A Day of Distance Dominance: Asbel Kiprop, Conseslus Kipruto, Almaz Ayana & Caster Semenya Earn Big Wins on Track & Field’s Opening Day
by LetsRun.com
May 6, 2016
The season-opening Doha Diamond League meet on Friday was a day of dominance on the distance side, while several young Americans got their first career Diamond League victories in the field events. Perhaps the most-anticipated race of the day was the men’s 1500, and Asbel Kiprop got the win in dominant fashion, though his 3:32.15 time was slower than expectations. Conseslus Kipruto (8:05.13 in the men’s steeple), Almaz Ayana (8:23.11 in the women’s 3k) and Caster Semenya (1:58.36 in the women’s 800) all picked up dominant world-leading victories as well.
Though Americans were mostly absent from the distance events, they dominated in the field as Erik Kynard (high jump), Sandi Morris (pole vault) and Tia Brooks (shot put) all picked up their first-ever Diamond League victories (Morris’ 4.83 clearance was an outdoor PB and tied the Diamond League record). Americans Ameer Webb (19.85 in the 200) and Tori Bowie (10.80 in the 100) also picked up quick victories as the 90-degree temps were ideal for sprinting.
We recap all the action from track and field’s opening day below with results and analysis. Distance events first, then sprints, then field events.
Talk about the meet on our fan forum: MB: Official 2016 Doha Diamond League Discussion Thread.
Men’s 1500: The Magnificent Asbel Kiprop Crushes Everyone
Kiprop is undoubtedly the greatest 1500 runner of his generation and he showed it once again tonight by making a mockery of a strong field at the Diamond League opener. The pacers were tasked with going through 800 meters in 1:52 and Kiprop was the only one who dared go with them. The rabbits hit 400 in 54.83 with Kiprop half a second behind and already he had an eight-meter lead on the chase pack. He’d more than double that by 800 (1:51.34 for rabbits with Kiprop at about 1:52) and when Kiprop passed the final rabbit with 500 to go, the question was no longer who would win, but how fast would Kiprop run?
He hit the bell with a three-second lead, but his pace was slowing and at 1200 (2:49.54) a sub-3:30 clocking was slipping away.
On the backstretch, the chase pack, which was led throughout by Elijah Manangoi, started to fight back and close the gap somewhat by the top of the homestretch. But Kiprop’s lead was still huge at that point, 15 to 20 meters, and once Kiprop turned back with about 80 to go to check on the chasers, he realized he had the race won and stepped off the accelerator, waving to the crowd with 50 meters to go. He wound up cruising to an easy 3:32.15 win with a modest 56.9 final lap while the rest of the field engaged in a wild home-straight battle for runner-up honors. Manangoi was the best of the rest, holding off Silas Kiplagat and Bethwell Birgen in 3:33.67. But all three men were over a second and a half back of Kiprop who was, as he has been for much of this decade, in a class of his own.
Quick Take #1: The gap between Kiprop and the rest of the world has only widened since last year
Not all the Olympic medal contenders were in this race — Nick Willis, Matthew Centrowitz, and Abdelaati Iguider were all missing, to name a few — but this was by no means a weak field and Kiprop decimated it. Based on tonight’s evidence, it is going to be extremely difficult for anyone to beat him in 2016.
Quick Take #2: With that said, the rest of the field rolled over early
If Kiprop had run 3:27 and gapped everyone, that would have been understandable, but it’s odd for an athlete to win by 1.52 seconds in a Diamond League race when the winning time is only 3:32.15. Obviously Kiprop commands huge respect and it doesn’t always make sense to go with him, but the rest of the field allowed him far too big a gap in the early going. Kiprop came through 800 in roughly 1:52, which is 3:30 pace — fast, but not suicidal. By spotting him 20+ meters that early in the race, the rest of the field essentially told Kiprop “You take first, we’ll battle it out for second.”
If everyone else had kept a little closer to Kiprop, we still would have expected him to win (he looked like he had plenty left in the tank at the end) but they would have at least had a shot at beating him.
Quick Take #3: Should there have been a restart?
After the gun was fired, Aussie Ryan Gregson engaged in some handfighting for position with Bahrain’s Alsadik Mikhou and Gregson fell almost immediately and another gun was fired, indicating a restart. But the field kept racing and the race continued without a restart. We’ve never seen anything like it. A tough break for Gregson, who, to his credit, got up and ran 3:40.69 for last place.
