NAIROBI, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Olympic champions Faith Kipyegon and Helen Obiri return to the international competition circuit, eyeing qualification times for the World Championships.
Kipyegon, 25, who is running her second race in two years, is ahead of schedule in her comeback from maternity leave.
"I still need a few races to know where I rank," Kipyegon said on Friday. "But I am happy with the progress so far and will be happy to take on any challenge in London."
She will be among the 20 reigning world and 10 reigning Olympic individual and relay champions on parade in London Diamond League meeting this weekend.
Kipyegon, the 2016 Olympic and 2017 world champion, made her eagerly anticipated return with a 3:59.04 win at the Prefontaine Classic 18 days ago in the United States.
The London Diamond League on Saturday and Sunday is the eighth stop in the series. Although Kipyegon is not after the trophy at the end of the series, she is keen to establish her territory, which had seen her win 12 out of 13 races in 2016 and 2017 prior to going for maternity.
Her competitors will include European champion Laura Muir, rising Ethiopian star Gudaf Tsegay, German Konstanze Klosterhalfen and Shanghai Diamond League winner Rababe Arafi.
"It is about my own fitness and how I have trained. Other athletes have their won and when the race kicks off it's down to your own strength," she said.
Obiri, on the other hand, is recovered from the bruises she got when she crash landed in Stockholm in May, which had hindered her performance.
She will challenge European 1,500m champion Sifan Hassan of Netherlands. Hassan made a sensational 4:12.33 world record run in the mile in Monaco on July 12, breaking the mark which had stood for 23 years.
