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Qatar Tribune
13-05-2025
- Sport
- Qatar Tribune
Doha Diamond League: 45 Olympic and World medallists to be on show
Dohadiamondleague Last year's event brought an incredible party atmosphere to the Qatar Sports Club and the athletes responded by treating the sell-out crowd to four world leading performances and two meeting records. Organisers have confirmed that in 2025, for the first time, athletes who set new meeting records in Doha (across all disciplines) will be awarded a $5000 bonus. Together with a record prize pot of $9.24 million across the Wanda Diamond League series, the announcement marks another welcome addition for athletes. Across a packed programme, highlights are expected to include the men's 200m, men's high jump, men's javelin, women's steeplechase, women's pole vault and men's discus. Notably, the women's 100m features Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce, one of the most decorated athletes of all time, and gives Doha athletics fans the chance to celebrate the global track icon in her final year of competition. Men's 200m Olympic 200m champion and World Athlete of the Year Letsile Tebogo (BWA) is the standout athlete in the men's 200m. The 21-year-old, a world 100m silver and 200m bronze medallist in 2023, clocked an area record of 19.46 to take victory in Paris and in doing so made history by claiming his country's first Olympic gold medal in any sport. It was the fastest time in the world in 2024 and moved him to fifth on the world all-time list. Tebogo, who will race in the Doha Diamond League for the first time, ran sub-20 seconds for 200m on nine occasions in 2024. Men's high jump Reigning Olympic champion Hamish Kerr (NZL) and former Olympic champion Mutaz Barshim (QAT) are the headline names in the men's high jump field. The 28-year-old Kerr – an athlete who has rightly grown in confidence over the past 12 months – won the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships with a national record and Oceania best of 2.36m, upgrading his 2022 bronze. He matched that height in Paris, winning Olympic gold after a jump-off. He finished second at the 2025 World Indoors in China following a series of early season victories in New Zealand. Barshim, who finished third in Paris, is also a two-time Olympic silver medallist (2012 and 2016). A true championship performer, he won an unprecedented third successive global title with victory at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene 2022. A great ambassador for the sport and his country, the 33-year-old launched his own innovative event in 2024 – the 'What Gravity Challenge' – bringing together a group of the world's best high jumpers at the spectacular Katara Amphitheatre in Doha. The 2025 edition of the 'What Gravity Challenge' took place on Friday 9 May and was won by Korea's Sanghyeok Woo (2.29m). Ryoichi Akamatsu (JPN) and Raymond Richards (JAM) – who will both take part in the Jetour Doha Meeting – finished second and third respectively with 2.26m. Men's javelin Olympic javelin silver medallist Neeraj Chopra (IND), the reigning world and Asian Games champion, will compete at the Jetour Doha Meeting for the third successive year. Chopra is India's national record holder with a best of 89.94m and he has a massive following in Qatar. He was the first Indian track and field athlete to set a world record (under-20) when he threw 86.48m to win the 2016 World U20 Championships, which was also the first time an Indian athlete had won a global track and field title. He made history in Tokyo (2021) when he became the country's first Olympic gold medallist in track and field and that trend continued at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest when he became the first athlete from India to strike gold. Although finishing runner-up to Pakistan's Arshad Nadeem in Paris 2024, Chopra delivered the second-best throw of his career (at the time) with 89.45m. He impressively improved that mark to 89.49m at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne two weeks later. The Doha javelin competition has built a