Marrakech: Five things to look out for

Olympic 3000m steeplechase champion Soufiane El Bakkali is a national treasure in Morocco, and he invariably receives a raucous reception when he appears in front of his home crowd at the Meeting International Mohammed VI. He has delivered emphatically in recent years, breaking the meeting record in Rabat in both 2022 (7;58.28) and 2023 (7:56.68). Expectations will be high once again in Marrakech this Sunday, as El Bakkali launches a season in which he aims to defend his Olympic title and regain his Diamond League crown. The 2022 series champion lost his title last year, after he missed the Eugene final in the aftermath of the tragic earthquakes which hit Morocco last summer. 

While El Bakkali is out to regain his Diamond Trophy, Jamaican sprint star will start one half of her two-pronged title defence when she makes her first Diamond League appearance of the season in Marrakech. In Eugene last year, Jackson swept to victory in the 100m and 200m, becoming one of a select group of athletes to have ever won two series titles in a single season, and one of only three who have managed to do so on back-to-back days. The reigning 200m world champion is out for more in 2024, and will be firm favourite as she takes on the likes of Ida Karstoft, Mujinga Kambundji and Maboundou Koné in the 200m on Sunday. 

Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi is another reigning Wanda Diamond League champion who will get his title defence underway in Marrakech, and will be hoping to match the form which saw him take victory in Rabat at the same meeting last year. As ever though, Wanyoni faces a tough test in what is currently one of the most hotly contested disciplines on the track, not least from his two compatriots Emmanuel Korir and Wyclife Kinyamal. Wanyonyi, Kinyamal and Korir have been among the most consistent performers in the 800m in recent years, taking 11 Diamond League victories between them since 2021. While Wanyonyi is the reigning champion and Korir has three Diamond League titles to his name, Kinyamal leads the Road to the Final standings ahead of Marrakech after picking up second-place finishes in both Xiamen and Suzhou. 

Serbian star Angelina Topic also tops the standings in the women's high jump after she got her season off to winning start with a solid 1.94m in Doha last week. That was a first ever career Diamond League win for the 18-year-old, who made her series debut at the Meeting International Mohammed VI in Rabat last year. While Ukrainian and Australian rivals Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Nicola Olyslagers remain the clear favourites for glory at both Paris 2024 and the Wanda Diamond League final in Brussels, Topic could soon also be challenging for the biggest global prizes if she continues on her current trajectory. Victory in Marrakech would be her second successive Diamond League win: another milestone as she targets the very top.

One man who knows how quickly you can reach the top is Lithuanian discus thrower Mykolas Alekna, who catapulted himself to the very top of his discipline when he threw a stunning world record of 74.35m in Ramona, Oklahoma earlier this year. Despite now claiming the biggest throw in discus history, Alekna still has plenty more milestones to reach as he eyes the Olympics this year, one of which is a first victory on the Diamond League circuit. The 21-year-old has been around the block a little bit, and posted respectable top-five performances in Stockholm in each of the past two seasons. In Marrakech, he will be hoping to finally get a first Diamond League win under his belt.