Nine Takeaways from the Asian Leg of the 2024 Diamond League
The Diamond League’s Asian leg, which consisted of three meets spread between China and Qatar, came to a close last weekend in Doha. Here are nine takeaways from the opening meets of this ever-important Olympic season.
Mondo is a freak
Onus Athletics is all about running, which means we never write about the field part of track and field. The exception is Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis, who has all but forced me to detail his incredible achievements once again.
Mondo opened his 2024 outdoor season the same way he ended his 2023 season – by breaking his own world record in the pole vault. Soaring to 6.24m in his first attempt at the height, he demonstrated that this year was set to be no different than last. A week later, he attempted 6.25m in Shanghai and looked, for a moment, to have cleared the bar on his final attempt. Unfortunately, he clipped it on the way down and had to ‘settle’ for a win and the meet record.
At just 24 years of age, Mondo is already an Olympic champion, a four-time world champion, a 28-time Diamond League winner, and a former World Athlete of the Year. His performance in Xiamen was the eighth time he had broken his own world record since 2020.
“It’s definitely possible,” he replied when asked if he could go even higher this year.
“I’m going to try and maximise the most of every day. There’s definitely more to give. There are still some higher heights in me, for sure, as long as everything is in the right place.”
Coleman is a little bit delusional
It’s one thing to have confidence in yourself; it’s another to say that there “are a lot of guys competing today who are not far off 9.58.”
Those are the words of Christian Coleman ahead of the Shanghai Diamond League, and that 9.58 seconds mark that he is referring to is, of course, Usain Bolt’s world record from 2009.
It’s not really clear why Coleman thinks this. A week prior, he won the 100m in 10.13 seconds in Xiamen, and the day after that press conference he finished second to Akani Simbine’s 10.01.
Nobody has run under 9.75 in 12 years, and of the five men who have ever broken 9.76, all of them except Bolt were banned for doping at some point in their careers. Maybe Coleman knows something we don’t, but from where we’re sitting, the men’s 100m is slower than it has been in decades. Nobody is getting near that record any time soon.
Gardiner needs to keep it together
If you’ve only recently started watching athletics, the name Steven Gardiner might not mean much to you. The Bahamian missed the 2022 World Championships due to injury, was wheeled off after collapsing during his semifinal at the 2023 World Championships, and has only raced at four Diamond Leagues in the past five years. Nevertheless, when he is healthy enough to get to a finish line, he is almost impossible to beat.
Gardiner is the 2019 World Champion, the reigning Olympic Champion, and the sixth fastest man in history. Since taking second behind world record holder Wayde van Niekerk at the 2017 World Championships, he has gone undefeated in all 31 400m races that he has finished.
That 31st victory came at the Doha Diamond League on Friday. Gardiner seemed to own the race from start to finish, comfortably prevailing over a field that included 2023 World Championship medallists and the 2024 world leader. His finishing time of 44.76 is his tenth sub-45-second performance from 11 races, with the one outlier being his 45.95-second victory at the Bahamian National Championships last year (a race he won by more than a second). If Gardiner can avoid injury for the next few months, he will have a very good shot at defending his Olympic title.
The steeplechase belongs to Chepkoech
After losing to Winfred Yavi at last year’s World Championships, Chepkoech will be looking to reverse her fortunes in Paris against the Bahraini and the rest of the world. While Yavi hasn’t raced in 2024 yet, Chepkoech is already two-for-two on the Diamond League circuit. Her first triumph came in Xiamen, where she clocked 8:55 to win by more than 10 seconds and rack up her ninth career sub-9 performance (nobody else has more than four).
The Kenyan took her next victory in Shanghai a week later, this time running in front of the pacemaker in a move that can only be interpreted as her having total confidence in herself. Indeed, her faith was well placed, and she came home more than eight seconds clear of her next closest competitor. It’s still early in the season, but Chepkoech is already demonstrating that she will be the one to beat in Paris.
Ethiopia vs Kipyegon
Last year, Faith Kipyegon had one of the best seasons we’d ever seen: she won two world championships, went unbeaten on the track and country, became the first woman to break 3:50 for 1500m, and set four world records. This year, there are a host of Ethiopians looking to stand in her way.
