Knighton and Hudson-Smith favourites in the 200m and 400m

19 year old sprint talent Erriyon Knighton (USA), 2nd at the World Championships in Budapest and last year 200m winner in Brussels, leads the strong 200m-field. Other WC-finalists on the far side of the stadium are Zharnel Hughes (4th) from Great Britain, Kenny Bednarek from the USA (5th), Andre De Grasse from Canada (6th) and Joseph Fahnbullez from Liberia (9th).

Matthew Hudson-Smith is highly favoured to win the 400m. The Briton broke a long standing European Record at the World Championships, also took the silver in Budapest and is a twice European Champion. His biggest challenger may well be Quincy Hall. Hall is a former NCAA Champion who won bronze at the World Championships and gold with the USA 4 x 400m relay team. Also to watch out for is Norvegian youngster Havard Bentdal Ingvarsen who shattered his PB’s on the distance this year and who finished 6th at the WC.

Alexander Doom and Dylan Borlée, semi-finalists in Budapest, will be the Belgian interest in the 400m Diamond Race. The other 4 x 400m team members from Belgium will compete in a National 400m race top lease the local fans.