Mutaz Essa Barshim, Elaine Thompson, Dafne Schippers, LaShawn Merritt and Kirani James among the biggest names starting their Diamond League season in Doha
Tickets now available at: www.q-tickets.com
An elite group of the world’s leading champions and the biggest names in Olympic athletics will open the Diamond League season in Doha, which will host a diamond-studded night full of thrilling competition across the various athletics disciplines, setting the Qatari capital alight with excitement and anticipation on 5 May. Entry tickets are now available at www.q-tickets.com to watch the giants of athletics compete head-to-head, live from the heart of the action, at the opening 2017 Diamond League meeting in Doha, one of the most important sporting events on Qatar’s sporting calendar, to be held at Qatar SC.
This year’s meeting will see the return of Qatar’s most famous and greatest-ever champion, high jump star Mutaz Essa Barshim, who will compete in front of his home crowd for the first time since winning silver at last year’s Rio 2016 Olympics. The 2014 World Indoor champion wrote his name in gold by recording the second-highest jump in history during the 2014 Diamond League season, before going on to claim the Diamond Race title in 2014 and 2015. Barshim lost the 2016 world title to American rival Erik Kynard, but the two will face off again this year in Doha and give their all to come out on top as they open their 2017 Diamond League season. Also challenging them in the same event is Britain’s Robbie Grabarz, who took bronze at London 2012 alongside training partner Mutaz Essa Barshim, promising an extraordinary high jump contest.
Among the most anticipated contests on the night is the women’s 200m, where 100m and 200m champion, Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson, will take on Dutch rival Dafne Schippers, last year’s Diamond Race winner, the 2015 world champion and 2016 Rio Olympic 100m silver medallist. Thompson became the first woman to win two events at the Rio 2016 Olympics in 28 years, since the legendary Florence Griffith-Joyner won the same events at the Seoul 1988 Olympics, setting a world-leading time of 21.78 seconds in the 200m final to get the better of rival Schippers and reclaim top spot since the 2015 World Championships in Beijing. With the 2017 World Championships in London approaching later this year, the two sprinters will no doubt be keen to come out on top in their first meeting of the season, though they will have to fend off fierce competition from 2004 and 2008 Olympic champion and multiple world championship medallist, Jamaica’s Veronica Campbell-Brown, and Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josée Ta Lou, who finished fourth in the 200m final at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Qatar SC is also expected to see an extraordinary men’s 400m, with two of the most famous champions and biggest names in the event going head-to-head: London 2012 Olympic champion and 2011 world champion Kirani James will take on Beijing 2008 Olympic champion and 2009 and 2013 world champion LaShawn Merritt. James is considered an exceptional talent, one of only nine athletes in history to win world titles at youth, junior and senior level, and he gave his country Grenada its first-ever Olympic medal. Merritt, last year’s 2016 Diamond Race winner, is the sixth-fastest man in history over 400m and one of only four runners in history to break 20 seconds in the 200m and 44 seconds in the 400m. The Doha meeting will offer both champions a golden opportunity to test their form and readiness for the rest of the season.
Doha’s large Greek community will also get the chance to cheer on their Olympic champion, Katerina Stefanidi, the Rio 2016 Olympic champion, who will compete in the women’s pole vault. The 2016 Diamond Race winner will face a tough contest against American rival Sandi Morris, Rio 2016 silver medallist, and Cuba’s Yarisley Silva, the 2015 world champion, in a competition set to be breathtaking.
Ahead of the upcoming 2017 Doha Diamond League meeting, Dr Thani Al Kuwari, president of the Qatar Athletics Federation, said: “We are all excited to welcome so many famous world athletics names back to Doha this year, including newly crowned Olympic champions. There is no doubt this year’s meeting will see thrilling, unforgettable competition with the participation of many of the world’s most famous and best athletes.
Al Kuwari added: “This event offers a wonderful opportunity for Doha’s different communities to cheer on their countries’ representatives, creating an enjoyable atmosphere for spectators of all ages. This is the tenth year Doha has hosted a major global athletics event, and we are certainly keen to build on this success and draw on our extensive experience to organise this year’s meeting to the highest possible standards, so that the Doha meeting provides an ideal and successful launch to the rest of the 2017 Diamond League season”.
It is worth noting that Doha hosted its first international athletics event in 1997, when it staged the Grand Prix meeting, which was later upgraded to Super Grand Prix status in 2005. In 2010, Doha hosted the first Diamond League meeting, which has since proven its worth and developed year after year as the traditional season-opening stop on the world tour. Alongside the Diamond League’s opening meeting, Doha has hosted major athletics championships, among them the 2010 World Indoor Championships, in addition to hosting the upcoming 2019 World Athletics Championships, which will be the biggest athletics event ever held in the Middle East.
This year’s Doha meeting will take place on Friday 5 May 2017 from 5pm to 9pm at Qatar SC. Tickets start from QR 50 each and can be purchased via the website www.q-tickets.com. Other names taking part in the event will be announced later as the meeting approaches, and you can follow the latest developments and news through the Doha Diamond League meeting’s website and social media channels.
