Faith Kipyegon and Mondo Duplantis will headline a blockbuster start to the Wanda Diamond League season in Xiamen, China, on April 20th.
The world record holders – who are the number-one-ranked female and male athletes across all event groups – are among 12 Olympic gold medallists and 27 world champions who will light up the spectacular Egret Stadium, which hosted the inaugural Wanda Diamond League meeting in Xiamen last September.
Kipyegon, a two-time Olympic champion and four-time world champion, has not been beaten in a 1500m since 2021 but she faces a stern test over her specialist distance in Xiamen. The Kenyan will take on 10 women who have run below four minutes, including Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia, the reigning world 10,000m champion who holds the 5000m world record and world indoor 1500m record.
Also in the line-up are several formidable Ethiopians including Diribe Welteji, last year’s world 1500m silver medallist and the reigning world road mile champion, along with Freweyni Hailu, who recently won the world indoor 1500m title in Glasgow.
In the men’s pole vault, Duplantis is one of four men to have soared over six metres and he will have to be near his best in Xiamen to beat US trio Christopher Nilsen, Sam Kendricks and KC Lightfoot. Duplantis won his second world indoor title in March to add to his two world outdoor titles, and the 24-year-old Swede will be keen to make a flying start to the outdoor season as he eyes a second Olympic title in Paris. In his most recent appearance at the Wanda Diamond League – last year’s final in Eugene – he soared over a world record of 6.23m. Could he go even higher in Xiamen?
Among the other reigning Olympic champions set to feature are star throwers Liu Shiying and Gong Lijiao of China, USA’s Valarie Allman, Portugal’s Pedro Pichardo, Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim and Jamaica’s Hansle Parchment.
In addition to those already listed, the meeting features a slew of reigning world champions such as USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson, Laulauga Tausaga and Chase Jackson, along with Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino, Canada’s Marco Arop, Burkina Faso’s Hugues Fabrice Zango and Bahrain’s Winfred Mutile Yavi.
Clash of the champions in both track and field
The women’s 100m hurdles will feature a riveting showdown between reigning Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico and the two most recent world champions: Tobi Amusan of Nigeria and Danielle Williams of Jamaica. However, Devynne Charlton will be a huge threat, the Bahamian keen to convert her scintillating indoor form to the 100m hurdles, having set a world indoor record of 7.65 to win in Glasgow.
The men’s 100m will feature a clash between sprint superpowers USA and Jamaica, with the US charge led by former world 100m champions Fred Kerley and Christian Coleman, who will be keen to get one over on Jamaican rivals such as Yohan Blake, the former world 100m champion and Olympic silver medallist; Ackeem Blake, who recently won world indoor 60m bronze; and Rohan Watson, who won the Jamaican title last year in 9.91.
The men’s high jump will see reigning world indoor champion Hamish Kerr of New Zealand – who cleared 2.36m to win gold in Glasgow – take on Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar, the three-time world outdoor champion who will bid to win his second Olympic title in Paris.
The men’s triple jump pits reigning world champion Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso against Pedro Pichardo of Portugal, the reigning Olympic champion.
Sha’Carri Richardson may be better known as a 100m sprinter, but the US star proved in Budapest last year she can also contend over 200m, winning bronze there in 21.92. In Xiamen, she will race the longer sprint where the chief threat might come from fellow sub-22-second athletes Tamara Clark and Anavia Battle of USA.
The women’s 400m serves up a rematch between the three medallists from last year’s world final, with Marileidy Paulino facing Natalia Kaczmarek of Poland and Sada Williams of Barbados. The field includes four other sub-50-second athletes, including USA’s Britton Wilson and Talitha Diggs.
The women’s 3000m steeplechase also features the full medal rostrum from last year’s world final as Winfred Mutile Yavi looks to continue her winning ways against Kenya’s Beatrice Chepkoech and Faith Cherotich.
Canada’s Marco Arop is the star name in the men’s 800m, where the reigning world champion will go up against Kenya’s Wycliffe Kinyamal and USA’s Clayton Murphy, the 2016 Olympic bronze medallist.
The men’s 110m hurdles will see Olympic champion Hansle Parchment of Jamaica take on world bronze medallist Daniel Roberts of USA, while the men’s 5000m sees Kenya’s Nicholas Kipkorir, the 2022 Wanda Diamond League champion, take on Ethiopia’s Telahun Haile Bekele, a 12:42.70 performer, along with Australia’s Stewart McSweyn.
Chinese stars set to thrill home crowd
Last year’s meeting in Xiamen proved a huge hit with the locals, with close to 30,000 in attendance, and an even bigger crowd is expected this year with many of the country’s A-list athletes competing.
Feng Bin, the 2022 world champion in the women’s discus, will be keen to put down an early-season marker as she takes on a formidable US duo: reigning Olympic champion Valarie Allman and reigning world champion Laulauga Tausaga.
In the women’s shot put, Gong Lijiao will be keen to defeat some of the women who stand between her and a second straight Olympic title in Paris, taking on world champion Chase Jackson of USA and world indoor champion Sarah Mitton of Canada.
The women’s javelin, a non-Diamond League event, will see reigning Olympic champion Liu Shiying square off with fellow Chinese star Lyu Huihui, a three-time world medallist, with two other women in the field who have thrown beyond 65 metres: Australia’s Kathryn Mitchell and Colombia’s Flor Denis Ruiz Hurtado.
