STOCKHOLM, Sweden — A top-class women’s 800m field will face the starter for Sunday’s Bauhaus-Galan – Wanda Diamond League meeting in Stockholm on July 4, and I am expecting a very close encounter in a matchup that will feature four women currently ranked in the Top 10 this season.
How to watch the Diamond League meeting in Stockholm
Live streaming coverage of the meeting will be available on PeacockTV for those in the United States. Fans can watch the coverage live using their Amazon FireTV, Amazon Firestick, Apple TV, Roku, or on any high-end mobile and tablet device. The event will also be free on the Wanda Diamond League YouTube page in selected countries.
Leading the way is Cuba’s Rose Mary Almanza, the 2019 Pan American Games silver medalist who enters the clash with the second-fastest time in the world this year with 1:56.42 and has won all four of her 800m races thus far.
READ MORE: 2021 Bislett Games – Diamond League results
Although the 28-year-old will start confident about making her Diamond League season debut on a winning note, Almanza will be well aware of the top quality of athletes who are set to line up against her.
Among the half-milers leading the charge in Stockholm is American Kate Grace who will be aiming to make it a double celebration on the day of Independence for the United States.
Grace, the eighth-place finisher at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, missed out on making back-to-back Olympics team after finishing seventh at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials last month.
However, the 32-year-old bounced back with a sizzling performance at the Bislett Games earlier this week and she will head into Sunday’s meeting seeking to win consecutive Diamond League 800m races.
At the meeting in Oslo, Norway, Grace clocked a personal best of 1:57.60 on her way to taking down world champion Halimah Nakaayi for the victory. The American time is also the fifth-fastest time outdoors in 2021.
READ: Sha’Carri Richardson out of Stockholm Diamond League meeting
Another athlete in top form entering Sunday’s race is Jamaican Natoya Goule who is coming off a quality seasonal best time of 1:57.84 at the 2021 Jamaica Olympic Trials at the end of last month.
The Pan American Games champion defeated Almanza on her way to winning that title in 2019 and she will be hoping to get another victory over her Caribbean rival this weekend.
Also joining the list of starters is European Indoor champion Keely Hodgkinson who owns a season’s and personal best time of 1:58.89 heading into the fifth Diamond League meeting of the season.
Meanwhile, Worknesh Mesele who is part of Ethiopia’s women’s 800m team for the Tokyo Olympic Games, will also face the starter, along with Sweden’s Lovisa Lindh, as well as seven-time indoor and outdoor Norwegian champion Hedda Hynne, and Poland’ Aneta Lemiesz.
The women’s 800m is one of 15 Diamond League classified disciplines in Stockholm on Sunday.
