World and European champion Dina Asher-Smith headlines an impressive women’s 200m at the Wanda Diamond League Doha on Friday 13 May, an event that also features Olympic medallists Christine Mboma (NAM), Gabrielle Thomas (USA) and Shericka Jackson (JAM).
British sprinter Asher-Smith was crowned women's 100m Diamond League champion in 2019, and will be looking to regain the Diamond Trophy this season, while rising star Mboma is hoping to defend the 200m crown she won last September.
Asher-Smith is a two-time Olympic relay bronze medallist and British record holder over 100m (10.83) and 200m (21.88). She is the reigning world 200m champion and was the silver-medallist over 100m and 4 x 100m in Doha 2019. A multiple European champion, she won triple gold in Berlin (2018) over 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m relay.
18-year-old Mboma is the Namibian 200m national record holder and the quickest under-20 of all time (21.78). The world under-20 champion – who ran a wind-aided 10.90 100m on 15 April to back up her lifetime best of 11.03 - finished second in the Tokyo Olympic Games 200m behind Jamaican superstar Elaine Thomson-Herah.
Gabrielle Thomas, Olympic silver medallist in the 4 x 100m relay, finished third in the Tokyo 200m. The 25-year-old Harvard graduate, who has a best of 21.61, opened her 2022 season in style. She equalled her 100m best with 11.00 in the heats of the USATF Golden Games in California on 16 April, before clocking a wind-aided 10.86 in the final. 24 minutes later, she ran 22.02 - the second-fastest time in the world this year to date - in the 200m.
25-year-old Jackson, Jamaica’s multiple Olympic and world medallist, took gold in the 4 x 100m relay in Tokyo and bronze in the 100m and 4 x 400m relay. Her last competitive outing in Qatar saw her repeat that impressive relay feat in addition to winning 400m bronze at the 2019 World Athletics Championships. Her 200m best is 21.81 (2021).
After a 2021 season disrupted by injury, Asher-Smith is looking forward returning to Wanda Diamond League action as she prepares to defend her global and continental titles in Eugene (July) and Munich (August) respectively.
“I won my first global title in Doha in 2019, so I have incredibly happy memories of competing there,” said the 26-year-old who clocked a quick 36.41 over 300m on 16 April. “After a challenging year last year, I can’t wait to get back on the circuit and see what I can do this summer.”
The 2022 Wanda Diamond League comprises 14 meetings in total, starting with Doha at the Qatar Sports Club on 13 May and concluding with a single final across two days in Zurich (7-8 September). Each meeting will be broadcast globally in a live two-hour programme.
