The competition features 32 Diamond Discipline events

The 2023 Wanda Diamond League kicked off in Doha on Friday, bringing some of the worlds biggest athletes on the track and field.

Sha’Carri Richardson, Neeraj Chopra, Katie Moon, Dina Asher-Smith, Faith Kipyegon, and Fred Kerley started off their seasons extremely strong.

Sha’Carri Richardson, the world 200m champion, was the standout performer of the night, winning the women’s 100m in a world-leading time of 10.76. She defeated both Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith, who made the best start, and Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson, who closed in on her. Jackson was second in 10.85, and Asher-Smith was third in 10.98, which was her outdoor debut of the season.

In the men’s 200m, world 100m champion Fred Kerley demonstrated his versatility by winning in a season’s best of 19.92. Kerley started slowly, as did Michael Norman and Olympic champion Andre De Grasse. Aaron Brown and Kenny Bednarek led the field, but Kerley sped home to take first place, with Bednarek finishing second and Brown coming in third. De Grasse finished sixth, and Norman came last in eighth.

In the men’s 3000m, Lamecha Girma, the world and Olympic silver medallist over obstacles, was victorious. He sprinted clear of Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega to win in a world-leading and meeting record time of 7:26.18. Berihu Aragawi of Ethiopia was third, and steeplechase king Soufiane El Bakkali was fourth, unable to keep up with the front three as they kicked on 600m from home.

Timothy Cheruiyot, a former world 1500m champion, finished fifth.

The women’s pole vault was won by world and Olympic champion Katie Moon, who cleared 4.81m on her second attempt. Tina Sutej was second, and Sandi Morris was third.

Neeraj Chopra, the Olympic champion, won the javelin with his opening throw of 88.67m. Czech Jakub Vadlejch came close to overtaking him in the second round with a throw just four centimeters shy of Chopra’s. Anderson Peters, Grenada’s two-time world champion, was third with a season’s best of 85.88m in round one.

Slimane Moula of Algeria won the men’s 800m in a time of 1:46.06, with Kenya’s Wyclife Kisasy coming in second and Djamel Sedjati, another Algerian, coming in third.

In the high jump, Juvaughn Harrison was the winner, clearing 2.27m on his first attempt. Woo Sanghyeok of the Republic of Korea went over at the third time of asking, and home favourite Mutaz Essa Barshim finished third with a best clearance of 2.24m.

Harrison cleared 2.30m on his first attempt and 2.32m on his first attempt as well, with Woo failing all three times. However, Harrison had his first failure of the day at 2.35m and elected to stop there.

To close out the night, in the women’s 1500m, Faith Kipyegon, Kenya’s world and Olympic champion, won in a world-leading time of 3:58.57. In the home straight, she took a couple of nervous glances over her shoulder as Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji stayed close, but Kipyegon took it home.

The 2023 Diamond League is the 14th season of the annual series of outdoor track and field meetings organized by World Athletics.

The competition features 32 Diamond Discipline events and replaces the dual-meet final format with a single final, which has reduced the number of meetings on the circuit from 14 to 12. The Diamond League offers the best athletes in the world a chance to compete against each other in the most prestigious track and field events.

Prize money is awarded to the top eight athletes in each event throughout the year, with the winner taking home $10,000. However, in the Diamond League Final, winners receive $30,000 and are crowned Diamond League champions. The competition’s final event will be held in Zurich, Switzerland, on 8 September 2023.