by Larry EderThe Shanghai Diamond League is the second of the 14 Diamond League Meeting scheduled for 2018. Like Doha, Shanghai gives elite athletes a chance to open their season. In Shanghai, there were Chinese athletes in all sixteen scheduled events on the meeting schedule. This was quite popular with the 30,000 fans who attended. As we write about Doha, Shanghai and Eugene, @runblogrun is looking back at the first three meets to provide our readers some key observations.
1. Caterine Ibarguen is back in form. The colorful triple jumper won the Rio Olympics, then lost the London World Championships. From 2013 to 2016, she won all championships she entered. Her TJ PB of 15.31 meters, along with her HJ PB of 1.93 meters and LJ PB of 6.93 meters. At 34, it is obvious that she has years of competition in front of her.
Such a dominant performance from the Olympic Champion @tripleCIbarguen. 14.80m here in the #ShanghaiDL to extend her WL and take top spot.#DiamondLeague #RoadToTheFinal pic.twitter.com/aYqQJesWfs
— IAAF Diamond League (@Diamond_League) May 12, 2018
2. Omar McLeod is a champion hurdler. His wins at Rio and London were impressive. McLeod’s leg speed (under 10 seconds for the 100 meters) , and his agility over the hurdles should not be underestimated. Omar McLeod is racing into shape, and his victory in Shanghai, and the 13.16 he ran shows that he ups his competitive zeal based on the challenges.
âš¡Le Jamaïcain Mc Leod, champion du monde l’an dernier, s’envole sur le 110m haies et termine premier (13”16) ! 🔥
Déception pour les Français Garfield Darien (7e, 13”74) et Aurel Manga (9e, 13”86) 💥 #ShanghaiDL #DiamondLeague pic.twitter.com/saZC6l9AFJ
— SFR Sport (@SFR_Sport) May 12, 2018
3. Luvo Manyonga is a brilliant athlete. Luvo has overcome many inner demons, and he is focused on jumping. We spoke to him this past March, when he took silver at the World Indoors. In Shanghai, his massive 8.56 meter jump showed that he is capable of some very big jumps. The physical talent, the drive and huge level of fitness Luvo exhibits is complemented by his ferocious level of competition.
The South-African @lvjumper7 wins the men’s LONG JUMP with a WL distance of 8.56!
We hope Yuhao SHI will recover soon! man pic.twitter.com/YTYyvYnZ6H— DLShanghai (@ShanghaiDL) May 12, 2018
4. Mariya Lasitskene won her 40th straight high jump competition in Shanghai. The height was Liliputian by Lasitakene’s standards, but 1.97 meter took the cake. Lasitskene looks best when she’s jumping high. Lasitskene has a poke face during her competition and knows when to turn the focus on and off. Her agility, her finesse, and her competitive nature make her an unbelievable talent.
Mariya Lasitskene is leading the high jump standings after the @ShanghaiDL
Can anyone challenge her on the #RoadToTheFinal? https://t.co/ZXiOvWgUOe pic.twitter.com/n8WW3jL2fH
— IAAF (@iaaforg) May 24, 2018
5. Reece Prescod surprised many with his win in Shanghai. Prescod is a very talented athlete, and his height reminds one of our recently retired Jamaican. Reece went from last to first in the final fifty meters, keeping his cool and moving into the race. Pretty impressive for the young Briton. Bingtian Su ran a fine race, and even thought that he had won. Su leads Gatlin, but, by himself, Reece Prescod took the field apart from the outside lane.
6. Shauna Miller-Uibo is the Olympic champion over 400 meters. Her strength over 400 meters gave her a huge advantage over the 200 meters. Battling the 2015 World Champion, Dafne Schippers, Shaunae Miller-Uibo came off the turn and did not relent. She pushed down the final stretch and won in the WL of 22.06. A great start to an exciting 2018.
