The Wanda Diamond League season continues this weekend, with several big names launching their Road to the Final in Xiamen. Here are five things to look out for at the Egret Stadium.
World record in the steeplechase?
One of the highlights of last week’s season opener in Shanghai/Keqiao came in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, as Uganda’s 2021 Olympic champion Peruth Chemutai held her nerve in a tense final lap to beat Kenyan world champion Faith Cherotich and clock a world lead of 8:51.47. The two women go head to head again in Xiamen, and it could get even more serious this time. Not only is Olympic champion and world number two Winfred Yavi joining the fray, but all three steeplechase stars are setting their sights on a new world record. Watch this space.
Crouser returns
The men’s shot put will be held for the first time ever at a Chinese Diamond League meeting in Xiamen, and will celebrate its debut with a suitably strong field. World record holder Ryan Crouser will make a long-awaited Diamond League return after he missed most of last season through injury, recovering just in time to claim a third world title in Tokyo. Xiamen will be his first Diamond League appearance since the series final in Brussels in 2024, when he finished second behind Italy’s Leonardo Fabbri. He faces Fabbri once again this time around, as well three-time Diamond League champion Tom Walsh and Mexico’s World Championships silver medallist Uziel Muñoz.
First win for Kebinatshipi?
At just 22 years of age, Motswana sprinter Busang Collen Kebinatshipi has already amassed an impressive array of accolades. A three-time African champion and Olympic silver medallist in the 4x400m relays, he claimed his first ever individual title with gold in the men’s 400m in Tokyo last year, surging to number two in the world rankings in the process. In Xiamen, he will be out to reach another milestone with his first ever Diamond League win. The rising star finished third in the Egret Stadium last year, but will be a firm favourite when he takes on Vernon Norwood, Muzala Samukonga, Bayopo Ndori and others this time around.
Warholm and Tinch eye revenge
Cherotich is not the only Diamond League champion out for revenge in Xiamen. Keqiao also saw surprises in the men’s hurdles events, as Karsten Warholm suffered defeat to Alison Dos Santos in the 300m hurdles and Cordell Tinch was beaten by fellow American Jamal Britt in the 110m hurdles. Both Tinch and Warholm will be looking to bounce back with wins in Xiamen, where both recorded victories last season.
Haylom on the rise?
Ethiopia’s Birke Haylom is no stranger to the Diamond League stage, having made 19 appearances in the women’s 1500m, mile and 5000m since her series debut three years ago. All the more surprising, then, that her meeting record in the 1500m in Keqiao last week was just her second ever Diamond League win and her first since victory in the mile in Oslo in 2023. With Haylom still only 20 years of age, there are plenty who suspect that last weekend’s victory could be a sign of things to come. In Xiamen, she will once again test herself against a world-class field that includes Kenya’s Dorcus Ewoi and Australians Jessica Hull, Linden Hall and Abbey Caldwell.
