Doha Diamond League 2022 Event by Event Preview
Seven reigning Olympic champions will headline the Oreedoo Doha meeting, the opening leg of the Wanda Diamond League. The meeting in the Qatari capital will be held at the Qatar Sports Club, where six world-leading performances, three meeting records and six continental and national records were set in last year’s edition.
Watch Doha Diamond League 2022 Live Stream
Men’s pole vault:
World pole vault record holder Armand “Mondo” Duplantis will start his outdoor season in Doha. The Swedish star won his first Olympic gold medal in Tokyo clearing 6.02m beating US pole vaulter Chris Nielsen.
Duplantis won the world indoor gold medal at the Stark Arena in Belgrade last March improving his own world record with 6.20m and cleared six metres in all six of his indoor competitions in 2022. He remained unbeaten during the 2022 indoor season in his five competitions in Karlsruhe (6.02m), Berlin (6.03m), Uppsala (6.04m), Birmingham (6.05m), the Belgrade meeting (6.19 world record) before his win at the World Indoor Championships in the Serbian capital. He set two more world indoor records in February 2020 (two indoors in Torun with 6.17m and Glasgow with 6.18m) and broke Sergey Bubka’s world outdoor record clearing 6.15m in Rome in September 2020.
Duplantis cleared the 6 metres barrier 39 times. Last year he achieved 14 six-metre clearances and set the world outdoor leading mark of 6.10m in Hengelo and won his first Diamond League Trophy in Zurich setting the meeting record with 6.06m. In his previous appearance at the Doha meeting he won with 5.82m. He won the world silver medal in Doha 2019 with 5.97 losing to Sam Kendricks on countback.
Armand Duplantis: “Doha is the perfect meeting to kick off my outdoor season. My training has gone well over the winter. Although it’s early season, I think the conditions in Doha will be conductive to jumping high. I cleared 5.82m at this meeting in 2020, so I would certainly like to get closer to 6.00m this time around”.
Duplantis will renew his rivalry against last year’s Olympic silver medallist Chris Nilsen, who improved his outdoor PB with 6.00m last weekend at the South Dakota Twilight and improved the US indoor record twice to 6.02m in Tourcouing and 6.05m in Rouen last winter. Nilsen won the world indoor silver medal to Duplantis with 5.90m in Belgrade.
The line-up features three more 6 metres performers: KC Lightfoot, former world record holder Renaud Lavillenie and Piotr Lisek. Lightfoot finished fourth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo with 5.80m and cleared 6.00m in Lubbock in 2021.
Lavillenie won two Olympic medals (gold in London 2012 and silver in Rio de Janeiro 2016), four European gold medals and five world outdoor medals (one silver and four bronze) and seven Diamond League Trophies.
Lisek won the world outdoor bronze medal in Doha 2019 with 5.89m and improved the Polish record to 6.02m in Monaco earlier that year.
Men’s high jump: Barshim and Tamberi will reunite in competition
Joint Olympic high jump champions Mutaz Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi will clash for the first time since the epic Olympic final in Tokyo, where they shared the gold medal with the same height of 2.37m.
Barshim won the world outdoor medal in Doha in 2019 to become the first man to successfully defend a world high jump outdoor title. The triumph in front of his home fans followed a serious ankle injury in 2018. He set the Asian outdoor record clearing 2.43m in Brussels in 2014 and set the second highest performance in history. The Qatari also won two olympic silver medals in London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016 and three Diamond League Trophies in 2014, 2015 and 2017. He claimed the first place in the Doha Diamond League in 2017 with 2.38m.
Mutaz Barshim: “We made history with our olympic gold medal, but my focus is now entirely on defending my world title in Eugene later this summer. The men’s high jump is currently at a very high standard. We must all continue to work hard if we want to push the boundaries of our sport. My training has been going well and I am looking forward to competing again”.