The problem for Gregson is he is trying to hit the Olympic qualifying time for Australia. Nick Willis agrees with this tweet that Gregson got screwed:
. @RyanGregson25 flies all the way from California to Doha, and gets his Olympic qualifying chance ruined by officiating
— Nick Willis (@nickwillis) May 6, 2016
Quick Take #4: Nike, please get these guys some different singlets
There were 15 starters in this race, 11 of them sponsored by Nike. And apart from Kiprop, wearing his special blue world champion singlet, every single one of them were wearing Nike’s new black and white singlet. One of the problems with track and field is that it can be hard for international fans to tell athletes apart. Many athletes have fantastic stories to tell, but when U.S. fans watch a race like today’s men’s 1500, they see the recognizable star in Kiprop while the rest of the Africans blend together.
Giving them all the same singlet to wear only exacerbates this problem. Instead of having 10 guys wearing the same singlet, let’s have a few different colors schemes available.
1500 Metres - Men
Pts
1 Kiprop , Asbel KEN 3:32.15 10
2 Manangoi , Elijah Motonei KEN 3:33.67 6
3 Kiplagat , Silas KEN 3:33.86 4
4 Birgen , Bethwell KEN 3:33.94 3
5 Mouhyadin , Abdi Waiss DJI 3:34.55 2
6 Wote , Aman ETH 3:34.58 1
7 Biwott , Robert Kiptoo KEN 3:34.68
8 Kibet , Vincent KEN 3:34.81
9 Hlaselo , Dumisane RSA 3:36.65
10 Ali , Musaab Adam QAT 3:36.67
11 Wolde , Dawit ETH 3:36.95
12 Gregson , Ryan AUS 3:40.69
Mikhou , Sadik MAR DNF
Kivuva , Jackson Mumbwa KEN DNF
Rotich , Andrew Kiptoo KEN DNF
Men’s Steeple: Conseslus Kipruto Wins, But Doesn’t Wow Anyone
The rabbits did a wonderful job of putting the stacked men’s steeple on track for a potential season-opening sub-8:00 clocking as the first km was reached in 2:39.40 and the second in 5:20.00 but the runners didn’t prove up to the task.
2015 Worlds silver medallist Conseslus Kipruto was the only man with the final rabbit, Lawrence Kemboi Kipsang (who ended up staying in the race and finishing 9th), at 2k and he ended up with a much deserved and dominant victory in a world-leading 8:05.13. While Kipruto slowed over the final 1k, he was clearly the class of the race and had plenty of time to wag his finger in celebration during the final 10 meters.
Jairus Birech, the world’s #1 ranked steepler for 2015 and the world’s fastest man of 2015, tried to go with the fast early pace but by 2k he was already roughly two seconds back. He ended up best of the rest in 8:08.28. 19-year-old Abraham Kibiwott, the 2015 African junior champ who came in with a pb of 8:22.10, ran a smart race to finish third in 8:09.25 as Bahrain’s John Koech, who boldly ran with Kipruto for most of the race, was able to hold on for fourth in a new pb of 8:09.62 (previous pb of 8:14.75).
With 2 laps to go (5:54), a sub-8:00 was still barely conceivable for Kipruto but he was fading in the hot Doha air. At the bell (6:59), sub-8:00 was clearly not going to happen.
Six-time global champ Ezekiel Kemboi was a total non-factor throughout. He ran 8:31.18 for 12th.
Quick Thought #1: This race should make Evan Jager feel good.
There was nothing mind-blowing about this race for fans of Evan Jager. It was promising for Jager in a number of ways.
1) The greatest tactical steepler in history, Kemboi, was awful.
2) The winning time wasn’t out of Jager’s league
3) With 8 of the top 9 finishers in the race being from Kenya, this was a reminder of how the Olympics are a great place for Jager to pick up his first global medal as at the Olympics Kenya only gets to enter three steeplechasers versus the four they get at Worlds (for always having the reigning world/DL champ).
Kemboi in Happier Times
Quick Thought #2: The rough opening day for for Kemboi is unusual
Kemboi has certainly had some stinkers on the IAAF circuit in the past. For example, in his two European steeples last year before winning Worlds, he ran 8:30 in Oslo and 8:19 in Paris but that was after opening in 8:01 at Pre.
In recent years, he’s usually started well on the Diamond League circuit. Here are Kemboi’s Diamond League openers for the last five years.
