London, England — Jamaica’s long-distance prowess will be on display today as national record holders Kemoy Campbell and Aisha Praught-Leer strut their stuff in the 5,000m and 3,000m steeplechase, respectively, inside the London Olympic Stadium.

For the second day running there will be no morning session, hence Praught will be the first in action on the track at 1:05 pm Jamaica time.

This will be Praught’s second attempt at the 3,000m steeplechase at the World Championships, having made her Jamaican debut in 2015 at Beijing.

Following her switch from the United States of America to Jamaica in 2015, Praught-Leer’s World Championships debut might not have been the perfect one after being disqualified. But it was a performance she cherished. Now two years on, she will be hoping to make her mark in this gruelling event incident-free.

Only last year at the Rio Olympics, Praught-Leer was involved in an incident that also left Etenesh Diro of Ethiopia and Sara Louise Treacy of Ireland falling to the track. Diro became a celebrity for finishing that heat, running the last laps after the incident wearing only one shoe. All three athletes were advanced to the final, where Praught-Leer beat Diro to finish in 14th place.

Praught-Leer lines up in the second of three heats looing to book her spot in the final. Diro will also be here, but she has been drawn in heat three.

Praught-Leer has shown remarkable improvement in the steeplechase bringing down her time from 9:36.63 minutes in 2015 to 9:31.75 in 2016 to a national record of 9:19.29, which ranks her 11th in the world coming into the World Championships.

With this time the 27-year-old Praught-Leer is expected to make the final and continue the trend started by Korene Hinds and Mardrea Hyman, who finished fourth and eighth, respectively, the first time the steeplechase was contested at the World Championships in 2005.

Of note, both Hinds and Hyman have given Jamaica six points and an eighth-placed ranking in steeplechase based on points garnered. The USA are sixth with nine points with Kenya on top with 79 points.

Kenya are expected to once again dominate with the likes of 23-year-old Hyvin Kiyeng Jepkemoi, who made her global breakthrough when she won the world 3,000m steeplechase title in Beijing in 9:19.11, and she followed up with Olympic silver in Rio, clocking 9:07.12. She will have to be at her best to get on the podium, however.

Favourite for gold is Bahrain’s 20-year-old Ruth Jebet, who won the Olympic title last summer and, less than two weeks later, took more than six seconds off the world record of 8:58.81 set by Russia’s Gulnara Galkina in winning the 2008 Olympic title, clocking 8:52.78 at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Paris.

Another special young talent in the form of 18-year-old Celliphine Chepteek Chespol also of Kenya, who won in 8:58.78, a world U20 record and the second fastest time ever run.

Meanwhile, Kemoy Campbell, who had been Jamaica’s flagbearer in the distance races, will once again be trying his luck in the 5,000m.

Campbell, 26, finished 14th in his heat in Beijing in 14.00.55 minutes, and was 10th in his heat at the Rio Olympics in Brazil last year clocking 13.30.32 minutes.

Campbell has been drawn in the second of only two heats in which the first five then the next best five advance to the final. No Jamaican has gone that far and history awaits Campbell.

Mo Farah, who will be defending his title, will run in heat one. Having won every outdoor title he’s contested over 5,000m and 10,000m since he lost in 2011, the British legend is expected to add yet another gold to his collection.

But Kenya and Ethiopia both have proud histories in the event at World Championships and their athletes are likely to contend for medals yet again.

Ethiopia’s line-up is formidable, featuring Muktar Edris, Yomif Kejelcha, Hagos Gebrhiwet and Selemon Barega. Each has a strong case to suggest that they will be Farah’s closest challenger.

— Howard Walker