In 2019, Mariya Lasitskene jumped 1.99m in Brussels to secure her third straight Diamond League title and cement her status as the queen of the women’s high jump.
Having swept to victory in 19 of the 21 Diamond League competitions between 2017 and 2019, Lasitskene appeared to be unassailable and on course for a fourth Diamond Trophy in 2020.
Yet in a year in which everything was different, last season also saw the rise of two potential challengers to Lasitskene’s throne.
While the reigning Diamond League champion competed only at a handful of smaller meets last season, it was Ukrainian rivals Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Yuliya Levchenko who dominated the Wanda Diamond League in 2020.
The duo shared the top two spots at all three full Wanda Diamond League meetings last season, with Mahuchikh winning in Monaco and Stockholm, and Levchenko took top spot in Rome.
At 19 and 23 respectively, Mahuchikh and Levchenko have stellar careers ahead of them and will be hoping to break 28-year-old Lasitskene’s stranglehold on the Diamond Trophy in 2021.
The Ukrainians will have the chance to challenge the reigning champion in Rabat, Stockholm, Eugene, Lausanne, Paris and Brussels on their road to the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich.
Others to watch:
Larissa Iapichino: Daughter of three-time world champion Fiona May, Italian long-jumper Iapichino fell in love with athletics after watching Genzebe Dibaba break the 1500m world record at the Monaco Diamond League in 2015.
Having been crowned U20 European Champion in 2019, Iapichino will be hoping 2021 can be a breakthrough year. Could she make her Wanda Diamond League debut?