2015 – 8:01.71 win at Pre
2014 – 8:04.12 win in Doha
2013 – DQ at Pre but he was battling for the win in an 8:03 race
2012 – 8:10.55 for 4th in Rome.
2011 – 8:08.34 win at Pre
3000 Metres Steeplechase - Men
Pts
1 Kipruto , Conseslus KEN 8:05.13 10
2 Birech , Jairus Kipchoge KEN 8:08.28 6
3 Kibiwott , Abraham KEN 8:09.25 4
4 Koech , John Kibet BRN 8:09.62 3
5 Kipyego , Barnabas KEN 8:10.11 2
6 Kimutai , Clement Kemboi KEN 8:10.65 1
7 Koech , Paul Kipsiele KEN 8:15.69
8 Mutai , Abel Kiprop KEN 8:16.84
9 Kipsang , Lawrence Kemboi KEN 8:17.79
10 Tsenov , Mitko BUL 8:21.34
11 Ismail Ibrahim , Mohamed DJI 8:23.77
12 Kemboi , Ezekiel KEN 8:31.18
13 Yego , Hillary Kipsang KEN 8:33.52
14 Targan , Abdalla SUD 8:38.82
Ezzine , Hamid MAR DNF
Sigueni , Hicham MAR DNF
Taleb , Brahim MAR DNF
Nganga , Bernard Mbugua KEN DNF
Women’s 800m: Caster Semenya Toys With the Field and Rio May Depend on What CAS Decides
Should we just hand Caster Semenya the Olympic gold medal? Or will she even be allowed to race women in the Olympics?
Those questions will be decided in the future, but for the present, Caster Semenya showed she is way better than the rest of the women’s 800m runners in the world as she toyed with the field in Doha before turning on the jets the final 60m to win in 1:58.26.
This one went out in 28 point, with the rabbit hitting 400m in 58.88, where Semenya was content to be running in lane 2 in roughly 8th place.
Semenya moved up a little on the backstretch and was 3rd at 200m to go and then moved into second around the final turn chasing Ethiopia’s Habitam Alemu, who led.
Alemu led at the start of the homestretch until Semenya went to the front and powered away to the win in 1:58.26. Alemu came in nearly a second behind in 1:59.14 as Eunice Sum and Malika Akkaoui also dipped under 2:00. Americans Chanelle Price and Molly Ludlow were further back in 6th and 9th respectively.
QT #1: CAS Likely Will Determine Who the Olympic Champion Is
If you’re new to this, Semenya is suspected to be hyperandrogenic (internal testes cause her body to produce testosterone at levels way above what is normal for women). Until last year, in order to promote fair competition, the IAAF had instituted rules that required hyperandrogenic women to prove they are androgen-resistant (and derive no advantage from their elevated testosterone levels) or bring their serum testosterone levels below 10 nmol/L (according to an IAAF statement women normally have serum testosterone levels of 0.1 – 2.8 nmol/L; men are above 10.5 nmol/L). In July, the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) temporarily threw out those restrictions and allowed hyperandrogenic women to compete in the women’s competition without any restrictions. We at the time pondered if it was the end of women’s sport as we know it and today’s performance leaves that question out there.
We shouldn’t hand the gold to Semenya yet because even if new restrictions are not put in place there are two other women suspected of being hyperandrogenic (Francine Niyonsaba and Margaret Wambui) who might be able to challenge her. But the other women in the world might be on a different playing field.
QT #2: The IAAF Needs to Get Back to CAS ASAP
The CAS decision according to the NY Times gave the IAAF “two years to provide more persuasive scientific evidence linking ‘enhanced testosterone levels and improved athletic performance.’”
Do we really need to wait two years? Semenya without testosterone blockers is dominant, with them she isn’t. Just show the Doha 800m to CAS. That’s all the evidence we need.
Semenya earlier this year had run 50.75 and 1:58.45 at the same meet.
QT #3: Habitam Alemu is One to Watch
The 18-year-old Ethiopian had never run under 2:01 until today. Now she’s got a nice 1:59 pr and a bright future. The 800 is one event Ethiopian women have not traditionally done well at except when Fantu Magiso popped up onto the scene in 2012 and ran 1:57 at age 20 – some speculate she also is impacted by the CAS decision.
