The men’s 1500m is all about the showdown between the On Athletic Club vs. Jakob. The international (but Boulder, CO-based) middle-distance powerhouse training group is sending Australian Olli Hoare, Spaniard Mario Garcia Romo, and American Yared Nuguse to take on Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigsten. Over the last several years, Hoare in particular has closed the gap on his Norwegian rival but has never beaten him head-to-head, but he’s being pushed harder than ever in training by his talented teammates. After Nuguse’s stellar indoor season, the fans clamored to see the Notre Dame grad take on a higher caliber of international competition, and now he gets his chance.

It would be a shock to see Jakob taken down by this field, particularly in a fast, rabbitted race this early in the season, but Nuguse in particular is so under-tested on the elite level that anything is possible.

Of course, we also can’t forget about Abel Kipsang, who has the second-fastest PB in the field behind Ingebrigtsen at 3:29.56, but although he ran some blazing times on the circuit last year, he only managed a 7th-place finish at Worlds. Maybe with a little more experience under his belt, the 26-year-old, who’s already run 3:32 this year at altitude, can level up.

Must-Watch Athlete

All too often, the great Shericka Jackson gets overshadowed by her Jamaican teammates, the ageless Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and 5-time Olympic champ Elaine Thompson-Herah. But the 28-year-old sprinter is quietly building a resume to match anyone in the sport, with 13 World/Olympic medals, a 4x100m Olympic gold, and the second-fastest 200-meter mark of all time with her 21.45 in Eugene last summer. In Rabat, she’ll be the star of the show as she opens up her season in what has become her specialty event.

Jackson has already run 10.82 in the 100m and 50.92 in the 400m this season, so clearly she’s showing up fit and ready to play. And although she shouldn’t be challenged too strongly by the field assembled, it will be great to get a sense of where she stands to match up in the 200m against the likes of Sha’Carri Richardson, Abby Steiner, Favour Ofili… and, of course, her Jamaican compatriots.

Must-Watch Matchup

Any time either Devon Allen or Grant Holloway races, the performance is electric. When they both line up in the same race, the fans are surely in for a good time.

Holloway is riding a 10-race winning streak (including heats) so far in 2023 and is the world leader with his 13.03 from the Tom Jones Invitational last month. He and Allen are the only men to break 12.9 seconds in the event in the last decade, and his 12.81 personal best is only 0.01 seconds off the world record. Allen has had a quieter start to the season, winning his opener at the Penn Relays in 13.46- although that meet was held in downright awful conditions so his time is hardly an accurate indicator of fitness. Both men are consummate entertainers, and the latest round of their head-to-head battle (Holloway has a 7-3 record against Allen in the event) is bound to be a thrilling one.

Must-Watch Throws

In the first Diamond League meet of the year, reigning world discus champ ​​Kristjan Čeh of Slovenia picked up where he left off, hauling a 70.89-meter throw that broke the meet record and is the second-longest throw in the world this year. He’ll surely threaten the Rabat meet record of 70.78m, set in 2019 by Fedrick Dacres, and be pushed by longtime rival Daniel Ståhl. Ståhl and Čeh are the only throwers in the field with seasons’ bests over 69 meters and personal bests over 71 meters, and though the Swede has the advantage in their 14-11 head to head record, Čeh won 10 of their 11 matchups in 2022.

Miss of the Meet