s high jump, while Tajay Gayle and Wayne Pinnock line up in the men’s long jump.
Another event expected to generate plenty of excitement is the women’s 200 metres, featuring the three fastest women in the world this season – Adaejah Hodge of the British Virgin Islands (21.68), American Gabrielle Thomas (21.70) and Olympic champion Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia (21.86).