Chinese throwers Gong Lijiao and Liu Shiying will have the home crowd behind them when they line up at the second Wanda Diamond League meeting of the season at Suzhou/Shanghai on April 27th, but both will have their work cut out against a stellar field of global superstars in the shot put and javelin.
Three-time Diamond League champion Gong is hoping to return to her previous title-winning form when she hits the ring on home soil in Suzhou. The shot put star's last Diamond League win came at the 2019 final in Zurich, where she claimed her third successive title with a meeting record of 20.31m.
In Suzhou, she will go up against US rival Chase Jackson, who is herself chasing a third successive series title this year. Jackson won her first Diamond Trophy in 2022, before defending her title in stunning fashion in home soil on Eugene last year with a national record of 20.76m.
The two shot put superstars will be joined by Canada's newly crowned World Indoor Champion Sarah Mitton, who is hoping to build on her first ever Diamond League win in Oslo last season.
Gong is not the only Chinese thrower in action in Suzhou, with javelin star Liu Shiying also aiming to wow the home crowd when she too returns to the Diamond League circuit for the first time since 2019.
The 30-year-old will go up against Japanese rival and reigning Wanda Diamond League champion Haruka Kitaguchi, who last year became the first Japanese athlete ever to win the Diamond Trophy.
Along with the season opener in Xiamen on April 20th, the Suzhou/Shanghai meeting will be the second of two Chinese events which kick off the 2024 Wanda Diamond League season. The Wanda Diamond League is the premier one-day meeting series in athletics. It comprises 15 of the most prestigious events in global track and field. Athletes compete for points at the 14 series meetings in a bid to qualify for the two-day Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels on 13th-14th September.
Click here to see the 2024 calendar in full