Tamberi returned to his best form in March 2019 when he won the European indoor title in Glasgow with 2.32m after a career-threatening injury in Monaco in 2016, which forced him to miss the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. After his Olympic gold medal in Tokyo the Italian record holder crowned a perfect 2021 season with the win in the Wanda Diamond League final in Zurich with 2.34m becoming the first Italian athlete in history to win the Diamond Trophy. This year he won the world indoor bronze medal with 2.31m sharing third place with New Zealand’s Hemish Kerr. Barshim and Tamberi trained together in Doha at the end of March.
Gianmarco Tamberi: “I celebrated the best moment of my life so far with Mutaz in Tokyo, but it’s important to move on from that and focus on the new goals I have set myself for the World and European Championships this summer. I made a late decision to compete at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, so I was pleased to make the podium. I trained in Doha at the end of March. I have enjoyed learning more about this great country. Every time I come here it feels like home because of my friendship with Mutaz and the warm welcome I have received, so it means a lot to me to open my Diamond League campaign and summer season in Doha”.
The line-up also features Sanghyeok Woo from South Korea and Hamish Kerr from New Zealand, who won the gold and bronze medal respectively at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade 2022, last year’s NCAA and US Trials champion Ju’Vaughn Harrison and 2018 Commonwealth gold medallist Brandon Starc.
Woo, who won the world under 18 gold medal in 2013, finished fourth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo with a national record of 2.35m. The Asian jumper cleared 2.34m in Belgrade to become the first South Korean athlete to win a world indoor title. This year he improved his PB to 2.36m at the International High Jump in Hustopece. He started his outdoor season with a 2.30m clearance in Daegu last April.
Olympic finalist Hamish Kerr shared the world indoor bronze with Tamberi clearing 2.31m. He set his seasonal outdoor best of 2.30m in Auckland last February.
Harrison won the 2021 NCAA Indoor title in Fayetteville setting his PBs of 2.30m in the high jump and in the long jump with 8.45m. Last June he won both the high jump and the long jump becoming the first US athlete since Jim Thorpe in Stockolm to compete in the long jump and the high jump at the Olympic Games.
Starc finished sixth at the World Championships in Doha 2019 with 2.30m, fifth at the Olympic Games with 2.35m and won the Diamond Trophy in Brussels in 2018 with 2.33m.
Men’s 200 metres:
Olympic 200 metres champion André De Grasse will go head-to-head against world champion and Olympic bronze medallist Noah Lyles, Olympic 100m silver medallist Fred Kerley and world indoor 400m champion Jereem Richards in a star-studded 200 metres.
De Grasse won six Olympic medals and four world medals in his career and set the Canadian 200m record clocking 19.62, when he triumphed the 200m olympic final in Tokyo. The 27-year-old Canadian sprinter also won the 100m bronze medal in 9.89 and the 4x100 relay silver in the Japanese capital. At the World Championships in Doha 2019 De Grasse won the silver medal in the 200m behind Lyles and the 100m bronze medal. He finished second in the 100m in 9.89 and the 200m in 19.72 in the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich last September. He opened the 2022 season with a 10.07 clocking in the 100m in Jacksonville.
André De Grasse: “To win my first Olympic gold medal last year was very special. In Rio 2016 and at the World Championships in 2019 I felt I would come up short. In spite of consistent podium performances, I work hard and I want to be the best. Winning gold in Tokyo has given me confidence that I can deliver another championship-winning performance this summer. I am looking forward to kicking off my season in Doha as I build towards that goal in Eugene”.
Lyles won two world gold medals in the 200m in 19.83 and in the 4x100 relay in 37.10 in Doha 2019 and the Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo 2021 in 19.74. He set the fifth fastest time in history with 19.50 in Lausanne in 2019. The former 100m world junior champion set his 60m indoor PB with 6.55 in Birmingham and started the 2022 outdoor season with a wind-assisted 9.90 in the 100m and 19.86 in the 200m in Gainesville (Florida).