800 Metres - Women
Pts
1 Semenya , Caster RSA 1:58.26 10
2 Alemu , Habitam ETH 1:59.14 6
3 Sum , Eunice Jepkoech KEN 1:59.74 4
4 Akkaoui , Malika MAR 1:59.93 3
5 Oskan-Clarke , Shelayna GBR 2:01.04 2
6 Price , Chanelle USA 2:01.05 1
7 Chebet , Winny KEN 2:02.27
8 Tracey , Adelle GBR 2:02.30
9 Beckwith-Ludlow , Molly USA 2:02.64
10 Ennaoui , Sofia POL 2:03.85
Lebid , Anastasiia UKR DNF
Women’s 3000: Almaz Ayana Picks Up Where She Left Off
Can we get a Ayana-Dibaba rematch?
World 5000m champion Almaz Ayana downplayed expectations ahead of this meet, saying that a left knee injury had bothered her in the fall and winter, causing her to skip the indoor season and tell the IAAF before Doha, “I am not fully recovered, but I’ll try my best tomorrow and we’ll see how it’s going to end up.”
It ended up just fine as Ayana put on another distance running clinic, ripping the field apart over the final kilometer to win in 8:23.11, just off her 8:22.22 pb.
Ayana was the only woman to go with the pacers early and at 1k (they came through in 2:47.57 with Ayana just behind), Ayana already had a gap of around 10 meters on the field. But rather than press on with the first pacer, Tamara Tverdostup, Ayana chose to sit back behind the second, Mary Kuria, and by 1600 meters (4:31), her lead had shrunk to only a couple of meters as Mercy Cherono and Viola Kibiwot had worked to reel her in.
But this would only be a race for about 100 meters. As Kuria dropped out just before 1700, Ayana threw in a surge and by the top of the homestretch, finishing off a 65.9-second lap, she already had eight meters on Cherono, who in turn had four meters on the chase pack. Ayana stretched the field out even further with a 66.0 on her next lap, her lead now 25 meters over Cherono.
As Ayana hit the bell after a 67.5-second penultimate lap, her lead was almost half a straightaway over Cherono and 2015 World 10,000 silver medallist Gelete Burka, who in turn had a sizeable lead on the rest of the field.
Ayana cruised over the final lap (65.7) but a PR and sub-8:20 clocking just eluded her. Cherono, who dropped Burka on the backstretch, closed well for second in 8:26.36 but no one was touching Ayana on this night.
Quick Take #1: Another masterclass in front-running from Almaz Ayana
Right now no woman on Earth, not even Genzebe Dibaba, is better at the long, sustained kick to the finish than Ayana, and you can expect to see her employ that strategy several more times this year. She’s only lost once since the start of 2015, in Paris last year when there was miscommunication prior to the 5,000 about who would lead which laps (Ayana seemed to believe that she and Dibaba would trade laps and go for the world record but Dibaba let Ayana do much of the work). Since then she’s been flawless and it’s scary to think how much better she could be by Rio if her knee is fully recovered by then.
Quick Take #2: Ayana and Dibaba need to race each other before Rio
What Ayana did tonight was very impressive, but in terms of a race, it wasn’t particularly exciting — as soon as Cherono and Kibiwot caught her, Ayana immediately sped up and essentially ended the race. It doesn’t make sense for her and Dibaba to tire each other out by racing every week between now and Rio, but we’d like to see them square off at least once before the Olympics. There’s a 3,000/5,000 on the DL schedule in Monaco on July 15, site of Dibaba’s 1500 WR last year. How about they go for Tirunesh Dibaba’s 5,000 WR of 14:11.15 in that race?
3000 Metres - Women
Pts
1 Ayana , Almaz ETH 8:23.11 10
2 Cherono , Mercy KEN 8:26.36 6
3 Burka , Gelete ETH 8:28.49 4
4 Cheruiyot , Vivian Jepkemoi KEN 8:31.86 3
5 Kisa , Janet KEN 8:32.13 2
6 Kibiwot , Viola Jelagat KEN 8:34.50 1
7 Diro , Etenesh ETH 8:38.32
8 Busienei , Selah Jepleting KEN 8:42.01
9 Bahta , Meraf SWE 8:43.08
10 McColgan , Eilish GBR 8:43.27
11 Gashaw , Tigist BRN 8:48.60
12 Belete , Mimi BRN 8:51.00
13 Dida , Dera ETH 8:54.73
14 Hawi , Alemitu ETH 8:56.03
15 Tesfay , Haftamnesh ETH 8:56.24
16 Heiner Hills , Madeline AUS 8:59.34
Kuria , Mary KEN DNF
Tverdostup , Tamara UKR DNF
Sprints
Women’s 100: Torie Bowie Smokes a 10.80
The Ivory Coast’s Murielle Ahoure got the best start but this one came down to 2015 U.S. champ Tori Bowie and 200 world champ Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands. Schippers closed incredibly hard but not hard enough to defeat Bowie, who took advantage of the warm conditions and slight tailwind (0.7) to tie her PR at 10.80. Schippers wound up second in 10.83, just .02 off her best.
