Mehdi Baala defending his European 1500m title (© Getty Images)
Training partners Mehdi Baala and Bouabdellah Tahri, France's brightest middle distance stars, will be aiming to steal the spotlight at the Meeting Gaz de France Paris Saint-Denis on 6 July, the second leg of the IAAF Golden League 2007.
On Thursday in Strasbourg, Baala, the reigning European 1500m champion, displayed his sensational early season form with a commanding 3:31.05 victory. On Friday the French star will put his form to the test against an all-star field which features Oslo Dream Mile winner Adil Kouch, Americans Bernard Lagat and Alan Webb, and Kenyans Daniel Kipchirchir Komen and Augustine Choge, among others.
The two-time continental champion and national record holder at 3:28.98, Baala has often rose to the occasion in the Stade de France, winning there in 2003 as a prelude to his silver medal later that summer at the World Championships on the same track.
Tahri, the former European co-record holder with a career best 8:06.91, will face what will perhaps be an even more daunting task in the 3000m Steeplechase. A slew of fast Kenyans, including world leader Paul Kipsiele Koech and Ezekiel Kemboi and European champion Jukka Keskisalo of Finland are all in the field, with a brisk pace all but assured.
Tahri too has illustrated solid form thus far this season, beginning with a 13:12.29 career best in the 5000m, and more recently, in Strasbourg, with a 5:17.19 victory in the 2000m Steeplechase, the seventh fastest performance ever over this rarely contested event. On Friday he'll make his eagerly anticipated 2007 debut over the classic distance. The meeting record, 8:02.81 set by Kenyan Bernard Barmasai in 1998, could clearly be under threat.
Bob Ramsak for the IAAF
provisional line-up @ 30 June:
Men's 1500m (IAAF Golden League event):
Adil Kaouch, MAR
Bernard Lagat, USA
Mehdi Baala, FRA
Alex Kipchirchir, KEN
Youssef Baba, MAR
Suleiman Kispes Simotvo, KEN
Augustine Kiprono Choge, KEN
Alan Webb, USA
Nicholas Willis, NZL
Tarek Boukensa, ALG
Abdelslam Kenouche, ALG
Daniel Kipchirchir Komen, KEN
Shadrack Korir, KEN
Mounir Yemmouni, FRA
Men's 3000m Steeplechase:
Bouabdallah Tahri, FRA
Andelkader Hachlaf, MAR
Jukka Keskisalo, FIN
Reuben Kosgei, KEN
John Langat KEN
Richard Kipkemboi Matelong, KEN
Birmin Kiprop, Kipruto KEN
Pauk Kipsiele Koech, KEN
José Luis Blanco, ESP
Antonio David Jimenez, ESP
Ezekiel Kemboi, KEN
Wesley Kiprotich, KEN
Michael Kipyego, KEN
Eliseo Martin, ESP
Julius Nyamu, KEN
Gary Roba, ETH