Kerley returns to Doha, where he won the bronze medal in the 400m and the gold medal in the 4x400 relay at the 2019 World Championships. The versatile US sprinter started the 2022 Continental Tour season with a win in 19.80 in the 200 in Walnut and finished second to Ferdinand Omanyala in the 100 metres in 9.92 in Nairobi last week. He won two Diamond League titles in the 400m in 2018 and in the 100m in 2021 and is the only sprinter in the history of the circuit to win races over 100m, 200m and 400m. Last year he improved his PBs in the 100m with 9.84 in the Olympic final and in the 200m with 19.76 in Nairobi.
Aaron Brown finished eighth in the 100m in the World Championships final in Doha 2019. Brown won the Olympic silver medal in the 4x100 relay and finished sixth in 20.20 in the 200m final. The Canadian sprinter won the 200m with a wind-assisted 20.05 in the Nairobi Continental Tour Gold meeting. He finished third in the Diamond League meeting in Doha in 2021 in 20.25.
Another Canadian sprinter in the field is Jerome Blake, who won the 100m at the Bermuda Games in the 100m and improved his PB of 20.04 in the 200m in Walnut.
Jereem Richards will make his third appearance in the 200 metres at the Doha Diamond League meeting after finishing fourth in 20.21 in 2019 and second in 2021 in 19.99. Richards won the 200m world bronze medal and the 4x400 relay in London 2017 and the 400m world indoor gold medal in 45.00 in Belgrade 2022.
Filippo Tortu has a fond memory of Doha, as he finished seventh in the world championships 100m final in 2019 in 10.07. Tortu anchored the Italian 4x100 relay to the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo with the Italian record of 37.50. Tortu finished seventh in the 100m in Nairobi in 10.24 in his seasonal debut.
The line-up is rounded out by Femi Ogunode from Qatar, who won the 2014 World indoor bronze medal in the 60m and holds a national record of 19.97 in the 200m.
Women’s 200 metres:
World and European champion Dina Asher Smith from Great Britain will headline a great women’s 200 metres line-up, which also features olympic 200m bronze medallist Gabrielle Thomas from the USA, multiple Olympic and world medallist Shericka Jackson from Jamaica.
Asher Smith returns to Doha where she won the 200m title in 21.88 and two silver medals in the 100m in 10.83 and in the 4x100 relays in 41.85. The British star also won the 200m in the 2019 Diamond League meeting in Doha in 22.26 and the Diamond Trophy in 2019 in Brussels. She won two Olympic medals in the 4x100 relay, three European gold medals in the 100m, 200m and 4x100 relay in Berlin 2018 and holds the British record in the 100m with 10.83 and 200m in 21.88. Last April she tested her shape with a fast 36.41 in the 300 metres.
Dina Asher Smith: “I am looking forward to returning to Wanda Diamond League action. I won my first global title in Doha, so I have incredibly happy memories of competing there. After a challenging year in 2021, I can’t wait to get back on the circuit and see what I can do this summer”.
Thomas won the Olympic Trials final in the 200m setting the third fastest time in history with 21.61 and the Olympic Games bronze medal in 21.87. The 25-year-old Harvard University graduate started her season with wind-assisted times of 10.92 in the 100m and 21.69 in the 200m at the Texas Relays in Austin. Two weeks later she equalled her PB of 11.00 in the heats of the USATF Golden Games in Walnut before clocking a wind-assisted 10.86 in the final and won the 200m in 22.02.
Jackson won three Olympic medals in Tokyo (gold in the 4x100 relay in 41.02, bronze in the 100m in 10.76 and in the 4x400 relay in 3:21.24. The Jamaican sprinter finished second in the 200m in the Wanda Diamond League final in Zurich setting her PB with 21.81.
Antonique Strachan from the Bahamas, who won two world under 20 titles in 2012, is looking to continue her good season after improving her PB to 10.99 in the 100 metres.
