The Diamond League track circuit—in summer, that means a world-class runner’s tour of Europe—resumes in Stockholm on Thursday. There’s been a five-week break in the itinerary, since Monaco on July 18, to accommodate regional meets like the Commonwealth Games, European Championships and African Championships.

Americans like Jenny Simpson, Emma Coburn, Shannon Rowbury and Galen Rupp, a new dad of twins, have all improved their world-class standing in 2014. They’ve surely used the Diamond League hiatus for whatever combination of recovery and rebuilding they needed to compete even better in Stockholm and at upcoming stops in Zurich and Brussels. Here are the three middle-distance and distance races that matter most to Americans in Stockholm on Thursday:

Women’s 1500m

This is the meet’s final event and appropriately so, because the field is as strong as was assembled in Paris on July 5, when Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands clocked a 3:57.00 and Jenny Simpson was close with a 3:57.22, making her the No. 2 American of all-time behind Mary Decker Slaney for the 1500. Hassan won gold at the European Championships and the silver went to Abeba Aregawi, who’ll be Sweden’s home country hero in this event. Shannon Rowbury is on the upswing, having broken 4:00 for the first time in her career with a 3:59.43 in Paris. Genzebe Dibaba ran a record-shattering 3:55.17 for this distance during the indoor season; she can’t be counted out. Brenda Martinez, who’s been varying her repertoire of tactics this summer, is also entered. These women are not convening from all over the world to dawdle on the opening laps. Sub-4:00s in these Diamond League 1500s are going to become the norm.

Women’s 3000m Steeplechase

Emma Coburn has been whittling away at her personal best all season and it’s now an American record 9:11.42. Before heading back to Colorado, she indicated she expects to PR again in the European summer’s second half. Coburn often dictates the tenor of these elite steeplechase races, and she’ll surely be in the mix against the only two women who’ve run faster—just barely—in 2014, Ethiopians Hiwot Ayalew (9:10.64) and Sofia Assefa (9:11.39).

Men’s 5000m

Kenya’s Edwin Soi, tops on the 2014 list for this distance with a 12:59.82, is on the Stockholm start list, as is his countryman Caleb Ndiku, who won the 5,000m at the African Championships in Morocco. Galen Rupp, who has the world’s quickest 10,000m time of 2014, is a close No. 4 in the 5,000 with a 13:00.99. He’s been openly coveting Bernard Lagat’s American record of 12:53.60. But since becoming the father of twins on July 29, has he gotten the rest and work he needs to give that mark a solid shot? Of course, Rupp is now known for his finishing kick, sometimes from more than a lap out, but so is the 21-year-old Ndiku. Ben True and Hassan Mead, who ran their 13:02s early in the season, will give Rupp some American company.

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