Kumari Taki winning the boys' 1500m at the IAAF World Youth Championships, Cali 2015 (© Getty Images)
The focus in the men's metric mile will fall on Kumari Taki, who will be targeting a second world title in the event.
At the IAAF World Youth Championships Cali 2015, Taki dominated the competition and won by nearly five seconds in 3:36.38. The 17-year-old hasn't been quite as fast yet this year, but he did win the Kenyan U20 trials race in 3:38.8 at altitude in Nairobi, the season's second-fastest U20 performance.
Teammate Anthony Kiptoo, third in the selection trials race in 3:39.5, also brings valuable championships experience to the line as the reigning African junior champion. He boasts a personal best of 3:35.33 from Hengelo last year where he finished third.
Ethiopia has yet to win a title in this event; the leading hope to break that streak is Taresa Tolosa Bekuma, who comes armed with a 3:40.9 performance this year. The 18-year old recently finished an impressive fifth at the African Championships in Durban.
Others to watch include France’s European junior silver medallist Baptiste Mischler (3:39.58), Ayoub Sniba (3:40.87) who was third at June's Moroccan Championships, European junior champion Josh Kerr (3:41.08) and Qatar's 2014 Asian junior champion Idriss Moussa Youssouf.
Meanwhile, Mohamed Ismail Ibrahim of Djibouti will be shooting for a somewhat unique double, with ambitions to win a medal in this event and in the 3000m steeplechase. In the metric mile, the 19-year-old clocked a solid 3:39.84 in early June.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
