A look ahead to the first meeting in this year’s Diamond League series, plus the Payton Jordan Invitational
The 2017 Diamond League series kicks off in Doha on Friday (May 5) with an 800m showdown between Rio Olympic medallists Caster Semenya and Margaret Wambui and world 1500m record-holder Genzebe Dibaba.
Semenya was last year’s Diamond Trophy winner in the event and was unbeaten over the distance in 2016. The race will be paced by Britain’s Jenny Meadows.
The women’s 200m sees Olympic champion Elaine Thompson facing world champion Dafne Schippers, while the men’s 100m will feature Canada’s triple Olympic medallist Andre de Grasse, USA’s Justin Gatlin and Jamaica’s Asafa Powell.
In the 100m hurdles, world record-holder Kendra Harrison is in action and has a world-leading time of 12.56 to her name so far this year. She’ll go up against athletes including Britain’s Olympic fourth-placer Cindy Ofili.
Other Brits in action include Desiree Henry in the 200m, Andrew Butchart in the 3000m, Holly Bradshaw in the pole vault and Robbie Grabarz in the high jump, where he faces home favourite Mutaz Essa Barshim.
Olympic champion Ekaterini Stefanidi of Greece also goes in the pole vault, while Olympic gold medallist Christian Taylor is in triple jump action. Olympic champion Michelle Carter is in shot put action and world record-holder Ruth Jebet features in the steeplechase.
The men’s 1500m was due to feature three-time world gold medallist Asbel Kiprop, but the IAAF has announced he is a late withdrawal due to a ‘minor hamstring tweak’. The IAAF also said Olympic 800m medallist Francine Niyonsaba experienced travel problems so she will also no longer be racing in Doha.
Entry lists can be found here.
Following a restructure, this year’s IAAF Diamond League series adopts a ‘championship-style’ model, with athletes earning points at the first 12 meetings in order to qualify for the two finals.
Over in the United States on the same day, Callum Hawkins and Andy Vernon will compete over 10,000m at the Payton Jordan Invitational, while fellow Brit Lynsey Sharp is due to compete over 800m and Eilish McColgan over 5000m.
» Fans in the UK can watch Doha Diamond League coverage on Eurosport 1 from 5pm BST
