More than 200 track and field stars including 12 reigning world champions and several national and world record holders will compete at the Doha Diamond League today.
The Diamond League series kicked off at Gateshead, North East of England last Sunday, with Doha being the second meet. The highlyanticipated event will be held at Qatar Sports Complex Stadium under strict COVID-19 protocols, outlined by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH).
Spectators are not allowed to attend the competition. Qatar’s reigning world high jump champion Mutaz Barshim is headlining the home side, which also includes Abderrahman Samba, the World Championship’s 400m hurdles bronze medallist.
“Doha is where it all started for me, and I’m always happy to compete here in front of my people. It is always special competing at home as I’m more motivated,” Barshim, who is marking 10th anniversary of his Diamond League debut, told a press conference yesterday.
The stellar line-up for the one-day event also includes Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, twotime Olympic champion and reigning women’s 100m world champion; Beatrice Chepkoech (Kenya), the reigning world champion and world record holder in women’s 3000m steeplechase.
Also on the starting blocks are 1500m world champion Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya, Russia’s Anzhelika Sidorova, the reigning pole vault world champion who won the title in a lifetime best of 4.95m.
Fraser-Pryce, who clocked 10.71 to win the 2019 world title in Doha, is eyeing below 10.70 in conditions, conducive to fast times. “I’ll be happy to be on the podium, but to be honest, I am more interested in running sub 10.70.
It is something I am working hard towards it. To have both will be quite interesting but running below 10.70 is my top priority,” said the 34-yearold Jamaican, who won her fourth world 100m title at Doha 2019 following a two-year sabbatical from the sport to have her son Zyon.
A trio of world’s best female pole vaulters will also resume their Doha rivalry today after the 2019 World Athletics Championships as Anzhelika Sidorova, Sandi Morris (silver) and Katerina Stefanidi (bronze) will be battling for glory.
“The global pandemic was a period of selfreflection for me and made me put things in proper perspective. Now, I am going to be treating every meet as if it is the last competition because you never know what will happen next,” Morris, the Rio Olympics silver medallist, said yesterday.
Cheruiyot, who has a 1500m best of 3:28.41 from 2018, said he is happy to be back in Doha - the city where he struck gold at the World Championships in 2019. “I’ve always loved competing in Doha and I look forward to another victory tomorrow (today),” he said. Meanwhile, apart from Barshim and Samba, a number of Qatari athletes are also taking part in the event.
These athletes include world-leading 1500m star Musaab Ali Adam, who recently qualified for the Tokyo Olympics. Adam will be competing alongside compatriots Hamza Driouch and Mohammed Al Garni. Also on the list is Olympicsbound Abdulrahman Saeed Hassan and the sibling duo of Femi and Seun Ogunode (100m), among others.
