Doha Preview: 5 things to look out for

For the seventh year in a row, the starting gun for the Diamond Race will be fired at the Qatar Sports Club in Doha. With 80 medallists from the last three major championships, it is a star studded line-up that will compete on Friday evening. 

Or should that be diamond studded? After all, Doha is not just a showcase of the best athletes in the world, it is also the beginning of a season long campaign to win the Diamond Race and take home the Diamond Trophy. 

Here are five things to look out for when the action kicks off in just over 24 hours time…

Another Diamond Doha for Taylor?

Christian Taylor cleared the 18 metre mark in Doha last year…and still didn’t win maximum points with a first place finish. Pedro Pablo Pichardo’s astonishing victory last May kicked off a brilliant Diamond Race battle between Pichardo and Taylor, which the American eventually won

It was Taylor’s fourth Diamond Trophy, and arguably his most hard-earned, as Pichardo took him all the way in what was to be coined "the year of the jumps". Taylor is back in Doha this year, and will be looking to lay down an early marker in the Diamond Race. "I always have adventures in Doha," he said on Thursday.

.@Taylored2jump "We are entertainers. I think we should have fireworks after every jump!" https://t.co/0HHUdMVUxR pic.twitter.com/oc7Qk6iSkY

— IAAF Diamond League (@Diamond_League) May 5, 2016

Schippers’ head start

Dafne Schippers enjoyed a superb 2015, grabbing gold at the IAAF World Championships in Beijing and then thrilling crowds again in the final Diamond League meeting of the season in Brussels. 

That victory was not enough for success in the Diamond Race. The Flying Dutchwoman is still yet to get her hands on the Diamond Trophy, with Allyson Felix dominating the competition in the women’s 200m in recent years. 

With Felix out injured for Doha, however, Schippers has a chance to get points on the board early and launch a serious assault on Diamond Race glory. This is her first ever appearance in Doha, and she will be hoping to make it a memorable one. 

Ayana on the up ahead of heavyweight duel

Two world champions will head the field in the women’s 3000m. Three time Diamond Race winner Vivian Cheruiyot returns to Doha as 10,000m world champions, and the experienced Kenyan will face one of the stiffest possible tests in her season opener. 

Almaz Ayana, after all, is the latest star of women’s long distance running. After her superb victory in Shanghai last year, Ayana went neck and neck with Genzebe Dibaba for the 3000m Diamond Trophy, eventually falling just short against her compatriot. 

She more than made up for it by winning gold in the 3000m in Beijing, but there is a sense that this may be Ayana’s year in the Diamond Race. Getting one up against Diamond League stalwart Cheruiyot would be a significant first step on the road to success. 

Barshim out for first home win

Mutaz Essa Barshim has been the high jump king in the Diamond Race over the last two years. After a spectacular victory in 2014, he was forced to scrap for his second consecutive Diamond Trophy last season, eventually holding his nerve, and holding off the likes of Guowei Zhang in the second half of the season. 

Barshim is out to make it a perfect triple this season, but he will need to break his home hoodoo if he is to take an early lead in the Diamond Race. The Qatari high jumper has never won at the Doha Diamond League. 

Spencer’s revenge

Kaliese Spencer must have thought she had the Diamond Trophy in the bag after her victory in Oslo last season. After three of seven meetings, she held a 12 point lead in the women’s 400m hurdles Diamond Race. It was going to take nothing short of a Herculean effort to stop Spencer. 

A Herculean effort is just what Zuzana Hejnová delivered, winning all four of the last four meetings and leaving Spencer’s Diamond Race hopes in the dust. Hejnová went on to even more success in Beijing, her form not relenting for a moment in the second half of the season. 

Both Spencer and Hejnová line up in a brilliant women’s 400m hurdles field in Doha. We can only hope that this will be the start of yet another extraordinary Diamond Race duel.