reputation for its high quality in recent years and this year's edition should be no different as Chopra – who is now coached by Jan Zelezny (CZE), the world javelin record holder (98.48m) and a multiple Olympic and world champion – headlines a field that includes Olympic bronze medallist, former world champion and Diamond League champion Anderson Peters (GRN); former Olympic and world silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch (CZE); former European champion Julian Weber (GER); former world champion and Olympic silver medallist Julius Yego (KEN); and former Olympic champion Keshorn Walcott (TTO). Women's steeplechase Olympic champion Winfred Yavi (BRN) will be reunited with Paris silver and bronze medallists Peruth Chemutai (UGA) and Faith Cherotich (KEN) in a top-quality women's 3000m steeplechase field in Doha. Yavi – the Asian record holder with a best of 8:44.39 (Rome, 2024) – is the second-fastest women's steeplechaser of all time and holds three of the ten quickest times ever recorded. She is currently the reigning Olympic, world and Asian Games champion and has said she wants to 'run fast and set a high standard' in her Diamond League season-opener. Ugandan record-holder Chemutai, who won the Olympic title in Tokyo (2021), is ranked third-fastest all-time with a best 8:48.03 achieved at the 2024 Diamond League event in Rome where she finished second to Yavi. Women's pole vault Katie Moon (USA) and Alysha Newman (CAN) – who won silver and bronze medals respectively at the Olympic Games in Paris – will clash again in Doha alongside last season's victor Molly Caudery (GBR), the British record holder (4.92m) and 2024 world indoor champion. Moon, a two-time world champion (Eugene 2022 and Budapest 2023), was Olympic champion in Tokyo 2021 and has a best of 4.95m. She was a world indoor medallist in 2022 (silver) and 2024 (bronze) and was crowned Diamond League champion in 2023. She had her best ever indoor season but chose to forego the World Indoor Championships with her ultimate goal for the year to retain her world title in Tokyo. Men's discus Olympic discus bronze medallist Matt Denny (AUS) – ranked second on the world all-time list after his impressive 74.78m throw in Ramona in April – will compete against reigning world champion and former Olympic champion Daniel Stahl (SWE) and 2022 world champion Kristjan Ceh (SLO) at the Jetour Doha Meeting. Women's 100m All eyes will be onmultiple Olympic and world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (JAM) as she opens her 2025 Wanda Diamond League season in Doha. The global track icon, now 38-years-old, became the first Jamaican woman to win an Olympic women's 100m title at the Beijing Games in 2008 and successfully defended her title in London 2012. She has won a record five global 100m titles to date, including at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha (where she also won 4 x 100m relay gold), and was named Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year at the prestigious 2023 Laureus World Sports Awards. Third-fastest of all-time over 100m with a best of 10.60s (Lausanne, 2021), she last competed at the Diamond League meeting in Doha in 2021 where she took victory in the 100m in 10.84s (+1.1m/s). 'Doha holds a special place in my heart, and I'm truly excited to return for this year's Diamond League,' said the 'Pocket Rocket' who will be up against recently crowned world indoor 60m champion and reigning European champion Mujinga Kambundji (SUI). Eight reigning individual Olympic and world champions will compete at the Jetour Doha Meeting and in addition to those already mentioned are Thea LaFond (DMA), Olympic triple jump gold medallist in Paris, and Serbia's Ivana Spanovic (Vuleta), world long jump gold medallist in Budapest (who will compete in the triple jump in Doha). The Jetour Doha Meeting is the third meeting of the 2025 Wanda Diamond League. The series – which started in Xiamen on 26 April – comprises 15 of the most prestigious events in global track and field across four different continents and concludes with a single final across two days in Zurich (27-28 August).