Leading that charge is Gudaf Tsegay, who opened her 2024 account at the Xiamen Diamond League. Kipyegon withdrew from this race without citing a reason, but that didn’t seem to impact Tsegay, who stormed to victory in 3:50.3 to move to number three on the all-time list. Four Ethiopians followed Tsegay home, with a total of seven from the East African nation finishing in the top 10.
Tsegay is the reigning world 10,00m champion and 5000m world record holder – a mark she took from Kipyegon late last year – and could be following in the footsteps of Sifan Hassan come Paris.
“Which one? I don’t know,” Tsegay admitted when asked about her plans for the Olympics.
“I’ll see with my coach in training. Maybe all three events [the 1500m, 5000m and 10,00m].”
Tsegay didn’t travel to the Doha Diamond League, but world indoor 1500m champion Frewenyi Hailu did. The Ethiopian drove an unusually early gap between herself and the rest of the field and still had more than three seconds over second place at the bell. Australia’s Jessica Hull reduced that gap to just 0.4 seconds by the line but couldn’t find a way to spoil the Ethiopian party. The country continues its streak of having won every major 1500m race so far this year.
If Kipyegon is to defend her 1500m title at the Olympics – which she has held since 2016 – she will need to beat what will likely be one of the strongest Ethiopian teams we have ever seen.
The Women’s 5000m was the most African race I have ever seen
East Africans dominating the distance running scene is nothing new, but the two 5000m races we saw on the Asian leg of the Diamond League were something else.
Here are the results lists from those two races:
Of the 40 athletes that made it to the two start lines, less than a quarter were from outside East Africa, and Great Britain’s Megan Keith was the only non-Kenyan/Ethiopian in the top 10 in either of the races.
Shanghai’s race didn’t even count towards the Diamond League standings, and yet 15 East Africans showed up to stamp their overwhelming authority on the distance. 18-year-old Mekedes Alemeshete led an Ethiopian sweep, picking up the third international win of her young career and taking a healthy eight seconds off her personal best. Perhaps more impressively, she also beat former 5000m world record holder and three-time world champion Letesenbet Gidey to the line.
Two weeks later, in Doha, Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet executed a patient race, sitting on the shoulder of her Ethiopian rivals until the final 200m, where she put almost three seconds between herself and second place. Chebet only managed bronze in the 5000m at the World Championships last year, but the world 5km record holder and reigning world cross country champion looks to be in form to improve upon that result in Paris.
Chebet was followed by no less than seven Ethiopians in a row, with the country fielding more than two-thirds of the entrants. Honestly, the Ethiopian Athletics Federation is going to have an impossible task on its hands when it comes to narrowing down a team of just three women for the Olympics. Under the World Athletics guidelines for Olympic selection, the country currently has 28 eligible women. By comparison, the next closest country is Kenya with 13, followed by the USA with four. It may very well be that the Ethiopian trials are more competitive than the Olympics themselves.
Richardson has had a rough start to the season
Sha'Carri Richardson has some work to do if she wants to get back into world-beating form in time for the Olympics. The American, who picked up two golds and a bronze at last year’s World Championships, is yet to win a race in 2024.
Richardson opened her Diamond League campaign in Xiamen, running 22.99 seconds for 200m to come home second to Australia’s Torrie Lewis. A week later in Shanghai, the American ran even slower, clocking 23.11 to finish third, some half a second adrift of the winner. This was the first time in four years that she had run slower than 23 seconds.
Despite her performances, Richardson remained confident in a post-race interview with Citius Mag.
“I know what I need to work on... I'm pretty sure by the time I get back to the warm-up area, he [my coach] is already formulating how to get better for the next race, so I'm excited for my next meet.”
Torrie Lewis (L) beats Sha’Carri Richardson (R) over 200m in Xiamen
(some of) The Aussies are on the rise
For a long time, Australian runners have sort of just been making up the numbers. It’s been decades since the likes of Cathy Freeman and Benita Willis brought home Olympic and world titles for the country, and while we may not be returning to those heights just yet, Australian distance runners are certainly on the rise.