Men’s 400 metres hurdles:
Last year’s Olympic silver and bronze medallists Raj Benjamin and Allison Dos Santos and world bronze medallist Abderrahman Al Seleck (formerly known as Samba) from Qatar will line up in the men’s 400m hurdles. Five of the top six finishers from the Olympic Games in Tokyo will line up in Doha.
Benjamin finished second in the Olympic final setting the US record and the the second fastest time in history with 46.17. This time was faster than the previous world record, which Karsten Warhlolm smashed when he won the olympic gold medal in 45.94. This season Benjamin just missed his PB in the 200 metres clocking 20.01 in Walnut and won the 400m hurdles in 48.60 at the Seiko Golden Grand Prix in Tokyo. Benjamin won the world silver medal in Doha 2019 behind Warholm and triumphed last year setting the Doha meeting record with 47.38.
Dos Santos improved the South American record to 46.72 when he won the Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo and finished seventh at the World Championships in Doha. The Brazilian athlete improved his 400m record to 44.54 at the USATF Golden Games in Walnut and won his first 400m hurdles race of the season with 48.41 in Des Moines, setting the second fastest time in the world this year. He finished second last year in Doha in 47.57.
Al Seleck made a breakthrough in his career in 2018 when he won the 400m hurdles in the Doha Diamond League meeting in 47.57 and went on to become the second hurdler in history after Kevin Young to break the 47 seconds barrier when he set the national record with 46.98 in the Diamond League meeting in Paris Charlety. Al Seleck won the world bronze medal in front of his home fans in Doha 2019 finished fifth in the Olympic final in Tokyo in 47.12.
Abderrahman Al Seleck: “The World Championships is my priority this year, and after finishing fifth at the Olympics. I am motivated to get back onto the podium. I am healthy and I have been training consistently over the winter, so things are going well right now and I am excited to race”.
The line-up also features Kyron McMaster from British Virgin Islands, who finished fourth in the Tokyo Olympic Games with a national record of 47.08 and won the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Yasmani Copello from Turkey, olympic bronze medallist in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and world silver medallist in London 2017, Thomas Barr from Ireland, Olympic fourth placer in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and European bronze medallist in Berlin 2018, Jaheel Hyde from Jamaica, two-time world under 20 champion in 2014 and 2016, and US David Kendziera, third at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene last year.
Women’s 400 metres:
The line-up features four of the top five women from the Olympic final and three women, who won gold medals in relay events in Tokyo.
Shaunae Miller Uibo from the Bahamas will take on Marileidy Paulino from Dominican Republic in a re-match of the Olympic final in Tokyo. Miller Uibo won her second consecutive Olympic gold medal last year improving the national record to 48.36 and the world silver medal in Doha 2019 in 48.37. last March she triumphed in the 400m final at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade in 50.31.
Paulino won the Olympic silver medal in a national record of 49.20. She claimed two consecutive Diamond League victories in Lausanne and Paris and finished second in Zurich.
The line-up also features Jamaican specialists Stephanie Ann McPherson and Candice McLeod, who finished fourth and fifth in the 400 metres and won the bronze medal in the 4x400 relay at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Sada Williams from Barbados, who finished second in Lausanne and Paris and third in Zurich last year, Kendall Ellis, Olympic bronze medallist in the 4x400 mixed relay, Lynna Irby, national indoor champion in 2022 and NCAA champion in 2018 in 49.80, and Natalia Kaczmarek, olympic champion with the 4x400 mixed relay and silver medallist with the 4x400 relay a Tokyo.
Women’s 100 metres hurdles:
All three medallists from the World Indoor Championships will go head-to-head against two Olympic medallists in the women’s 100m hurdles.
Kendra Harrison will chase her second win at the Doha meeting five years after finishing first at the Qatar Sports Club in 12.59. Harrison won won two silver medals at the World Championships in Doha 2019 in 12.46 and at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 12.52. In the first competions of the outdoor season the world record holder won two races at the Texas Relays in Austin with a wind-assisted 12.32 and in Tokyo with 12.76 and finished second in Walnut in 12.56.