QT#1: Don’t get too carried away by Bowie’s 10.80 PR in her first race.
Believe it or not, the fastest 100m of the year last year for the men was Justin Gatlin’s 9.74 in Doha. Neither Gatlin nor anyone else ever ran faster than the time set in the first Diamond League meet of the year. Clearly, the warm conditions in Doha (90 degrees today) and track lead to fast times.
100 Metres - Women Wind: +0.7 m/s
Pts
1 Bowie , Tori USA 10.80 10
2 Schippers , Dafne NED 10.83 6
3 Campbell-Brown , Veronica JAM 10.91 4
4 Ahouré , Murielle CIV 11.02 3
5 Ta Lou , Marie-Josée CIV 11.05 2
6 Facey , Simone JAM 11.05 1
7 Barber , Mikele USA 11.30
8 Tarmoh , Jeneba USA 11.41
Men’s 110m Hurdles: Jamaica Goes 1-2 as Aries Merritt Returns to the Diamond League
Omar McLeod of Jamaica kept his perfect 2016 season going as he ran a world-leading 13.05 to get the win despite hitting the second to last hurdle hard. He remains undefeated indoors and out in the hurdles this year.
The runner-up here was countryman Hansle Parchment, who got the silver at Worlds last year.
Aries Merritt continued his return from his kidney transplant after Worlds, as he ran his second 110m hurdle race of the year improving on the 13.61 he ran at Drake by running 13.37.
QT #1: Kidney Transplant in August, World-Class Hurdling in May
Medical science is amazing and so is Aries Merritt.
QT #2: Can the Jamaicans Start Dominating the Hurdles Like The Do the Sprints?
A year ago we would have said no way. Now it seems more like a remote possibility.
110 Metres Hurdles - Men Wind: +1.4 m/s
Pts
1 McLeod , Omar JAM 13.05 10
2 Parchment , Hansle JAM 13.10 6
3 Ortega , Orlando ESP 13.12 4
4 Oliver , David USA 13.16 3
5 Bascou , Dimitri FRA 13.33 2
6 Merritt , Aries USA 13.37 1
7 Adams , Spencer USA 13.44
8 Alkana , Antonio RSA 13.50
Men’s 400m: LaShawn Merritt Gets His First 400m Win of 2016
LaShawn Merritt got his first 400m win of the season, having more than enough the final straight to hold off Machel Cedenio of Trinidad and Tobago for the win in 44.41. Cedenio, the Diamond League winner in Stockholm last year and part of T&T’s silver medal 4×400 relay team at Worlds, got a season’s best in 2nd in 44.68. Further back, last year’s Worlds 4th placer Luguelin Santos was last in 46.53 and Worlds 5th placer Isaac Makwala was 6th in 45.71.
Merritt has already run 44.22 (in a loss last week to Kirani James at Drake) and 19.78 this year.
QT #1: Santos and Makwala had better figure it out quickly as it’s likely going to take 44-mid to make the final at Worlds.
QT #2: Props to the Drake Relays for getting Kirani James and LaShawn Merritt to square off last week, an impressive feat the Diamond League could not even match.
400 Metres - Men
Pts
1 Merritt , LaShawn USA 44.41 10
2 Cedenio , Machel TTO 44.68 6
3 Haroun , Abdalelah QAT 44.81 4
4 Verburg , David USA 45.54 3
5 McQuay , Tony USA 45.65 2
6 Makwala , Isaac BOT 45.71 1
7 Gardiner , Steven BAH 46.39
8 Santos , Luguelín DOM 46.53
Men’s 200m: Ameer Webb Continues Fine 2016, Walter Dix Returns to Diamond League
Ameer Webb came into Doha in great form, having already run 19.91 and 9.90w this year, and left it in even better form as he got the win in a world-leading 19.85. Webb, the 2013 NCAA indoor and outdoor 200 champ for Texas A&M, set a new meet record and personal best in the process.
