Three of the world's biggest sprint superstars will kickstart their 2024 Wanda Diamond League campaigns in the men's 100m at the second meeting of the season in Suzhou on April 27th.
US stars Fred Kerley and Christian Coleman and Jamaican legend Yohan Blake will go head to head in China, in the first men's 100m race of the campaign.
Each has won a world championship over the distance, while Coleman is the reigning 100m Wanda Diamond League champion thanks to his victory over Noah Lyles in Eugene last September.
2021 Wanda Diamond League champion Kerley dominated the 100m in 2021 and 2022, winning the World Championships title in Eugene and taking silver in the Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Kerley: “I am excited to come back to China in April. 2024 is a very important year with the Olympic Games taking place in Paris in August and it will be great to start my Diamond League season in China.”
The American has fond memories from Shanghai, having won the Diamond League 400m event there in 2019.
Following his title win last year, Coleman has started his 2024 season brightly, taking his second world indoor 60m victory in Glasgow. He is the world record holder over that distance and, alongside Kerley, shares the sixth fastest 100m time of all-time in 9.76s. The pair also formed half the USA quartet that took 4x100m world gold in Budapest last summer.
Coleman: “I’m excited about coming to China to compete again. Last time I was there they showed a lot of love and support and I was able to pull out my best performance of the year in front of a great crowd. I’m looking forward to opening my season with another great performance in China and starting my Olympic campaign off on a great note.”
Few athletes in history have been as good for as long as two-time Olympic and world champion Blake. The 35-year-old claimed his first Diamond League victory back in 2011 and has held the 100m and 200m Diamond League records for more than a decade.
In 2011, the year he became the youngest athlete ever to win a world 100m title in Daegu, Blake clocked 19.26 in Brussels in the 200m. A year later, he cruised to 9.69 in Lausanne, a time which only former-training partner Usain Bolt has ever bettered over 100m.
Blake: “Suzhou, I will be there to run on April 27. It’s going to be my first time in Suzhou, I am looking forward! It’s going to be fun and you don’t want to miss it. Come and enjoy a wonderful show.”
The trio boast in total six Diamond League titles, with Coleman having also taken the 100m crown in 2018, Kerley the 2021 edition of the same distance, as well as the 400m win in 2018.
They join a star-studded line-up in Suzhou, with major names in other events including Mondo Duplantis and Mutaz Barshim.
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.
