Doha Diamond League Recap

I know it’s been almost a week since the Doha meet, but I figured I’d recap it anyway. I don’t think anyone was hanging on by a thread waiting for the recap and, let’s face it, this is mostly for me so I can gather and organize my thoughts to help me enjoy the next Diamond League races and the World Championships to come later this year. So let’s get to it.

Women’s Hurdles

As is the case for what feels like every Diamond League meet, the 400 hurdles was the first contest of the day. And, as has also started to feel familiar, Daliah Muhammad put down a dominate performance for the victory. She ran 53.61 to win by over a second (fellow American Ashley Spencer was second). It wasn’t the most stacked field ever assembled, but it was certainly a major statement. Muhammad likes to go out hard and then see if she can hold on and, in this instance, she had no problems in the home stretch. Everyone was ready to crown Sydney McLaughlin after last summer, but Muhammad is the defending Olympic Champion with a rising amount of big race experience and a ton of talent. I think she has a shot at the world record before Tokoyo 2020 is over.

In the short hurdles, Jamaica’s Danielle Williams picked up a bit of a surprise victory with a 12.66 clocking. Don’t get it twisted, Williams is awesome (I mean, she’s the 2015 world champion after all), but the Americans have recently owned this event, particularly Brianna McNeal. Yet the USA was nowhere to be seen as McNeal finished 7^th overall and Sharika Nelvis ended up the top American in 3^rd (12.78). Tobi Amusan of Nigeria came through for second in an impressive showing. The 22-year-old was bounced from the semi-finals in the London World Championships and the Rio Olympics.

The Jumps

It was a slow start for the #1 Pole Vaulter in the world in Doha, but ultimately Sam Kendricks righted the ship when it mattered most and came away with another DL victory. But the biggest story from this event was the reemergence of Thiago Braz of Brazil. After winning the Olympics on home soil, Braz has struggled in the Pole Vault the last two years, but mixing it up with Kendricks until the final round has to be a confidence booster. He finished the day at 5.71, his best mark since 2016.

In the women’s high jump, the large shadow cast by Mariya Lasitskene was gone, meaning a new star would have the opportunity to steal a DL gold. Many suspected it would be Bulgaria’s Mirela Demireva, currently the world #2 in the event, but instead it was a coming out part for 17 year old Yaroslava Mahuchikh. The Ukranian youth cleared a lifetime best of 1.96 to pick-up the victory. She and countrywoman Yuliya Levchenko (world #3) are possibly the two best young stars hoping to usher in the new era of high jumping. But still, this meet reminds us that nobody can catch Lasitskene when she is jumping anywhere near her best.

Caterine Ibarguen may be known for the Triple Jump, but the defending diamond league champion as really established herself as a contender for double gold after yet another major victory in Doha. Ibarguen won the long jump with a best of 6.76 it was considered one of the best fields of the day. She jumped 6.93 last year which was easily a lifetime best and, considering how strong Rojas has been in past triple jumps, she may actually have a better shot at gold in the Long Jump than the Triple. By the way, it looks like this event was Ibarguen’s 36^th DL victory in her career.

The breakout star in the Long Jump was Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk of Ukraine. She was a narrow second to Ibarguen with her best jump only 2 centimeters back. Clearing 6.74 is the best Bekh’s performed since 2016. She’s yet to be a true factor in the global championships as she hasn’t even landed a jump in a final.

200m

Turkey’s Ramil Guliyev, the defending world champion, showed why he was the class of Friday’s field with a 19.99 runaway victory. It actually looked like Guliyev might be in trouble after Aaron Brown ran a spectacular bend, but Guliyev calmly turned on the jets in the final 50 to blow the race open (Alex Quinonez of Ecuador got up for second). Guliyev is a really strong 200 guy which going to serve him well when rounds starting coming into play in global championships. Lyles has stolen all his shine recently (and has been close to untouchable at 200), but I think Guliyev will give him all he can handle the next time he hits the track in Doha.

If you’re calling Guliyev’s win emphatic, I’m not sure how to describe Dina Asher-Smith. The women who absolutely rocked the European Championships last year (10.85/21.89) threw down a 22.26 to scorch the rest of the field by 0.64 seconds. But ultimately, the Asher-Smith story will be decided by her performances against the big dogs later this summer. We know she can run fast, but she has to prove she can win consistently when it counts. This is her third individual DL victory and she’s still searching for a first individual global medal. Jamile Samuels of the Netherlands picked up the silver in a strong result for the 27 year old. It was her best ever finish at a Diamond League individual event.

