by Alfonz Juck
Mondo Duplantis, photo by Giancarlo Colombo / FIDAL
Mondo Duplantis, photo by Giancarlo Colombo / FIDAL
Watch our coverage of the last Diamond League meet of the year! This is the event by event preview!
Duplantis still ready in the final DL meet of 2020
DOHA (QAT): In this pandemic season the only non-European DL meet will be held in Doha in similar time of the year as last year the World Championships. But the place will be Qatari Sports Club, not the big Khalifa Stadium. The traditional early May date was not possible and after hard work of all parties involved the meet will be staged this Friday. Despite several top athletes not beeing available some fields are excellent, specially men pole vault with record breaker Duplantis, but also great fields in men 800 m and 1500 m and women 800 m and 3000 m. Another star in the shape is Jamaican Olympic 100 m winner Elaine Thompson-Herah.
Event by event
Men
200m – Olympic bronze medallist Christophe Lemaitre faces Artur Gue Cisse who makes his 200m season’s debut after some impressive 100m wins this season, including a 150 m.
400m – Kuwait’s Yousef Karam has the fastest season’s best with 45.25 although watch out for France’s 400m hurdles specialist Ludvy Vaillant who recently set a 45.46 PB.
800m – World finalist Bryce Hoppel, who has a 1:43.23 season’s best, will be looking to bounce back after a recent defeat in Zagreb. Top World´s 1500 m runner Timothy Cheruiyot is another top entry, also his team-mate Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich with Wesley Vazquez and Elliot Giles in shape.
1500m – Kenya’s Conseslus Kipruto makes his season’s debut in the 1500m against a field which includes fellow steeplechase specialists and world medallist Lamecha Girma and Soufiane El Bakkali who recently set a 3:34.51 PB. World 5000m silver medallist Selemon Barega also drops down in distance. Based on recent form Australia’s Stewart McSweyn, who clocked 3:31.48 in Zagreb, begins as the favourite.
110m hurdles – French champion Wilhem Belocian (13.18) will face the US duo of Aaron Mallet (13.23) and Freddie Crittenden (13.30) and Switzerland’s European U23 champion Jason Joseph (13.29).
Pole vault – How will Armand Duplantis round off his season after clearing 6.15m in the Rome Diamond League? Duplantis faces world champion Sam Kendricks and 2012 Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie.
Women
100m – Will Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah improve her world lead of 10.85? Nobody else in the field has broken the 11 second-barrier this year.
800m – Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon (1:58.02 PB) will contest her first 800m in five years. Nobody in the field has broken the 2:00-barrier this season although Kipyegon did clock 1:59.19 en route to her 2:29.92 1000m in Brussels.
3000m – World 5000m champion Hellen Obiri faces a strong line-up featuring world 3000m steeplechase champion Beatrice Chepkoech and fellow world medallists and teammates Agnes Tirop, Hyvin Kiyeng and Margaret Kipkemboi. The Ethiopian challenge is headed by world 1500m bronze medallist Gudaf Tsegay and Tsehay Gemechu. The world lead of 8:40.26 should be bettered.
100m hurdles – Cindy Ofili and Payton Chadwick are the two sub-13 performers this year with season’s bests of 12.88 and 12.89 respectively.
Long jump – Sweden’s Khaddi Sagnia set a 6.92m PB in Zagreb but she will face strong opposition from Ukraine’s Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk and Nigeria’s Ese Brume, the silver and bronze medallists from the World Championships. Brume will be making her season’s debut.
