27 OLYMPIC AND WORLD MEDALLISTS TO TAKE THE STAGE IN DOHA, by Wanda Diamond League site

Across a high quality programme, event highlights are expected to include the men’s pole vault and 1500m, and the women’s 100m and 3000m.

In the men’s pole vault, world record holder Mondo Duplantis (Sweden) – World Championships silver medallist in Doha 2019 – will again be the one to watch.

Having set an outright world record of 6.18m at the World Indoor Tour meeting in Glasgow in February, he is now officially the best vaulter in history following his incredible 6.15m clearance at the Wanda Rome Diamond League on 17 September. His outdoor best exceeds Sergey Bubka’s previous record of 6.14m which stood for a remarkable 26 years.

Mondo Duplantis, photo by Giancarlo Colombo / FIDAL

Duplantis is joined in Doha by reigning world champion Sam Kendricks (USA), in addition to London 2012 Olympic gold medallist Renaud Lavillenie (France).

El Bakkali and Kipruto, photo by World Athletics

The men’s 1500m includes Olympic and world 3000mSC champion Conseslus Kipruto (Kenya), world silver medallists over 5000m (Selemon Barega) and 3000mSC (Lamecha Girma), both Ethiopia, and world 3000mSC bronze medallist Soufiane El Bakkali (Morocco).

Double Olympic sprint champion Elaine Thompson-Herah (Jamaica) and multiple World Championships medallist Marie-Josée Ta Lou (Ivory Coast) will go head-to-head in the women’s 100m.

Elaine Thompson-Herah, photo by Diamond League

Thompson-Herah’s 10.85 season’s best – set at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Rome – is the fastest time of the year to date.

Olympic silver medallist Dafne Schippers (Netherlands) has withdrawn.

In the women’s 3000m, an exciting field brings together Kenyan quartet Hellen Obiri and Beatrice Chepkoech, 2019 world champions over 5000m and 3000mSC respectively, in addition to Olympic 3000mSC silver medallist Hyvin Kiyeng; world 5000m runner-up Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi; world 1500m bronze medallist Gudaf Tsegay (Ethiopia); and world 10,000m bronze medallist Agnes Jebet Tirop (Kenya).

Obiri, Olympic 5000m silver medallist and 2019 World Cross Country champion, proved her recent good form with a world-leading 14:22.12 to win the 5000m at the Wanda Monaco Diamond League in August.

In total, six reigning world champions and three reigning Olympic champions will return to Doha for the Wanda Doha Diamond League.

In addition to those noted above, Timothy Cheruiyot (Kenya), world 1500m champion, will race over 800m.

The 24-year-old, who has a best of 1:43.11 from August 2019, clocked an impressive 3:28.45 to win the 1500m in Monaco, just four one-hundredths of a second outside his lifetime best.

Mike Rodgers (USA), 4 x 100m world relay gold medallist, will line up in the 100m.

Faith Kipyegon (Kenya), Olympic 1500m champion, will star in the women’s 800m. The 2017 world 1500m champion, runner-up in Doha 2019, set a national record of 2:29.15 for 1000m in Monaco, narrowly missing the world record for the rarely-run distance.

“In spite of incredibly challenging circumstances, I’m proud of the fantastic fields we’ve put together for this event,” says Khalid Al Marri, Wanda Doha Diamond League Meeting Director.

“It’s been a tough summer for everyone, yet we’ve witnessed some exceptional track and field performances. I’m confident that in Doha, the fourth and final competitive meeting of this shortened 2020 Wanda Diamond League series, that we’ll provide a fitting finale.”

Doha’s Qatar Sports Club will host the revised 12-event programme for the Wanda Doha Diamond League which includes sprint hurdles and 800m for both men and women; 100m, 3000m and long jump for women; and 200m, 400m, 1500m and pole vault for men.

Due to the impact of Covid-19, the 2020 Wanda Diamond League does not form a structured series of events leading to a final and athletes will not earn Diamond League points this season.

Check out tentative Doha 2020 starting lists here: https://doha.diamondleague.com/programme-results-doha/