Doha 2025: Five things to look out for

A total of 45 Olympic and world championship medallists will be in action when the Wanda Diamond League returns in Doha this Friday. Here are five things to look out for at the Qatar Sports Club.

Fraser-Pryce returns

With 25 victories and five series titles, Jamaican sprint legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is one of the most successful athletes in Diamond League history. In Doha, the 38-year-old superstar will be hoping to add to that tally when she lines up in the 100m against the likes of Mujinga Kambundji and compatriots Natasha Morrison and Tia and Tina Clayton. Victory would be her first in the Diamond League since 2022, and would be a potential first step towards a record-equalling sixth Diamond Trophy in 2025. She knows how to do it, having won in Doha twice before in 2014 and 2021.

Tebogo takes on the 200m

Having become the first African ever to win gold in the men’s 200m at the Olympic Games in Paris last season, Botswana sprint star Letsile Tebogo announced he would switch his focus to the 100m in 2025. After openng his Diamond League campaign with 100m appearances in Xiamen and Keqiao, however, Tebogo will be back on familiar territory when he takes on his first 200m of the campaign in Doha. Canada’s Aaron Brown and Liberia’s Joseph Fahnbulleh will provide tough competition, but the Olympic champion remains firm favourite as he eyes a first Diamond League win of the season.

Olympic rematch in the steeplechase

Distance events are always a raucous affair at the Qatar Sports Club, as Doha’s proud contingent of Kenyan and Ethiopian fans get fully behind their favourite athletes. This time, it will be the women’s 3000m steeplechase which takes centre stage, with all three Olympic medallists from 2024 on the starting line. Bahrain’s Winfred Yavi won gold in Paris, while Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai and Kenya’s Faith Cherotich took silver and bronze. All three will be making their first Diamond League appearance of the season, while for Cherotich, this will be her first appearance as reigning series champion.

Chopra launches title bid

Another athlete who is hoping for some crowd support in Doha is javelin star Neeraj Chopra. The 2021 Olympic champion made history in 2022 when he became the first Indian athlete ever to win the Diamond League title and he will be hoping to take a first step towards regaining that crown when he launches his 2025 campaign on Friday. “I’m always overwhelmed by the support I get from the Indian people in Qatar – there aren’t enough words to thank them,” said Chopra ahead of his fourth career appearance at the Qatari meeting.

Triple jump showdown

There will be another Olympic rematch in the women’s triple jump, as Paris gold medallist Thea LaFond goes up against Jamaica’s silver medallist Shanieka Ricketts. There is little to separate the two women, who are ranked two and three in the world at the moment and both have a personal best of more than 15 metres. Ricketts has the slightly better Diamond League record, having won six victories to LaFond’s one and claimed the title in 2019. They will be joined on the runway by a familiar but surprising face in five-time Diamond League long jump champion Ivana Spanovic.