Jamaican star Yohan Blake is the first internationally confirmed name for the 2013 edition
Over its history, the Doha meeting has seen many stars of this venerable sport compete.
This year’s edition will be no different, set to be hosted by the Suhaim bin Hamad Stadium at Qatar SC on 10 May, and will feature a standout event: the participation of Jamaican athletics star Yohan Blake.
Blake will be the first reigning 100m world champion to compete on Qatar SC’s track since the Doha meeting became, from 2010, the opening round of the Diamond League, the IAAF’s most important annual competition. The Jamaican sprinter is also an Olympic champion in the 4x100m relay.
Blake wrote his name in gold letters in the athletics record books when he won the 100m at the last World Championships, hosted by the South Korean city of Daegu in 2009, becoming the youngest world champion in the history of the event.
Commenting on the Jamaican world star’s confirmed participation in the Doha meeting, HE Dahlan Jumaan Al Hamad, chairman of the Qatar Athletics Federation’s board and chairman of the Doha Diamond League organising committee, expressed his happiness at Blake’s expected participation, saying “We welcome Yohan’s participation in Doha, as watching a 100m world champion compete on the Suhaim bin Hamad track at Qatar SC will be wonderful for the organisers and the crowd.”
Al Hamad, who also serves as deputy president of the IAAF, added, “For the fourth year running, the Diamond League will kick off from the Qatari capital, and as in past years, our goal will be to organise a championship at the highest international standards and welcome the largest possible number of athletics stars, who love competing at the Doha meeting because conditions are always ideal for them to give their best.”
Blake, 23, was one of the stars of the London 2012 Olympics, contributing to Jamaica’s gold medal in the 4x100m relay, and also winning silver in the 100m and 200m by a narrow margin behind his compatriot Usain Bolt.
Blake will be the ninth Jamaican sprinter to compete in the 100m in Doha, an event previously won by two of his compatriots, Raymond Stewart in 1997 and Asafa Powell in 2010.
Blake: “I hope to break the Doha meeting record”
But winning the race title in the Qatari capital will not be the only goal for the Jamaican star nicknamed “the Beast”; there is a more important goal, which is breaking the Doha meeting record, set by Nigeria’s Olusoji Fasuba in the 2006 edition when he covered the distance in a time of 9.85 seconds.
Blake said, “This will be my first time competing in Qatar, and I can’t wait, as making my first appearance in the Diamond League in Asia will be exciting.”
He added, “From following past editions, the 100m in Doha always sees fierce competition and good times; I hope to break the Doha meeting record, as I always aim to give my best and surprise the crowd in every race I take part in.”
Breaking the Doha meeting record may not be difficult for the Jamaican star, as over the past two years Blake has recorded times better than this record on seven occasions, and his personal best of all time, 9.69 seconds, is the second-fastest time in the history of the 100m.
It is worth noting that Blake also holds the second-fastest time in the history of the 200m, at 19.26 seconds, and last February he also ran the 400m, achieving a good time of 46.77 seconds.
The Jamaican “Beast” always insists his ambitions have no limits, saying, “I am currently the second-fastest man in the world, and my goal is to be the best; to achieve that I have to put in a lot of effort, and I firmly believe that nothing is impossible.”
Doha 2013 – International Laurel
