Shanghai plays host to the second meeting of the year on Sunday and athletes who compete in the 16 disciplines not featured in Qatar will get their own chance to stake an early claim for Diamond Race glory.
The women’s triple jump, shot put, pole vault, 400m hurdles, 100m, javelin, 800m and 5000m are featured in China alongside the men’s discus, high jump, 1500m, long jump, 400m, 3000m steeplechase, 200m and 110m hurdles.
In recent years Asia’s only IAAF Diamond League meeting has provided an early glimpse of the contenders for the Diamond Trophy, with Justin Gatlin, Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, Michael Tinsley, Renaud Lavillenie, Christian Taylor, Novlene Williams-Mills, Jenny Simpson, Hiwot Ayalew and Sandra Perkovic all taking an opportunity to make an early season appearance before going on to become Diamond Race champions in 2014.
Retrospective…
In 2014, Shanghai witnessed the Sandra Perkovic produce a stunning personal best and the furthest throw ever seen in the IAAF Diamond League.
Having thrown a superb 70.51 in the spring, Perkovic added a centimetre to take her 8th consecutive victory in Diamond League competition, further cementing her position as the dominant discus thrower of the past 15 years.
2014 also saw meeting records in Shanghai for Renaud Lavillenie (5.92 in the pole vault), Yenew Alamirew (13:04.83 in the 5000m), Michael Tinsley (48.77 in the 400m hurdles), Christian Cantwell (21.73m in the shot) and Ihab Abdelrahman El-Sayed (89.21m in the javelin).
In the women’s events, Blessing Okagbare secured two meet records in the 200m and long jump clocking 22.36 following a 6.86m leap.
A year earlier, Grenada’s Olympic Champion Kirani James clocked 44.02 for 400m to equal Jeremy Wariner’s meeting record in China as he comprehensively beat his long time rival Lashawn Merritt, who could only manage 44.60. The American had the last laugh, however, as he went on to take the Diamond Race, something that James hasn’t managed since his breakthrough year in 2011.
Their rivalry continues this weekend.
Diamond Race winners
Shanghai will see 11 2014 Diamond Race winners return to the fray more than eight months on from the nights in which they were crowned last summer.
In the women’s events Caterine Ibarguen (triple jump), Kaliese Spencer (400m hurdles), Veronica Campbell Brown (100m) and Eunice Sum (800m) all feature, with Ibarguen seeking to continue her dominance over the rest of the world.
Perhaps most significantly in terms of the Diamond Race, is the fact that Valerie Adams, unbeatable for so long in the shot put, is absent from the startlist. With the Kiwi still recovering from her double surgery over the winter, it creates a chance for someone else to secure the Diamond Race for the first time since 2010.
In the men’s events, last year’s winners Piotr Malachowski (discus), Mutaz Barshim (high jump), Silas Kiplagat (1500m), Godfrey Mokoena (long jump), Lashawn Merritt (400m), Jairus Birech (3000m steeplechase) and Alonso Edward (200m) are all present.
Throughout 2014 the men’s high jump was one of the most fiercely contested Diamond Races and the two chief protagonists, Barshim and his Ukrainian rival Bohdan Bondarenko, are back, with Bondarenko seeking to turn the tables on the Qatari.
Edward, too, features his chief tormentor from 2014, Nickel Ashmeade, in a mouth-watering sprint showdown, where every point is vital before the possible return of Usain Bolt to Diamond League action.
