Doha Diamond League: Paulino, Zapletalova Set Meeting Records
The 2026 Doha Diamond League delivered a spectacular night of world-class athletics despite sweltering conditions at Qatar Sports Club, where two meeting records, two world-leading performances and a host of standout victories lit up the Wanda Diamond League. Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino stormed to a meeting record 48.91 in the women's 400 metres, while Slovakia's Emma Zapletalova clocked a world-leading 52.30 to break the meeting record in the women's 400m hurdles. Cuba's Davisleidy Velazco soared to a world-leading 15.13m in the women's triple jump, South Africa's Sinesipho Dambile earned his maiden Diamond League victory with a personal best 19.74 in the men's 200 metres, and a series of impressive performances across the programme ensured another memorable edition of the Doha meeting.
Meeting records set by Marileidy Paulino in the women’s 400 metres (48.91) and Emma Zapletalova in the women’s 400 metres hurdles with 52.30, the world lead by Davisleidy Velazco in the women’s triple jump (15.13m) and Sinespho Dambile’s 19.74 in the men’s 200 metres highlighted a great edition of the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha on a very hot evening at the Qatar’s Sport Club.
Women’s 400 metres:
Olympic champion and three-time Diamond League winner Marileidy Paulino pulled away from the field to win the women’s 400 metres in 48.91 improving Allyson Felix’s meeting record by almost a second. European champion Natalia Bukowiecka finished second in 50.10 ahead of world finalist Roxana Gomez from Cuba (50.23) and Egyptian record holder Bassant Hemida (50.50).
Marileidy Paulino: “Well, before I came here I wanted to open within 48 seconds and I succeeded. I am working hard on the weak points and I think that today I have proved that I am working on it. I love to compete!
Women’s triple jump:
Cuba’s Davisleydi Velazco won her second consecutive Diamond League competition with a PB and a world leading mark of 15.13m.
World champion Leyanis Perez Hernandez from Cuba took the early lead with 14.97m in the second round. Velazco overtook her compatriot with 15.13m in the third round, the first jump over the 15 metres barrier since 2024 and the furthest since 2023. World indoor bronze medallist Saly Sarr from Senegal finished third with a PB of 14.86m ahead of Liadagmis Povea (14.58m) and Olympic champion Thea Lafond (14.52m).
Davisleidy Velazco: “I am grateful to God, to my coach and to all those who have been by my side in this journey. I am super happy with this mark. It is a mark I expected, but not so soon in the season. I also want to thank Qatar and Doha for the opportunity, which I enjoyed a lot. My goal here was to win, no matter the mark I would make. I was leading with 14.97 but I knew I could jump over 15 metres. I tried to focus on that and I achieved my goal, From now on I will try to stay focused and keep working with a lot of discipline and perseverance to keep improving and to take home all the achievements I can”
Men’s 200 metres:
Sinesipho Dambile from South Africa stormed to his first Diamond League win in the men’s 200 metres in a PB of 19.74. Olympic finalist Makanakaishe Charamba from Zimbabwe finished second equalling his PB with 19.88. Olympic finalist Alexander Ogando from Dominican Republic dipped under the 20 seconds barrier with 19.96 to take third place ahead of Selepe Phaezel from Botswana (20.01).
Sinesiipho Dambile: “It has been a good one. This is my 4th Diamond League this year. My debut was in Africa in the first Diamond League meeting of the season, and all I was working on was just to make sure that I got my institution right and today, I guess I did it. I will say it is the best season of my life at the moment, I am still building, I am still gonna get better. I want the Commonwealth Games, I want the gold there, then I will go to the ultimate championship. For me and for my team, it is very important that we are going to work towards that. I have never been there before, so this is the year where I get to experience it”.