Cyrena Samba Mayela will run her first international race since her world indoor gold medal in the 60 metres hurdles in a French Indoor record of 7.78.
Tobi Amusan will start her Diamond League title defence nine months after her win in the Zurich final in 12.42. The Nigerian finished fourth at the World Championships in Doha 2019 and Tokyo 2021.
The line-up features Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper from Jamaica, Devynne Charlton from the Bahamas, Gabriele Cunningham and Britany Anderson from Jamaica, who finished second, third and fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade 2022, and US Payton Chadwick, who won the 100m hurdles race in Doha in 2020 in 12.78.
Women’s 3000 metres:
Two-time Olympic gold medallist Faith Kipyegon will highlight a great 3000 metres line-up, that includes last year’s Diamond League champion Francine Nyonsaba, Ejgayehu Taye and Girmawit Gebrziahir from Ethiopia, world 3000m steeplechase record holder Beatrice Chepkoech, Caroline Kipkirui, who will run her first race for Kazakhstan, Beatrice Chebet, current world 5000m leader Girmawit Gebrzihair from Ethiopia, who clocked 14:49.97 in Nairobi last week, and Nadia Battocletti from Italy.
Kipyegon became the second woman to win back-to-back Olympic 1500 metres titles in Tokyo breaking the Olympic record with 3:53.11. The 28-year-old Kenyan star won the 800 metres in the past two editions of the Doha meeting in 2020 (1:57.68) and in 2021 (1:58.26), set her 3000m PB of 8:23.55 in Doha 2014 and broke the four minute barrier in the 1500m for the first time at this meeting in 2013.
She set the fourth fastest time in history clocking 3:51.07 in Monaco and won the Diamond League final in Zurich last year.
Nyonsaba won the Olympic silver medal in Rio de Janeiro 2016 in the 800 metres, the world outdoor silver medal in London 2017 and two world indoor titles over this distance in 2016 and 2018. Last year the Burundan runner finished fifth in the 10000m in Tokyo 2021 and won the Diamond League Final in the 5000 metres in Zurich. She improved her 3000m PB to 8:19.08 in Paris last August and won two more Diamond League races in the 2 miles in Eugene and in the 5000m in Brussels.
Ejgayehu Taye finished fifth in the 5000m at the Olympic Games in the 5000 metres and won the world indoor bronze medal in Belgrade 2022. She set the Ethiopian record in the 3000m with 8:19.52 in the Paris Diamond League meeting.
Beatrice Chepkoech broke the 3000m steeplechase record with 8:44.32 in Monaco in 2018 and won the world gold medal in Doha 2019 in 8:57.84. Chepkoech set her 3000m PB in the Doha Diamond League meeting in 2020 clocking 8:22.92.
Beatrice Chebet won the 3000 metres in last year’s edition of the Doha meeting setting her PB with 8:27.49. She won two gold medals at the World Cross Country Championships in the under 20 race and at the World Under 20 Championships in the 5000 metres.
Caroline Chepkirui Kipkirui won her first Diamond League race in the 3000m in 2018 clocking 8:29.05 and set her 5000m PB with 14:27.55 in Brussels 2017.
The best European runner in the field is Nadia Battocletti, who finished seventh in the 5000 metres at the Olympic Games with her lifetime best of 14:46.29 and won the European Under 23 cross country title in 2021.
Men’s 1500 metres:
Doha has always had a tradition in producing fast times in middle distance races and this year’s 1500 metres is promising an attack for the first sub-3:30 time of the year. World champion Timothy Chreruiyot will face world seasonal leader Abel Kipsang, Australian record holder Stewart McSweyn, two-time 3000m world indoor champion Yomif Kejelcha from Ethiopia.
Cheruiyot won the 1500m world title in Doha in 2019 in 3:29.26 and the Olympic silver medal in Tokyo 3:29.01. The Kenyan middle-distance running star won once in Doha in 2021 in 3:30.48 and four Diamond Trophies in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021.
