Amantle Montsho will participate in a potential season defining race in the IAAF Diamond League this weekend. The Diamond League meet will take place in Paris, France on Saturday. Montsho is still in contention to defend her 400m Diamond League title despite trailing Novlene Williams-Mills by 9 points in the overall standings.
The former women’s 400m world champion has to win the four remaining Diamond League meets to have any chance of retaining a title she has won for the past three years. Anything short of a first place finish will almost certainly help Williams-Mills edge closer to the title with three events remaining, this would end the Botswana track star’s three year reign as the Diamond Race winner.
The entry list for the July 5 race has already been confirmed, she will face Williams-Mills, Natasha Hastings, Olha Zemlyak, Ann Stephenie McPherson, Marie Gayot and Floria Guei. The last time Amantle faced most of the above listed racers she obtained fifth place in Eugene, USA.
Botswana Athletics Association (BAA) Vice President Technical, Glody Dube, is optimistic of Montsho’s chances. “The BAA is proud of her performances. Athletics is just like any other sport, you win some and you lose some. She is still a top athlete and she knows what to do to get back to winning ways.We are confident that she will regain her form . We expect her to be at her best during the Commonwealth Games,” Dube stated.
Montsho is still the highest ranked athlete in the women’s 400m category according to All-Athletics.Com’s monthly rankings.
Meanwhile, Nijel Amos will also be in contention in the men’s 800m race this weekend. Amos is currently the joint leader in the Diamond Race standings in his category, he shares the top spot with David Rudisha and Robert Biwott.
This weekend’s meet will give him a chance to command a lead ahead of his rivals and hopefully win the overall events in his debut season. Dube also praised Amos’ fitness as one of his key strengths this year. “Nijel is in top form, he is working hard and the results have proved that. We believe that he will continue to perform at a high level because he has been training well. He is in top shape and his coach has given us glowing remarks about his fitness,” Dube concluded.