Webb is really thriving now that he’s training under Dan Pfaff as part of the Altis Group in Arizona as his pb coming in the year was 20.02.
There was a close three-way battle for second between 2015 Diamond league champion Alonso Edward of Panama (20.06), Femi Ogunode of Qatar (20.10), and Walter Dix (20.14). Dix was competitive in his return to the Diamond League circuit for the first time since 2013, as 20.14 is his fastest time since 2013. Dix’s pb is 19.53.
200 Metres - Men Wind: +1.9 m/s
Pts
1 Webb , Ameer USA 19.85 10
2 Edward , Alonso PAN 20.06 6
3 Ogunode , Femi QAT 20.10 4
4 Dix , Walter USA 20.14 3
5 Martina , Churandy NED 20.24 2
6 Young , Isiah USA 20.29 1
7 Ashmeade , Nickel JAM 20.31
8 Tsákonas , Likoúrgos-Stéfanos GRE 20.66
Women’s 400m Hurdles: Eilidh Doyle Opens Well
2014 European champ Eilidh Doyle (nee Child) was the class of the women’s 400 hurdles field as she won going away in a world-leading 54.53. It was by far the best season opener for Doyle, who was sixth at Worlds last year, as her previous best season opener came in Doha in 2014 (55.43).
World indoor 400 champ Kemi Adekoya of Bahrain, who has a pb of 54.12 but was DQ’d at Worlds, also ran well to take second in 54.87.
2015 bronze medallist Cassandra Tate of the US, who ran 55.91 last week at Drake, improved to 55.57 for 5th.
400 Metres Hurdles - Women
Pts
1 Doyle , Eilidh GBR 54.53 10
2 Adekoya , Oluwakemi BRN 54.87 6
3 Spencer , Kaliese JAM 55.02 4
4 Nel , Wenda RSA 55.17 3
5 Tate , Cassandra USA 55.57 2
6 Beesley , Meghan GBR 55.72 1
7 Williams , Tiffany USA 56.57
8 Hayes , Jernail USA 1:00.48
Field Events
Women’s Pole Vault: Sandi Morris Gets DL Win #1 and Ties DL Record
World Indoor silver medallist Sandi Morris picked up her first Diamond League win in style, tying Yarisley Silva’s Diamond League record of 4.83, a two-centimeter outdoor PR for Morris (her indoor best is 4.95). It was a great night for vaulting — warm temps without much wind — and the field took advantage as Nicole Buchler (Swiss national record of 4.78) and World Indoor bronze medallist Katerina Stefanidi of Greece (4.73) also PR’d in second and third.
Pole Vault - Women
Pts
1 Morris , Sandi USA 4.83 10
2 Büchler , Nicole SUI 4.78 6
3 Stefanídi , Ekateríni GRE 4.73 4
4 Li , Ling CHN 4.63 3
5 Kyriakopoúlou , Nikoléta GRE 4.53 2
6 Nageotte , Katie USA 4.53 1
7 Saxer , Mary USA 4.43
8 Strutz , Martina GER 4.43
Pena , Tori IRL NM
Spiegelburg , Silke GER NM
Women’s Triple Jump: Could This Be the Year of the Women’s Triple Jump?
Last year, the men’s triple jumpers took the event to a new level. Could this be the year for the women?
Catarine Ibarguen of Colombia won a back-and-forth battle versus Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela, eventually winning by going 15.04 on her 5th jump. It was only the second time in her career, which includes two World Championship gold medals, that she has gone over 15 meters.
Rojas responded with a with a wind-aided 14.92 on her 5th jump, but it wasn’t enough and she’d settle for second. Ibarguen went 14.98 on her final jump for good measure.
QT #1: Yulimar Rojas Is the Real Deal
Rojas broke out this year indoors, setting a South American record of 14.69 meters and winning Worlds in Portland. Before today, her outdoor PR was just 14.20, but she obliterated that and at 20 looks to be the future of this event.
QT#2: 15-Meter Jumps are Rare
Only one woman had been over 15 meters the last two years, and none before that to 2010. We almost had two women do it today in the first meet of the year.