By far, the most impressive performance from an Australian at the Diamond League this year has been Torrie Lewis' win in the 200m in Xiamen. In her Diamond League debut, the 19-year-old prevailed over multiple world champion Sha’Carri Richardson to become the first Australian ever to win a Diamond League sprint.
In the middle-distance events, Jessica Hull came agonisingly close to catching world indoor champion Freweyni Hailu in the final stages of the 1500m in Doha. The Ethiopian broke away from the field on the first lap and built her gap to more than three seconds by the bell. With Nelly Chepchirchir and Worknesh Mesele for company, Hull hunted Hailu around the final lap, reducing the gap to just 0.4 seconds by the line to claim second.
Jessica Hull (L) finishes second in the 1500m at the Doha Diamond League
Other strong performances have included Sarah Billings and Georgia Griffith dipping under four minutes for 1500m for the first time in their careers in Xiamen, with the latter finishing sixth to take top non-Ethiopian honours in the race. A week later, in Shanghai, Rose Davies became the second Australian (behind Hull) to achieve the 2024 Olympic qualifying standard for 5000m, running 14:47 and taking 10 seconds off her personal best.
On the men’s side, Stewart McSweyn beat the likes of two-time world champion Muktar Edris to finish seven seconds behind the winner of the 5000m in Xiamen. The Tasmanian finished fourth in the 1500m at the Australian National Championships last month, which may have been the catalyst he needed to return his attention to the longer distances. McSweyn is no slouch over 1500m – he finished seventh at the Olympics in 2021, ninth at the World Championships in 2022, and seventh again at the 2023 World Championships – but it does seem as though he has reached his ceiling in the event. He hasn’t set a personal best in three years, and it’s extremely unlikely he will ever be a world championship medallist over the distance. That’s not to say he will win one in the 5000m, but unlike the 1500m, he probably still has more to give over the longer distances. McSweyn has had a problematic relationship with the 5000m over the last couple of years to say the least, so it’s nice to see him back in form, especially in his season opener.
The Women’s 100m Hurdles is going to be the most exciting event in Paris
The women’s 100m hurdles is such a concentration of talent at the moment, so it’s nice for spectators that it was the only event to be held at all three of the Asian Diamond League meets this year.
The season opener in Xiamen featured the reigning world champion, reigning Olympic champion, and the indoor and outdoor world record holders. Devynne Charlton exploded out of the blocks as usual, but it was Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn who timed her late surge perfectly to take her 10th career Diamond League win. Charlton had to settle for second, with Cyrena Samba-Mayela finishing third for a new French national record.
That same script played out again a week later in Shanghai, with a few tweaks. The race was called back after it looked like world record holder Tobi Amusan had false started, but the race directors couldn’t be confident and allowed her to run under protest. Charlton was once again the quickest out of the blocks, and Comacho-Quinn once again mounted a late charge to beat her Bahamian rival in a photo finish and secure the win. Amusan was actually first to the line but lost her protest and was disqualified on review. The Nigerian has had a disappointing Diamond League season so far, but has run well elsewhere, such as at the Jamaica Athletics Invitational last Saturday, where she clocked a world-leading 12.40 seconds.
The 100m hurdles in Doha, which lacked the talent of the two Chinese meets, proved you don’t need big names to have an exciting race. After the favourite, Alaysha Johnson, knocked over the first two hurdles and was eventually disqualified, a four-woman photo finish saw Ditaji Kambundji prevail for the first Diamond League win of her career.
A comprehensive look at the current landscape of the women’s 100m hurdles is outside the scope of this article, but the event is easily one of the most competitive on the circuit this year. What’s more, it’s well-established that the best hurdlers don’t duck each other, so expect many more exciting matchups on the road to Paris.
Ultimately, the season is just getting started. The Pre Classic (Eugene Diamond League) later this month is set to be incredible, and the Bislett Games (Oslo Diamond League) less than a week later is shaping up to be a worthy encore.
You can find out more about all of this year’s Diamond League meets here.