by Larry Eder
The battle between Noah Lyles and Christian Coleman, Shanghai DL, May 18, 2019
The second meet of the DL season for 2019 was the Shanghai DL. Thanks to Jeff Shaver, our man about China, we had behind the scenes coverage on the meeting. Here are our semi-deep thoughts on important points of the on the second meet. The Shanghai DL is a big success, especially considering the challenges of a non Chinese group managing events within China. It also shows the success of athletics in China.
The Shanghai Diamond League was the second event of the new DL season for 2019. The DL will be changed drastically in 2020 and these meets are doing their best to show the high qualities of the DL:
1. Top match up of the night: Men’s 100 meters. Without a doubt, Noah Lyles versus Christian Coleman was the big event of the night. While the athletes were given the share of the World Leader, Noah Lyles was given the win. This may be one of the top rivalries of the decade, as Lyles and Coleman fight it out for sprint supremacy.
2. The men’s 400m hurdles is opening hot! Abderrahman Samba ran 47.27 WL and Rai Benjamin opened at 47.80! The men’s 400 meter hurdles last year had Samba, Benjamin and Warholm. We should see all 3 at the Doha WC in September!
Abderrahman Samba, photo by PhotoRun.net
3. Sydney McLaughlin debuts in DL. One of the highest paid athletes in our sport, Sydney McLaughlin went pro this past summer with a long term investment from New Balance. McLaughlin closed on Salwa Eid Nasar, the London 2017 silverr medalist at 400m. McLaughlin is a 400m hurdler, but we may see her competing over 400m and 400m hurdles.
Sydney McLaughlin, photo by PhotoRun.net
4. Womens’ PV is global, baby! Katerina Stefanidi, Sandi Morris, Holly Bradshaw, Jenn Suhr, Li Ling. The event is big with top women athletes in it. The pole vault requires finely honed athletic skills and the global growth is impressive.
Sandi Morris, photo by PhotoRun.net
5. The big story: China continues to astound! In May 1975, a meet was held between PRC and USA. Top US athletes went there and Chinese athletes were beginning to show the promise many believed that they have. In Shanghai on May 18, Li Ling set a Chinese NR with 4.72m, HuiHui Lyu won the javelin in 66.89m, Gong Lijao was second in shot put in an upset. Yu Wang won the HJ in 2.28m. Nearly every event had a top 8 athlete who was from China. They have gone from also rans to global players, and will continue to gain momentum.
Li Ling, photo by PhotoRun.net
Complete results: DLM-DOH19_03052019.txt
More stories on Shanghai DL:
Super Samba shines in Shanghai as hurdlers highlight Diamond League.
Full story:https://t.co/BfgCJJQnPt#ShanghaiDL #RoadToTheFinal #DiamondLeague pic.twitter.com/pVbD4Mkebb
— DLShanghai (@ShanghaiDL) May 18, 2019
