England’s second city, and the home of British Athletics, hosts 16 Diamond Race events and, like Doha, Shanghai, Eugene and Rome already in 2015, there is plenty to look forward to.
12 of the 16 Diamond Race events on show in the English Midlands were also on the schedule in Rome just three days earlier, meaning that some athletes will have the chance to either repeat strong performances or avenge defeats, all with an eye on securing valuable points on the road towards the season ending finales in Zurich and Brussels.
Retrospective…
The British Grand Prix in Birmingham, now called the Sainsbury's Birmingham Grand Prix, has often played host to some less-frequently run distance races, meaning that IAAF Diamond League records over two miles for both men and women were set at the Alexander Stadium.
Last year home favourite Mo Farah and Kenya’s Mercy Cherono both triumphed over 2 miles, Farah clocking 8:07.85 and Cherono 9:11.49.
Yet Farah and Cherono weren’t the only stars on show in 2014. Mutaz Essa Barshim and Bohdan Bondarenko both leapt 2.38m to set meeting records in the high jump, while Asbel Kiprop recorded 3:51.89 for the mile.
In the sprints, USA’s Carmelita Jeter streaked to victory over 100m in 2012 in a superb 10.81, a meeting record and among the fastest times ever set in the UK.
Diamond Race Leaders
A total of ten current Diamond Race leaders head to Birmingham, with seven of those flying straight from Rome, where they competed on Thursday evening.
Of those seven, only three were victorious in Italy, with the others doing just enough o maintain leads in the standings.
Jeneba Tarmoh leads the 200m jointly with Allyson Felix, having stormed to victory just two days ago, but Felix will be fresher having elected to focus solely on Birmingham. Sandra Perkovic (discus) had yet another victory to double her points tally for the year, but Vitezslav Vesely (javelin) appeared to injure himself in taking maximum points in the javelin. That leaves the door open for Julius Yego, Tero Pitkamaki (winner in Doha), Antti Ruuskanen and Keshorn Walcott, all of whom already have points to their names.
Dawit Seyaum (1500m), Virginia Nyambura (3000m steeplechase), Hagos Gebrhiwet (5000m) and Airine Palsyte (high jump) all emerged from Rome with their Diamond Race leads intact, but failed to score maximum points as Jenny Simpson, Hyvin Kiyeng, Yomof Kejelcha and Ruth Beitia took victories.
Indeed, Palsyte is joint leader in the high jump and will likely need to finish in the top three on Sunday, with Kamila Licwinko, who has a solitary point so far, hoping for victory.
The Diamond Race leaders in the men’s triple jump (Pedro Pablo Pichardo), 100m (Justin Gatlin), 800m (Mohammed Aman and Ayenleh Souleiman) and the women’s 400m (Francena McCorory) and 100m hurdles (Sharika Nelvis) are all absent in Birmingham following their exertions in Rome, leaving others with an opportunity to score big.
Gatlin, McCorory and Pichardo know that they will maintain their leads come what may, although Christian Taylor, Stephanie Ann McPherson and Mike Rodgers will look to close the respective gaps, but Nijel Amos, in the 800m and Jasmin Stowers, Tiffany Porter and Dawn Harper-Nelson can all take Diamond Race leads if they can secure wins.
Four events on the Birmingham schedule appear for only the second time this season. In two, the women’s pole vault and 400m hurdles, the winners from Shanghai, Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou and Kaliese Spencer both return looking to double their points tallies, while the absence of Lijao Gong presents Christina Schwanitz with an opportunity to take an outright lead in the shot put.
None of the top three from Shanghai in the men’s long jump compete, meaning that we are guaranteed a new joint leader of the Diamond Race following Sunday’s competition.
Dean Hardman for the IAAF Diamond League
