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 7th overall and Sharika Nelvis ended up the
top American in 3rd (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 36th
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 3rd in the meet with a 1:44.70. While a 3rd
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 5th.
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 3rd 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 4th 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 3rd 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 3rd overall in a new personal
best time of 8:29.02.