Women’s 400 metres hurdles:
World bronze medallist Emma Zapletalova from Slovakia got the track action underway with a win in the women’s 400 metres hurdles in a world leading time, PB and meeting record of 52.30. Zapletalova claimed her fourth Diamond League win after Rabat in 52.82, Rome in 52.58 and Oslo in 53.13. The Slovakian hurdler moved to sixth on the world all-time list and second at European level.
Men’s triple jump:
Double world champion Pedro Pablo Pichardo from Portugal leapt to a world leading mark of 17.71m in the second round in the men’s triple jump. Pichardo held his lead in the Final 3 and secured the win on his seasonal debut. The Portuguese jumper claimed the fourth win of his career in Doha following his victories in 2015 with 18.06m, in 2018 with 17.95m and in 2023 with 17.91m. Jordan Scott from Jamaica jumped 17.69m twice in his first and fourth attempts to take second place. World indoor bronze medallist Yasser Triki from Algeria placed third setting a PB of 17.67m. World silver medallist Andrea Dallavalle from Italy opened his season with 17.19m in fourth place ahead of Almir Dos Santos from Brazil (17.01m).
Women’s 100 metres:
Jamaica’s Kemba Nelson claimed her first ever Diamond League in a wind-assisted 10.88 (+2.5 m/s) ahead of this year’s world indoor champion Zaynab Dosso from Italy, who clocked 11.01. Patrizia Van der Weken from Luxembourg took third place In 11.05 beating Jael Bestue from Spain (11.07) and Anavia Battle (11.13).
Men’s pole vault:
World indoor and outdoor champion Emmanouil Karalis from Greece cleared 5.92m on his second attempt to win the second Diamond League competition of his career in the men’s pole vault beating 2021 Olympic silver medallist Christopher Nilsen and Sondre Guttormsen on countback. Sam Kendricks placed fourth with 5.82m beating KC Lightfoot on countback. Karalis made two unsuccessful attempts at 6.02m and one final try at 6.07m.
Emmanouil Karalis: ”It was not my perfect day. I was not as smooth as I wanted, but still, I know that I have those sights in me. I had a very good attempt at 6.17 but still I am very happy to take the win. When I was a kid I watched these amazing athletes, those big athletes doing amazing stuff with the crowd and engaging and doing these amazing performances. I am a people's guy, I am a crowd pleaser, so I am happy to give a good show and always enjoying myself.I am going to the navy, it is an honor, it is something a lot of athletes in Greece are getting into when they are getting Olympic medals.
Men’s javelin throw:
Sri Lankan record holder Rumesh Pathirage took the lead with 88.68m in the fourth round and held his lead in the Final 3 to clinch his second consecutive Diamond League competition this season following his victory in Rome with a world lead of 92.62m. Anderson Peters from Grenada placed second with a seasonal best of 86.38m ahead of Curtis Thompson (85.99m seasonal best). Neeraj Chopra from India, Olympic champion in Tokyo 2021 and world gold medallist in Budapest 2023, opened his season with a fourth place with 85.69m.
Rumesh Pathirage: ”2026 has been a very good season so far, but I wasn't able to get a massive throw today. However I will keep trying my best and I'm glad I had a win today. I'm happy in this Doha Diamond League, it was one of my dreams to compete here as the first ever Sri Lankan in the Wanda Diamond League circuit.
Men’s high jump:
European under 23 champion Matteo Sioli from Italy cleared a seasonal best of 2.29m to claim his second consecutive Diamond League win of the season following his victory in Rome with 2.28m on home soil. Sioli took the lead in the overall standings of the Diamond League with 16 points. The Italian high jumper had a clean sheet by clearing 2.16m, 2.20m, 2.24m and 2.27m on his first attempt before clearing 2.29m on his third attempt before failing one try at 2.31m. Three-time world champion Mutaz Barshim cleared 2.27m on his first attempt and made two attempts at 2.29m and one at 2.31m. Oleg Doroshschuk from Ukraine cleared 2.24m at the first time of asking to take third place.
