Mutaz Barshim
Doha: Qatar's high jump legend Mutaz Barshim and India's Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra will headline a star-studded Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha this week, with Olympic champions Marileidy Paulino and Soufiane El Bakkali also among the top attractions.
The Road to the Final returns to Asia as the world's leading track and field athletes gather at the Mazzraty Doha Meeting at Qatar Sports Club on Friday.
Barshim will make his first appearance of the season in front of his home fans in the men's high jump, while Chopra returns to competition after recovering from injury and takes on a strong javelin field led by Sri Lanka's world leader Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage.
Barshim, the former Olympic champion and two-time Olympic silver medallist who won an unprecedented third successive global title with victory at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene 2022, will be in action against two of the world's best this season, Ukraine's Oleh Doroshchuk, currently ranked World No. 3, and Czech Republic's Jan Štefela, the World No. 4 and owner of a personal best of 2.33m.
Despite the absence of the ‘Flying Kiwi’ Hamish Kerr (MZL), the Olympic, world and Commonwealth champion, the high jump field will also feature Italy's world No. 6 Matteo Sioli and Mexico's world No. 9 Erick Portillo who will add further quality to the competition.
Meanwhile, Chopra, 28, is a late addition to the event.
Neeraj Chopra
"First throw of 2026 lands in Doha! Neeraj Chopra returns to competitive action on June 19," his management firm Vel Sports announced on social media.
In May last year, the two-time Olympic medallist had breached the coveted 90m mark at the same venue. He had recorded 90.23m to finish second behind Julian Weber (91.06m) of Germany.
Weber won’t compete in Doha this time, but Pathirage, who recently made the eighth all-time best throw of 92.62m at the Rome Diamond League, is expected to pose a huge challenge.
Trinidad's Keshorn Walcott, the reigning world champion, former two-time world champion and Olympic bronze medallist Anderson Peters (Grenada), and world bronze medallist Curtis Thompson (USA) are also expected to start at the Suheim bin Hamad Stadium.
Julius Yego (Kenya), former world champion and Olympic silver medallist, Jakub Vadlejch (Czech Republic), former Olympic and world silver medallist, and Artur Felfner (Ukraine), European U23 champion and former world U20 champion, complete the field.
Pakistan’s reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem is not yet in his pre-competition phase and therefore will skip the Doha meet.
Meanwhile, in the women's 400m, Olympic champion Paulino launches her bid to reclaim the Diamond Trophy, while Morocco's El Bakkali will look to continue his dominance in the men's 3000m steeplechase.
The meeting will also feature reigning world and Diamond League champion Cordell Tinch in the men's 110m hurdles, alongside several world and Olympic medallists across the programme.
The Doha Diamond League was to be originally held on May 8 as the season-opening event but was postponed due to the West Asia conflict.
Organisers have once again confirmed that athletes who set new meeting records at the 2026 event will be awarded a $5000 bonus, an innovative concept that was first introduced in 2025.
