Jamaica’s double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson will be hunting her 14th-straight 100m win at the Rabat Diamond League in Morocco today, while her compatriot Yohan Blake has pulled out due to injury.

Blake was down to compete in the 100m, but has apparently suffered a groin injury and has withdrawn from the meet just weeks before the London World Championships.

Thompson, who is the world leader in the 100m with 10.71 seconds, will be fine-tuning preparations for the London World Championships where she will start as heavy favourite

The MVP star, who clocked 10.94 seconds in London last week running in flats, will line up against in-form Trinidad and Tobago duo of Michelle-Lee Ahye, who lowered her national record to 10.82s three weeks ago, and Kelly-Ann Baptiste, who registered 10.88 in that same race.

Marie-Josee Ta Lou of Ivory Coast, who has a season’s best of 10.96, and Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguomor with 10.99 — who both chased Thompson in Paris — will be hoping for better this time around.

Fast-starting Jamaican Christania Williams, who has a season’s best of 11.03, will be hoping to finally put a complete race together, while Jura Levy will be aiming to dip below her best this season of 11.06.

Jamaica’s World Championships and Olympic Games 400m bronze medallist Shericka Jackson and veteran Novlene Williams-Mills will be severely tested by Olympic champion Shanaue Miller-Uibo of The Bahamas and South African 800m champion Caster Semenya, who will be stepping down to the quarter-mile today. Also in the race are Americans Natasha Hasting, Courtney Okolo and Quanera Hayes.

Jackson, who has a personal best of 49.83 and season’s best of 50.05, has not looked herself after the Jamaican trials but given the revered reputation of her coach Stephen Francis, he might just be working on some finer details.

Jackson will have her hands full against Miller-Uibo, who has two sub-50 clockings this season of 49.77 and 49.86, and American Hayes whose 49.72 makes her the fastest in the field and second quickest in the world behind Allyson Felix’s 49.65.

The race has been made more interesting with the controversial Semenya adding spice to an already hot race as she works on her speed. The South African has a personal best of 50.40 and a season’s best of 51.60.

The inconsistent Janieve Russell of MVP will lead national champion, Rhonda Whyte and sisters Nikita and Ristananna Tracey in the 400m hurdles, to be run in two heats and a final. Completing the field are American Cassandra Tate, Eilidh Doyle of Great Britain, two-time World champion Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic, Sara Slott Petersen and Lea Sprunger of Switzerland.

Jamaica’s shot put World Championships bronze medallist O’Dayne “Flintstone” Richards, will try to break the recent dominance of America’s Rio champion Ryan Crouser, who will be hunting his 10th-straight victory in the shot put. Ryan is the world leader with a massive 22.65 metres, making him the seventh best of all time

Richards, who has a season’s best of 21.29m, has his work cut out with the likes of Americans Ryan Whiting (21.54) and Darrell Hill (21.91), along with the emerging Tomas Stanek of Czech Republic, who joined the 22-metre club with 22.01m on June 2.

Jamaica’s Commonwealth Games 200m champion Rasheed Dwyer of Sprintec and Olympic bronze medallist Warren Weir will be matching strides with the American and Canadian champions Ameer Webb and Andre DeGrasse, respectively. Young United States 400m champion Fred Kerley will once again test himself in the shorter sprint and will be a big treat to the more seasoned 200m campaigners.

Jamaica’s Kimberley Williams and Tajay Gayle will be participating in the women’s triple jump and men’s long, respectively.

Williams will be up against world and Olympic champion Caterine Ibarguen of Colombia and veteran Olga Rypakova of Kazakhstan.

Gayle of the University of Technology, Jamaica, who leapt to 8.00 m in February, will face off with South Africa’s Rushwal Samaai, who has a 8.49m jump making him the second best in the world behind his compatriot Luvo Manyonga with 8.65. Americans Jarrion Lawson and Mike Hartfield with 8.28 and 8.21m also make it a top-class field.

— Howard Walker