Suzhou: Five things to look out for

You always expect the unexpected with Mondo Duplantis, but few expected him to begin the season with a world record when he hit the runway in Xiamen last weekend. The Swedish superstar did just that, however, clearing 6.24m at the first attempt to add another centimetre to his previous best and post the highest jump in pole vault for the eighth time in his career. He heads to Suzhou full of beans, then, and potentially in the mood for another historic performance. "I definitely think I can go higher if everything comes together," the reigning Wanda Diamond League, world and Olympic champion said in Xiamen. 

The other big shock in Xiamen came in the women's 200m, as 19-year-old Australian starlet Torrie Lewis pipped world champion Sha'Carri Richardson to victory in a breathtaking photo finish. Richardson will be out to set the record straight and pick up her first Diamond League win of the season when she lines up in the half lap again this Saturday. Lewis is not on the startlist this time around, but it is still a formidable field, with European champion Mujinga Kambundji, 4x100m relay world champion Tamara Clark and Britain's Daryll Neita all starting. 

Haruka Kitaguchi became the first Japanese athlete ever to win the Diamond League title when she triumphed in Eugene last year, and she will launch her Diamond Trophy defence just a short hop from her home country in Suzhou on Saturday. The Japanese star will have been watching closely in Xiamen, where almost all of her competitors competed in a non-Diamond League event. China's Dai Qianqian emerged triumphant from that showdown, but the home crowd may be denied another victory this time around as the reigning champion enters the stage. 

Few events have seen such intense and changeable rivalries in recent years as the men's sprints, and 2024 promises to be no exception. In Suzhou, reigning Wanda Diamond League 100m champion Christian Coleman takes on fellow US star and two-time Diamond Trophy winner Fred Kerley for the second time in the space of a week. In Xiamen last Saturday, it was Coleman who stole the show, clocking a season's best of 10.13 to come in just 0.04 seconds ahead of his rival. Will Kerley hit back in Suzhou?

Gong Lijiao was once the dominant force in the women's shot put, claiming three Diamond League titles in a row between 2017 and 2019. The Chinese star rolled back the years at the season opener in Xiamen, throwing a meeting record of 19.72m to beat reigning series champion Chase Jackson. With Dai Qianqian and Lyu Huihui going up against Kitaguchi in the javelin and Wu Yanni taking on the best in the world in the 100m hurdles, Gong may be the home crowd's best hope of a Chinese victory in Suzhou. Could it be another win and the start of a fourth title charge for the shot put star?