SUNDERLAND’S Alyson Dixon will be targeting another top-five finish when she leads the North-East contingent in Sunday’s Great North Run.

Dixon, who finished fourth in last year’s race, has been confirmed as part of this weekend’s starting line-up, having recently finished in the top-30 in the marathon at the Rio Olympics.

The Sunderland Stroller will be relishing the chance to compete on home roads, but faces an almighty battle with Olympic gold medallists Vivian Cheruyiot and Tirunesh Dibaba both set to line up in the world’s most prestigious half-marathon.

The gold-medal winning duo will be joined by Priscah Jeptoo, who triumphed in Tyneside in 2013, and Briton Gemma Steel, who finished second in last year’s race.

Cheruyiot will be making her Great North Run debut, having claimed Olympic 5,000m gold in Rio and also picked up a silver medal in the 10,000m, a race in which Dibaba finished third.

Between Cheruiyot and Dibaba there are six Olympic medals and 14 World Championship titles – Cheruiyot focusing on the road having retired from the track following Rio.

The Kenyan, who turns 33 on race day, won the Great South Run in Portsmouth last year in 51.17 and is looking forward to making the step up to the half-marathon.

She said: “I have heard many good things about the Great North Run so I am glad to be competing in it for the first time.

“I dreamed of winning an Olympic gold medal and I’ve done it, so now my focus is on the road and with so many great runners there on the day, the Great North Run will be a good test for me."

Dibaba is aiming to follow up victory in this year’s Great Manchester Run with a win in the iconic half-marathon between Newcastle and South Shields, which she last won in 2012.

"I’m excited to be coming back to England for the Great North Run,” she said. “I love running this race which has such a strong history.

“I would be happy if I win for the second time but, as always, there is really strong competition and it will be a tough challenge, but one I am looking forward to.”

Jeptoo is another one to watch in the 13.1-mile race – her 65.45 on her way to Great North Run victory in 2013 is the fastest time in the women’s field on Sunday and the Kenyan, who took silver in the Olympic Marathon in London 2012, is on the comeback from injury.

British interest focuses on Steel, whose last half-marathon outing in the European Championships in Amsterdam saw her finish tenth, and Dixon.

Kenyans Joyce Chepkirui, 2014 Commonwealth 10,000m champion, and Filomena Chepchirchir, will be joined by Brits Susan Partridge, Charlotte Purdue and Freya Ross, while 2014 European Cross-Country team gold medallist Lily Partridge will also be aiming to challenge the leading pack.