With Worlds taking place in Doha in 2019 and with their being no Worlds to peak for this year, there are a ton of stars in Doha this year. The men's 200 is unreal and the men's 800 (Clayton Murphy) and women's 3k (Jenny Simpson AR attempt) should be great as well.
Preview here:
http://www.letsrun.com/news/2018/04/track-fields-opening-day-2018-doha-de-grasse-lyles-simpson/
and don't forget your Fantasy Diamond League teams.
Two competitions to watch closely for the women:
Sandi Morris vs Kat Stefanidi
The pole vault comp definitely earns an additional sentence or two in your article. Morris is hot right now, coming off the world indoor gold (4.95m) and having performed very well outdoors so far other than at Drake where she only vaulted 4.70i. A couple days later, still at Drake but outdoors now, she hit 4.88, so no worries there.
Meanwhile, Stefanidi is pretty darn good too. She's undefeated in Diamond League competitions in 2016/2017 over ten competitions. She's the Olympic Champ and the '17 World Champ. Her only issue is that she hasn't jumped outdoors yet this year and her PB is "only" 4.91m.
Last year both did Doha - Kat 4.80 to Sandi 4.75. It was Kat's opener while Sandi had done Drake (indoors and outdoors, both 4.72, compared to 4.70/4.88 this year).
I'll give the nod to Morris but odds have got to be close to 50/50.
Keni Harrison vs Brianna (Rollins) McNeal
If there were 3 attempts for each race as the pole vaulters get, I'd probably pick Harrison over Rollins most of the time. However, they each just get one chance and Harrison occasionally lets the pressure/nerves get the best of her. Rollins sat out 2017 after missing 3 random drug tests, so she probably eager to compete. She opened in 12.63 at Stanford and then ran 12.43 (+1.5) at Mt Sac, both WLs at the time. KH had a full indoor season culminating in an american record and world indoor title, 7.70i for 60m. Rollins wasn't eligible to compete indoors, but for all I know she was training and time trialing just as much. KH opened in 12.43 (+3.1) then ran 12.37 (+2.5). neither is a legal mark but wind or no wind, 12.37 is fast. Tailwinds don't always mean faster times in the short hurdles as if your strides increase you can hit hurdles or mess up your timing.
My pick is Harrison. She won Doha last year off of much slower SBs (12.56).
Kiprop listed anywhere?
Kiprop fan. wrote:
Kiprop listed anywhere?
You beat so many people to this one. Lol.
Ruth Jebet is listed!
Powell v Gatlin
W200m
3000m : Soi, Kejelcha, Edris, Longosiwa, Rop, Chelimo, Kipruto.
wineturtle wrote:
Start Lists
http://static.sportresult.com/sports/at/data/2017/doha/Startlists.pdf
That's the 2017 startlist
Kiprop fan. wrote:
Kiprop listed anywhere?
ePole Vault
Anybody know the deal with TV coverage? I see it's on the olympic channel from 12-2pm eastern, then again 6-8pm eastern. Is the second just a replay or is it more content?
Who the person with the Youtube channel that normally live streams these?