Triple Jump - Women
Pts Wind
1 Ibargüen , Caterine COL 15.04 10 +1.5
2 Rojas , Yulimar VEN 14.92 6 +2.6
3 Rypakova , Olga KAZ 14.61 4 +1.1
4 Assani Issouf , Jeanine FRA 14.26 3 +1.5
5 Papahrístou , Paraskeví GRE 14.26 2 +1.7
6 Thomas , Shanieka JAM 14.10 1 +0.9
7 Veldáková , Dana SVK 14.06 +1.7
8 Costa , Keila BRA 13.69 +1.5
9 Jagaciak , Anna POL 13.67 +1.2
Women’s Shot Put: Tia Brooks’ Breakout Year Continues
Brooks threw a 37-centimeter PR of 19.37 in her second meet of the season on April 21 and tied that mark by upsetting World Indoor champ Michelle Carter at Drake last weekend. She soared even higher tonight in Doha, PR’ing in the second and third rounds to claim her first Diamond League victory with a winning throw of 19.48.
Shot Put - Women
Pts
1 Brooks , Tia USA 19.48 10
2 Márton , Anita HUN 19.22 6
3 Dereli , Emel TUR 18.57 4
4 Dubitskaya , Aliona BLR 18.29 3
5 Carter , Michelle USA 17.83 2
6 Guba , Paulina POL 17.73 1
7 Suttie , Taryn CAN 17.63
8 Johnson , Felisha USA 17.37
Men’s High Jump: Erik Kynard Picks Up His First Career DL Victory
American Olympic silver medallist Erik Kynard, who earned the bronze at World Indoors two months ago, opened his outdoor season with a near-flawless performance in Doha. He cleared every bar from 2.15m to 2.31m on the first attempt, with his only miss coming at 2.33, where he cleared on attempt #2. That was enough for the victory as both Worlds silver medallist Guowei Zhang of China and the Bahamas’ Donald Thomas missed all three of their attempts at the same height. With victory assured, Kynard retired rather than pursue a higher bar.
It was a rough night for home favorite Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar as he wound up in seventh place at 2.26 after missing all three attempts at 2.29.
High Jump - Men
Pts
1 Kynard , Erik USA 2.33 10
2 Zhang , Guowei CHN 2.31 6
3 Fassinotti , Marco ITA 2.29 4
4 Grabarz , Robert GBR 2.29 3
5 Drouin , Derek CAN 2.29 2
6 Thomas , Donald BAH 2.29 1
7 Barshim , Mutaz Essa QAT 2.26
8 Williams , Jesse USA 2.19
9 Barsham , Muamer Aissa QAT 2.15
Men’s Triple Jump: Christian Taylor Wins But Suffers Letdown Compared to High Expectations
Last year Doha started off the year of the triple jump on the men’s side as Pedro Pablo Pichardo jumped 18.06 to win and Christian Taylor jumped 18.04 for 2nd. Teddy Tamgho was way back at 17.24 in 3rd.
All three of them would have won today as Christian Taylor got the win with a modest 17.23. Bin Dong, the world indoor champ, was 2nd.
Triple Jump - Men
Pts Wind
1 Taylor , Christian USA 17.23 10 +0.3
2 Dong , Bin CHN 17.07 6 +0.7
3 Copello , Alexis CUB 16.98 4 +0.5
4 Valiyev , Roman KAZ 16.77 3 +0.8
5 Oke , Tosin NGR 16.73 2 +0.8
6 Laine , Samyr HAI 16.64 1 +0.6
7 Tamgho , Teddy FRA 16.54 +1.5
8 Douglas , Nathan GBR 16.43 +0.7
9 Sands , Leevan BAH 16.30 +0.9
Men’s Discus: World Champ Piotr Malachowski Wins It On His Final Attempt
World champ Piotr Malachowski started his season off right with a win in Doha, tossing a world-leading 68.03m on his final attempt. 25-year-old Belgian Philip Milanov, the silver medallist at Worlds last year, looked to have won the competition after throwing a national record of 67.26 in the fifth round, but Malachowski responded with his big throw while Milanov fouled his final attempt.
Discus Throw - Men
Pts
1 Malachowski , Piotr POL 68.03 10
2 Milanov , Philip BEL 67.26 6
3 Hogan , Victor RSA 65.59 4
4 Urbanek , Robert POL 65.13 3
5 Ståhl , Daniel SWE 64.06 2
6 Härstedt , Axel SWE 62.54 1
7 Kövágó , Zoltán HUN 61.67
8 Harradine , Benn AUS 61.04
9 Dheeb , Ahmed Mohamed QAT 58.80
Talk about the meet on our fan forum: MB: Official 2016 Doha Diamond League Discussion Thread.
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