Kipsang finished fourth in the 1500m at the Olympic Games in 3:29.56 and won the world indoor bronze medal in Belgrade this year in 3:33.36. The 25-year-old Kenyan athlete set the world leading time of 3:31.01 in the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Nairobi last Saturday.
The two Kenyan stars will face two-time 3000m world indoor champion Yomif Kejelcha from Ethiopia, Stewart McSweyn from Australia, who won the 1500m at the Doha meeting in 3:30.51 in 2020 and set the national record with 3:29.51 in Monaco in 2021, and Teddesse Lemi from Ethiopia, who finished fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrrade 2022.
Men’s 3000 steeplechase:
Doha will reunite the entire podium of the Olympic Games and the top five finishers in the men’s 3000m steeplechase. Olympic gold medallist Soufiane El Bakkali from Morocco will face silver medallist Lemcha Girma from Ethiopia and third placer Benjamin Kigen from Kenya.
El Bakkali set his 1500m PB clocking 3:31.95 in last year’s edition of the Doha meeting and won the 3000m steeplechase at the Diamond League meeting in Florence before claiming the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo.
Girma won two silver medals at the World Championships in Doha 2019 and at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021, the world indoor silver medal in the 3000 metres in Belgrade. Last summer he won the Diamond League race in Monaco in 8:07.75.
Kigen won the olympic bronze medal in Tokyo and two Diamond League races in Paris and in the Zurich final, where he beat El Bakkali.
The other names to watch are Getnet Wale, who finished fourth at the World Championships in Doha 2019 and at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021 and won the Diamond League final in 2019, Yemane Haileselassie from Eritrea, fifth at the Olympic Games last year, Abraham Kibiwot, who won the silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast 2018, Lawrence Kemboi Kipsang, who clocked 8:11.26 in Nanjing, and Ahmed Abdelwahed from Italy, who improved his PB to 8:12.04 at the Golden Gala in Florence last year.
Men’s 800 metres:
Donovan Brazier will return to Doha, where he won the world outdoor title in 2019 setting the US record with 1:42.34. Brazier also won the Diamond League Trophy that year in Zurich. The US 800m middle distance runner will take on Olympic silver medallist Ferguson Rotich from Kenya, Australia’s Peter Bol, who finished fourth in the Olympic final in Tokyo and Canada’s Marco Arop, who won two consecutive Diamond League races in Eugene and Lausanne last year.
Women’s triple jump:
World silver medallist and 2019 Diamond League champion Shanieka Ricketts will clash against olympic silver medallist Patricia Mamona from Portugal, who improved the national record to 15.01m in Tokyo, this year’s triple jump world indoor silver and 2019 Doha World Championships long jump second placer Maryna Beck Romanchuk from the Ukraine, 2018 world indoor silver medallist Kimberly Williams, and Thea Lafond from Dominica, who finished fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade 2022.
Men’s javelin throw:
Thomas Rohler will make his come-back from injury in the venue where he set his PB of 93.90m in the 2017 edition of the Doha meeting. The German thrower won the Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janeiro 2016 with 90.30m and the European gold medal in Berlin 2018 with 89.47m.
Another thrower with a fond memory of Doha is Anderson Peters from Grenada, who won the world gold medal in the Khalifa International Stadium with 86.89m. Peters won his first Diamond League competition in Paris Charlety with 85.98m last year. The field features Jakub Vadleich, Viteszlav Vezely from Czech Republic, and Julian Weber from Germany, who finished second, third and fourth respectively at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, and Andrian Mardare from Moldova, seventh at the Olympic Games last year.
Women’s shot put:
This year’s world indoor silver medallist Chase Ealey will face world indoor bronze medallist Jessica Schilder from the Netherlands, world silver medallist Danniel Thomas Dodd from Jamaica, Olympic silver medallist Raven Saunders, last year’s Diamond League champion Maggie Ewen and Jessica Ramsey.