Matteo Sioli: ”It's a crazy period for me and I'm happy for this win. It's a big pleasure and an honour to be competing with Mutaz Barshim. The conditions today were really, really good. The temperature was high, but that was not bad at all. I'm very thankful to each and every one who has helped me through this period.
Men’s 3000 metres steeplechase:
Two-time Olympic and world champion Soufiane El Bakkali won his third consecutive Diamond League competition in the men’s 3000 metres in 8:09.29 in the final race of the meeting holding off Samuel Firewu from Ethiopia (8:10.44). Daniel Arce from Spain took third place in 8:13.35 ahead of Abraham Kibiwot from Kenya (8:15.49).
Soufiane El Bakkali: There is no easy victory, it was not easy today because of the weather conditions. It was very hot, it is not like racing in Europe but the date of the meeting had to be changed and we managed to win the race. The goal was to run for 8.10 but we managed to finish it in 8.09. This is a good start for the year for me. After Rabat and Stockholm, now a win in Doha for me. There is no pressure this season for me, there are no big championships like the Olympics or World Championships. We have already defined our goals. The first objective in Rabat was to run under 8.00 and later this year, the Diamond League Final.
Women’s 800 metres:
USA’s Addison Wiley won the women’s 800 metres in 1:57.98. Wiley went to the lead at the bell, but she had to hold off a challenge from Ethiopia’s Tsige Duguma in the final 200 metres. The US middle distance runner had to dig deep to win ahead of 2024 world indoor champion Tsige Duguma, who finished second in 1:58.08. Halimah Nakaayi from Uganda, world champion in Doha 2019, took third place in 1:58.41 ahead of Prudence Sekgodiso from South Africa (1:58.61), Botswana’s Oratile Nowe (1:58.66), Ethiopia Getachew from Ethiopia (1:59.21), Renelle Lamote from France (1:59.21 seasonal best).
Addison Wiley ”I have been thinking about winning a Diamond League meeting for over a year now. I ran too hard and I knew I had put my all out there, no matter what the outcome was, but I kind of just asked myself 'how bad do you want this, do you want today to be the day or do you want to get 2nd place again?'.
Men’s 110 metres hurdles:
World champion and Diamond League winner Cordell Tinch won his first Diamond League race of the season in the men’s 110 metres hurdles in 13.23 ahead of 2022 European champion Asler Martinez from Spain (13.27) and Thomas Wilkes from France, who improved to 13.28. Enrique Llopis from Spain set a seasonal best of 13.31.
Cordell Tinch: “Just getting that the first one really does matter and you are able to keep the ball rolling from here. So finally to come out here, be able to get one. Not the fastest race but at the same time, we are in the same condition, so to be able to come out and be one that wins feels great. It is about how to navigate. It was very challenging last year to be able to come out and run as well as I did all year. This year, I did not start off the best but to build back up towards the end of the season and know that everyone is looking to beat you, that is another type of challenge”
Women’s 1500 metres:
Birke Haylom from Ethiopia won her third Diamond League race of the season in 3:59.91 ahead of her compatriots Saalon Berhe (4:02.61) and Haregeweyni Kalayu (4:03.56). Two-time European 3000m steeplechase champion Gesa Felicitas Krause finished fourth in a PB of 4:04.28 ahead of Ayeda Marques (4:04.61), Italian middle distance runners Gaia Sabbatini (4:06.24) and Marta Zenoni (4:06.25).
Birke Haylom: ”We did not do that much training because we had that many competitions, but I am happy with the result I got.”
Women’s 5000 metres:
Ethiopia’s Medina Eisa won a tactical women’s 5000 metres in 14:53.91 beating her compatriots Likina Amebaw (14:54.37), Marta Alemayo (14:55.65), Bernesh Dessie (14:55.85) and Hawi Abera (14:58.44)
Medina Eisa: “It was very hot. I managed to resist the heat and I was able to become the winner because of that and I am very happy. I was injured but now I was able to participate in the Diamond League and I am very happy to win this race.