Qatar Tribune
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Qatar Tribune
Track icon Fraser-Pryce excited to return to Doha
Dohadiamondleague Multiple Olympic and world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (JAM) – one of the most decorated athletes of all time – will open her 2025 Wanda Diamond League season over 100m at the Jetour Doha Meeting on May 16 (Friday). Fraser-Pryce, who has won more sprint titles than any other athlete in history, announced in January that this would be her final year of competition. The 38-year-old became the first Jamaican woman to win an Olympic women's 100m title at the Beijing Games in 2008 and successfully defended her title in London 2012. She has won a record five global 100m titles to date, including at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha (where she also won 4 x 100m relay gold), and was named Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year at the prestigious 2023 Laureus World Sports Awards. Third-fastest of all-time over 100m with a best of 10.60s (Lausanne, 2021), she last competed at the Diamond League meeting in Doha in 2021 where she took victory in the 100m in 10.84s (+1.1m/s). 'Doha holds a special place in my heart, and I'm truly excited to return for this year's Diamond League,' said the so-called 'Pocket Rocket' who clocked 10.94s (+3.1m/s) in her 2025 season-opener in Kingston (19 April). 'From the start of my career I've understood the power of the platform that track and field provides. I've been blessed to compete at the highest level for many years, and with that comes a responsibility to lead, inspire, and uplift the next generation, especially young girls who dream of becoming athletes, mothers, and business leaders. That legacy continues to drive me. 'My focus remains sharp, and I approach this season with the same levels of discipline, passion, and determination that have defined my career. Every race is an opportunity, and I'm committed to making each one count.' The Jetour Doha Meeting is the third meeting of the 2025 Wanda Diamond League. The series – which started in Xiamen on 26 April – comprises 15 of the most prestigious events in global track and field across four different continents and concludes with a single final across two days in Zurich (27-28 August).
Qatar Tribune
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Qatar Tribune
Victory in Doha would be a real confidence booster: Matt Denny
Dohadiamondleague Olympic discus bronze medallist Matt Denny of Australia – ranked second on the world all-time list after his impressive 74.78m throw in Ramona in April – will compete against reigning world champion and former Olympic champion Daniel Ståhl (SWE) and 2022 world champion Kristjan Ceh (SLO) at the Jetour Doha Meeting on May 16 (Friday). Denny is in the form of his life. Crowned Commonwealth Games champion in 2022, he went on to win back-to-back Diamond League titles in 2023 and 2024. His Oceania record at the Oklahoma Throws Series World Invitational at Millican Field in Ramona (13 April 2025) came a week after breaking the 70-metre barrier for the first time in his career (where he also became the first Oceania man to thrown in excess of 72m). The only athlete to have thrown further is world record holder and Olympic silver medallist Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania (75.56m). Ståhl, Olympic gold medallist in Tokyo 2021, finished seventh in Paris. He has yet to compete in 2025, but – with the exception of 2024 – he has consistently thrown in excess of 71m every year since 2019 and his national record of 71.86m is the equal-sixth best of all time (with Slovenian record-holder Ceh). Ceh, the reigning European champion and 2022 Diamond League champion, will be aiming for his third successive win in Doha after victories in 2023 (70.89m) and 2024 (70.48m). World silver medallist in 2023, he finished fourth in the Olympic Games in Paris. 'This is a big year for me and I've had the perfect start,' said Denny who recorded throws in excess of 72m across three straight competitions in Ramona. 'My goal has always been to be the most dominant figure in men's discus. It's a hard feat right now because the event is in the best place it's ever been, but it's great to be a part of that. It's a nice feeling to have a lot of traction after the last few competitions and I feel pretty unstoppable. Obviously I'm after the world title in Tokyo later this summer, but to get a Diamond League win in Doha would be a real confidence boost at this point in the season.' The well-decorated trio will be joined at the Qatar Sports Club by 2024 Olympic finalist Clemens Prufer of Germany (personal best 71.01m); 2019 world silver medallist and Jamaican record holder Fedrick Dacres (PB 70.78m); 2022 European bronze medallist and British record holder Lawrence Okoye (PB 70.76m); 2021 Olympic bronze medallist and Austrian record holder Lukas Weißhaidinger (PB 70.68m); Germany's World Championships finalist Henrik Janssen (PB 69.94m); and Qatar's 2024 national champion Moaaz Mohamed Ibrahim (PB 63.26m). The Jetour Doha Meeting is the third meeting of the 2025 Wanda Diamond League. The series – which started in Xiamen on 26 April – comprises 15 of the most prestigious events in global track and field across four different continents and concludes with a single final across two days in Zurich (27-28 August).
