by Alfonz JuckDoha Diamond League was a fitting end to a season held in a pandemic.
This is how EME news highlighted the meet.
Faith Kipyegon wins the 800m in 1:58.65, Faith’s only 800m since 2015! photo by Etienne Fiacre
Hellen Obiri takes 3000m in 8:22.54 WL, photo by Etienne Fiacre
World leads by Kenyan women
DOHA (QAT, Sep 25): World leads by Kenyan women in 800 m and 3000 m highlighted the last meet of Wanda Diamond League 2020. In Qatar Sports Club without spectators also Oceanian men 1500 m record and Ivory Coast 200 m men record with dramatic long jump win by Ukrainian Marina Bekh-Romanchuk were also something special. Athletes showed in several cases top shape at the end of the season. But the hero of the year could not deliver the best. Mondo Duplantis won with 582 but his situation is explained by stomach problems on Wednesday night, which resulted into beeing not in top condition. “Despite all this he was still able to win and end the season undefeated. He did not want to speak about it before the competition,” confirms his agent Daniel Wessfeldt.
Event by event
Men
200m – Arthur Gue Cisse raced to a lifetime best and Ivorian record of 20.23 on his season’s debut at the distance ahead of Jamaica’s Julian Forte in 20.39.
400m – Kahmari Montgomery from the United States won in 45.55 ahead of Kuwait’s Yousef Karam in 45.72.
800m – World bronze medallist Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich won in a 1:44.16 season’s best for his fifth successive win ahead of Elliot Giles who set a 1:44.56 PB in second. World 1500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot was a distant eighth in 1:46.78.
1500m – Stewart McSweyn won in a gun-to-tape 3:30.51 to break the Oceanian record. The top-five all set PBs: Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega (3:32.97), Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali (3:33.45), Ethiopia’s Lamecha Girma (3:33.77) and Great Britain’s James West (3:34.07). Kenya’s Conseslus Kipruto was a non-finisher on his season’s debut.
110m hurdles – Aaron Mallet improved his lifetime best again from 13.23 to 13.15, missing the world lead by 0.04. Jason Joseph was a distant second in 13.40. French favourite Wilhem Belocian was DQ’d for a false start as was Italian Dal Molin and US Crittenden injured in warm-up so the field was reduced to five at the end.
Pole vault – Sweden’s Armand Duplantis after stomach problems won on countback with a first-time clearance at 5.82m from Sam Kendricks and Renaud Lavillenie. Duplantis had two unsuccessful attempts at 5.92m and another unsuccessful attempt at 6.00m.
Women
100m – In still conditions Elaine Thompson clocked 10.87 to win by a huge margin from Marie-Josee Ta Lou in 11.21 with Kayla White third in 11.25.
800m – Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon became the first athlete to break 1:58 this summer with a 1:57.68 world lead and lifetime best. It was her first race at the distance since Rieti 2015. Spain’s Esther Guerrero took more than one second off her PB with 1:59.22 with Adelle Tracey also breaking the 2:00-barrier in third in 1:59.87.
3000m – In 32C heat, Hellen Obiri sprinted to a world lead of 8:22.54 ahead of Kenyan teammates Agnes Tirop (8:22.92) and Beatrice Chepkoech (8:22.92) who were both rewarded with PBs. The top six all set PBs with Brit Laura Weightman seventh in a European lead of 8:26.31. Jessica Hull was tenth in an Australian record of 8:36.03.
100m hurdles – A US one-two for Payton Chadwick (12.78 SB) and Taliyah Brooks (12.86), a PB for the latter.
Long jump – World silver medallist Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk set a season’s best of 6.91m in the Final Three format which was also the longest jump of the final. Nigeria’s world bronze medallist Ese Brume got the better of Khaddi Sagnia in the Final Three – 6.68m to 6.55m – although Sagnia produced the second longest jump of the competition in the second round with 6.85m.
