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Paris Diamond League: Four Things To Watch

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Sprinters Marcell Jacobs and Noah Lyles, along with 400m hurdles sensation Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, headline the fourth leg of the Diamond League circuit which takes place in Paris on Friday.

AFP Sport looks at four events to watch.

Jacobs v Lyles

Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs has had a difficult start to the season, twice pulling out of 100m showdowns with world champion Fred Kerley with a back problem. There is no Kerley at Stade Charlety, but there is his American teammate Noah Lyles, the world 200m champion who ran a scorching 19.67sec over the distance in Kingston last week. While Jacobs and Lyles are the key participants, the field also boasts 2011 world champion Yohan Blake and African champion Ferdinand Omanyala of Kenya.

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Gidey v Kipyegon

Kenyan Faith Kipyegon steps up from her favoured 1500m to go head-to-head in the 5,000m with Ethiopia’s world record holder Letesenbet Gidey, the world 10,000m champion. Kipyegon is fresh from her own world record, smashing the previous 1500m best in Florence last week. There will be high hopes of a sub-14min time, with the field aided by three pacesetters, including Kenyan Beatrice Chepkoech, another world record holder, albeit in the 3,000m steeplechase.

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McLaughlin-Levrone v Eid Naser
American Sydney

McLaughlin-Levrone, who set a remarkable one-lap hurdles record of 50.68sec at last year’s world championships in Eugene, makes her season debut in the French capital. Having last competed in a Diamond League event in Europe in 2019, the 23-year-old Olympic champion will race in the 400m flat, but will have her work cut out against Dominican Marileidy Paulino as well as Bahraini Salwa Eid Naser, the 2019 world champion returning from a doping ban.

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Ingebrigtsen targets 2-mile world record

Norway’s Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, also world 5,000m champion a year later, is targeting the world record over 2 miles of 7min 58.61sec set by Kenyan Daniel Komen back in July 1997 in Hechtel, Belgium). To this day, Komen is the only person to have covered 3,218m in under eight minutes, despite the best effortrs of the likes of running legends Haile Gebrselassie, Mo Farah and Eliud Kipchoge in the rarely-run event. Ingebrigtsen will be aided not only by pacesetters, but also by Wavelight technology, lighting posted on the inside of the track that enables athletes to better adapt their pace.

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AFCON: Osimhen Threatens To Dump Super Eagles, Return To Galatasaray

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Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen, reportedly threatened to quit the national team and return to Turkey.

According to Arise News, Osimhen was left fuming following his altercation with Ademola Lookman during the 4-0 win over Mozambique at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations on Monday.

Having scored a brace thanks to assists from Lookman, the 27-year-old lashed out at his team-mate for failing to pass to him in the 64th minute.

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READ ALSO:VIDEO: I Handle Pressure With Calm, Focus, Says Osimhen

Osimhen then beckoned on the bench asking to be taken off, before he was replaced by Moses Simon.

At full time, Osimhen stormed out of the stadium and dropped his accreditation card, insisting he was “done” with the national team and wanted to fly back to Turkey.

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He was then pacified by senior officials of the Nigeria Football Federation, NFF.

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NPFL Announces Resumption Date For Second Stanza

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The Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, has announced a date for the start of the second stanza of the 2025-26 season.

The second stanza will commence on Wednesday, 14 January, 2026.

The fixture will start with mid-week games across all the designated NPFL centers.

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The NPFL disclosed this in a letter addressed to all the clubs.

The league body urged clubs to expect fixtures congestion in the second stanza.

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Rivers United occupy top position on the NPFL table with 37 points from 19 matches.

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Chelsea Coach Hails 3 Players For Keeping Team Together After Maresca’s Departure

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Chelsea interim coach, Calum McFarlane has hailed three Blues players for keeping the team together after Enzo Maresca departed from the Premier League west London club.

Speaking after Chelsea’s recent Premier League 1-1 draw with Manchester City, McFarlane lauded Reece James, Tosin Adarabioyo, and Enzo Fernandez for their leadership and unifying influence in the Blues’ squad.

“I think it is a good moment to speak about the players. This is not an easy job,” McFarlane told reporters after the match.

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There is a lot of change that has gone on. Enzo was incredibly successful with this group. Some of them were shocked by the decision to sack Maresca.

“The character that they have shown today. Reece is a big one. Reece, Tosin and Enzo have really dragged the group together.”

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Chelsea’s next Premier League tie is against Fulham on Wednesday.

 

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