800m

The men’s 800 was a thrilling battle to the finish as Nijel Amos of Botswana was able to sprint past Kenya’s Emmanuel Korir on the final straight to steal the victory 1:44.29 to 1:44.50. Korir, who won the DL last year and came in as the favorite, has rarely been hawked down at the end. And Amos hasn’t always been known for his strategic brilliance. But both runners were able to step up in this important moment. It will be interesting to see if this is a fluke or a trend for Korir (and Amos) as the 800 landscape looks a bit more wide open after one DL meet.

The USA’s Donovan Brazier finished 3^rd in the meet with a 1:44.70. While a 3^rd place result behind arguably the two most talented guys in the event is undoubtedly a positive, I found it an oddly passive result from Donovan. He was back a fair amount at the start and left himself a lot to do on the last lap. Still, now is the time to figure out the strategy and every bit of experience helps for a massive talent still looking to get into a global final for the first time.

The women’s race featured a familiar figure at that front. Caster Semenya was arguably more dominate than ever as she absolutely obliterated a star-studded field that included the most recent world and Olympic medalists behind her. She dropped a 1:54.98 to win by almost 2 full seconds against Francine Niyonsaba. USA’s Ajee Wilson grabbed third in 1:58.83 and Raevyn Rogers placed 5^th. Rogers mixed it up well with Wilson and got in a strong rep against the US record holder. I thought this was a very encouraging performance from her, even if she couldn’t quite hold on for a spot in the top 3 overall.

Men’s Throws

The Discus was all about Daniel Stahl. The Swede threw the Diamond League Record three different times and put together a consistent string of throws around 70 meters. Meanwhile, nobody else could crack 67. Stahl, who turns 27 this August, has yet to win a global title but will undoubtedly be the favorite this year. That said, he was chucking it well in 2017 (71.29 best) and still had to settle for Silver and in Rio, he didn’t even make the final. In 2018 he was second at Euro’s and 3^rd in the Diamond League Final. So the guy needs to prove himself in the big moments, but this event showed just how much of a cushion he has at this point in the season.

Nice result from the USA’s Reggie Jagers, who took 4^th overall in a strong Discus field. Jagers did not throw in any DL events last year, but did win the USA Championship with a monster 68.61 throw.

Three Americans were in the Men’s Shot Put final in Doha, including the eventual winner Ryan Crouser. Crouser put a 22.13 early and nobody was able to catch up. On paper, Crouser has owned this event as he has already been over 22 meters 4 times in 2019 (twice indoors) and 9 times in 2018. But Crouser didn’t even medal in the 2017 London Championships and he was 3^rd at last year’s DL final. You can argue that Tomas Walsh (second in Doha with a 22.06) has had his number since the 2016 Olympics and he was lurking not far behind him in this one.

Longer Stuff

In the 3000m Steeplechase, American Hilary Bor stole the show. Although Bor ended up second behind Morocco’s Steeplechase king Soufiane El Bakkali, he made a hard surge on the final lap and nearly broke the heavy favorite. He was rewarded with a lifetime best 8:08.41. El Bakkali never really looked comfortable in this race and seemed at multiple points like he would drop completely from contention, but ultimately class prevailed as he dropped an 8:07.22 for the gold. He will need to get a lot sharper if he is going to take down Conselsus Kipruto in the World Championships when he returns to Doha.

In the men’s 1500, the top contenders finished at the front of the race as expected. But it wasn’t quite the order most would have guessed. Elijah Manangoi held on against a hard charging Timothy Cheruiyot as the Kenyans went 1-2 to lead a 1 through 7 sweep for the country. Manangoi won worlds over Cheruiyot in 2017, but Tim had been the man in 2018 (including a DL victory and a 3:28.41). Ultimately, it seems like Manangoi just has the better kick if the pace isn’t super fast (3:32 was the winning time in Doha).

The race of the day was probably the women’s 3,000 meters. It was a battle between world record holders Genzebe Dibaba and Beatric Chepkoech, but the winner was somebody else. And few people were surprised. Hellen Obiri, who just recently was crowned the IAAF World Cross Country champion, put the pedal to the medal on the final two laps of the 3K and broke the furious kick of Dibaba to grab the win in 8:25.60 (Dibaba was 8:26.20). Obiri, who already has major wins on the track, is a phenomenal racer and really showed her class with a perfectly executed race against a deep field. The 3k may even be under distance for her at this point as she may try the 10k-5k double at some point over the next two global championships.

Shout out to Lilian Rengeruk who fell late in the race while in the top pack, but still managed to get back up and take 3^rd overall in a new personal best time of 8:29.02.