WDL Classics Doha 2010: The first ever Diamond League meeting
Live from the archive every single Sunday on the Wanda Diamond League YouTube channel, the WDL Classics series revisits historical Diamond League meetings with a re-live stream of the full two-hour TV broadcast. This week: the series’ inaugural meeting in Doha back in May 2010.
On 14 May 2010, track and field history was made. On a sweltering spring evening in Doha, the Qatar Sports Club hosted the very first Diamond League meeting, launching a series which would quickly establish itself as the backbone of every top athlete’s outdoor season.
Right from the start, the series was a natural home for the sport’s biggest names, with US sprint star Allyson Felix, Kenyan legends David Rudisha and Eliud Kipchoge and Jamaican icon Asafa Powell all among the standout performers in Doha in 2010.
Then just 21 years old and still two years away from his world record at the Olympic Games in London, Rudisha launched his Diamond League career with an impressive 1:43.00 in the 800m.
It was one of nine world leads set at the Diamond League’s first ever season opener, as other big names also delivered statement victories in their first ever Diamond League appearances.
Rudisha’s compatriot Eliud Kipchoge, later to become one of the greatest marathon runners of all-time, defied the 31-degree heat to clock 12:51.21 in the men’s 5000m, just edging out fellow Kenyan Vincent Chepkok.
Meanwhile in the sprints, Powell and Felix cemented their status as two of the finest athletes of their generation as they took to the Diamond League stage for the first time.
Powell had promised to “open people’s eyes” ahead of the men’s 100m, and he delivered emphatically with wind-assisted times of 9.75 in the heats and 9.81 in the final.
Felix streaked to 50.15 in the women’s 400m, claiming her first win in a dominant Diamond League campaign which would see her win the 200m and 400m titles, becoming the first athlete to claim two Diamond Trophies in a single season.
You can rewatch the 2010 Doha meeting in full from 15:00 GMT on the Wanda Diamond League YouTube channel.
Watch WDL Classics: Doha 2010
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WDL Classics Doha 2010: The first ever Diamond League meeting
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