Kiprop vs Willis in Melbourne
Kiprop and Willis were each elevated up one podium position following the disqualification of Bahrain's Rashid Ramzi, who crossed the line first in Beijing, after a failed doping test.The meet is significant for both athletes as they embark upon a long season which may ultimately see themselves face each other again under championships conditions at October's Commonwealth Games in India.
"I will grade my season on how I perform at Delhi, so that will keep me from being tempted to peak for the money races in Europe. Often it is possible to run fast 1500's while building up though, so it will be interesting to see how those Diamond League races go," Willis told Inside Athletics last week.
"I never raced him since the Olympics," Kiprop said today in broken English.
"This is the first time to meet him (again), because he never run last year. I hope that the competition will be really quite hard."
For Kiprop racing on Australian soil for the first time also has sentimental significance.
"My role model who I used to watch some years back run in Australia - Noah Ngeny - become Olympic Champion in Sydney, in year 2000.
"To run here in Australia has a lot of meaning to me."
The pair will not be left at their own at the front of the field, with local athletes Jeff Riseley and Jeremy Roff having the potential to challenge the Olympic medallists. Riseley set a personal best of 3:32.93 in Rome last year but is yet to race this domestic season, whilst Roff, who has a personal best of 3:34.35 set in Berlin last year, finished a solid fifth at the Sydney Track Classic on the weekend in 3:36.79.
Ryan Gregson, who took out the 1500m at the Sydney Track Classic, has opted to contest the 800m in Melbourne against Kenyan speedster David Rudisha, whilst second placed Collis Birmingham will step up to the 5000m.
Click here to read our feature on Asbel Kiprop.
Click here to read out interview from last week with Nick Willis.
With talk about juiced-up athletes doing the rounds in early 2008, track and field was praying for a star. The sport got more than it bargained for that summer when sprinter Usain Bolt won three gold medals in remarkable fashion at the Beijing Olympics. 
If long-term injury is a rite of passage for professional athletes, then Mitchell Watt has certainly earned his stripes. 
Craig Mottram has fired a broadside at Athletics Australia selectors, almost six months after he was left out of the squad for the Delhi Commonwealth Games. 
Steve Hooker has had an inconsistent season, but the true mark of a champion is that they rise to the occasion when it counts. 
Europe has taken out the inaugural Continental Cup ahead of the America's, with Asia-Pacific finishing fourth. 
Benn Harradine has broken his own national record in the discus in finishing second at the Continental Cup in Split, Croatia. 
