James-King vs dos Santos in Paris on Sunday

Malik James-King, who became the third Jamaican to run the men's 400 metres hurdles under 48 seconds at the recent JAAA/Puma National Junior and Senior Championships, will get a chance to test himself against one of the world's best when he competes at Sunday's Meeting de Paris Wanda Diamond League in France.

James-King, who won his first national title in 47.42, just 0.08 off the national record held by Roshawn Clarke, will take on world number two Alison dos Santos of Brazil, who has a season's best of 46.63.

The six feet seven inches tall Dos Santos is also a bronze medallist at the 2020 Olympic Games, the 2022 World Champion, and the third-fastest athlete in the history of the event with a personal best of 46.29.

This will be the first of two acid tests for James-King, who has stunned his local rivals by lowering his personal best in the event by almost a second in the past two months. He is down to face dos Santos and world record holder Karsten Warholm of Norway, on July 12.

National high jump champion Lamara Distin will also be in action in Paris on Sunday. Distin, who easily retained her high jump title at the National Championships, will face a star-studded field in the women's high jump. With an indoor best of 2.00 metres, she will be hoping to improve on her outdoor best of 1.96m.

After her win at the national championships, Distin said there was a lot of work still to be done before her Olympic debut.

"Just working on my approach. It's not been going well since going outdoors, because my approach has been inconsistent," she said. "So, I'm going back to the drawing board, and just working on my approach is the main focus going into the Paris Olympic Games. I have one more meet before the Olympics, which is the Paris Diamond League. So I'm just going back to drawing board and just try to figure things out. Let's see how I do in the Diamond League," Distin said.

She will get great competition in Paris, as she will face the world's two best in the event so far this season in Yaroslava Muhuchikh, of Ukraine, who has cleared 2.04m and Nicola Olyslagers, of Australia, who has a season's best of 2.03m.

World champion Marileidy Paulino, of the Dominican Republic, will also look to step up her preparations for the OIympics when she contests the women's 400m. With only a season's best of 49.30 where she is ranked seventh on the World Top List in the event, Paulino is expected to go much faster on Sunday. She will be challenged by Alexis Holmes of the United States, who has a season's best 49.80, and Natalia Kaczmerek of Poland, the third-fastest woman so far this season in the event with a best of 48.93.