After an impressive and eye-catching opening meet in Doha, the Diamond League returns this Saturday as the Shanghai Stadium prepares to once again play host to the world’s top athletes.
As the outdoor athletics season continues to get into its stride, Shanghai will prove to be another interesting prospect and here is how you can keep up to date with all the action and what you expect when the event arrives on Friday.
When
The contest kicks off at 6.10pm local time, which will be approximately 11.10am British time.
How to Watch
Delayed coverage will air on Eurosport 2 between 2.30-4.30pm on Saturday 18th May, while a one hour highlights show will also be aired on BBC Two between 11-12 noon on Sunday 19th May.
Who to Watch
Track
The unstoppable force meets the immovable object in the men’s 400m hurdles, as Diamond Trophy winner Abderrahman Samba clashes with the equally dominant Rai Benjamin in the first every 400m hurdles meeting between last year’s dominant 400m hurdles forces.
An ever-competitive men’s 100m hurdles contest meanwhile sees Trophy holder Sergey Shubenkov renew his rivalry with world champion Omar McLeod, with Olympic silver medallist Orlando Ortega also in the mix.
Christian Coleman’s road to a possible first World Championship gold begins in Shanghai, as the 100m Diamond Trophy winner takes on 200m champion Noah Lyles and Michael Rodgers in the men’s 100m, while China’s Bingtian Su looks to impress on home soil.
Defending world 100m champion Elaine Thompson also opens up her campaign for world gold this Friday in Shanghai, going up against recent world relay winner Aleia Hobbs and former world and Olympic medallist Blessing Okagbare.
Salwa Eid Naser will be the favourite to get her 400m Diamond Trophy defence off to a winning start against Stephanie Ann McPherson, Shakima Wimbley and hugely talented 19-year-old Sydney McLaughlin.
The men’s 400m features defending trophy winner Fred Kerley going up against world silver medallist Steven Gardiner and world relay silver medallist Akeem Bloomfield.
World record holder Beatrice Chepkoech will also feature in the women’s 3000m steeplechase against fellow Kenyan Norah Jeruto, with African champion Chepkoech looking to continue her unstoppable form from last season.
Multiple world medallist Sifan Hassan also has her work cut out for her in the women’s 1500m against Stockholm Diamond League winner Gudaf Tsegay.
Elsewhere, huge 19-year-old talent Selemon Barega will once again be a force to be reckoned with in the men’s 5000m, going up against Ethiopian rival and world leader Yomif Kejelcha, while world and Olympic medallist Paul Chelimo will also look to get in on the act.
Field
The Pole Vault saga between Sandi Morris and Katerina Stefanidi will storm on in Shanghai, with defending Diamond Trophy winner Stefanidi once again facing her American rival, while fellow Greek Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou and Britain’s Holly Bradshaw will also look to challenge.
Domestic rivalries will also be resumed in the men’s javelin as the German triple threat of Thomas Rohler, Johannes Vetter and Andreas Hofmann open their accounts for the season, while Estonia’s Magnus Kirt once again looks to challenge.
The men’s high jump sees a long-awaited return for Ukraine’s Bohdan Bondarenko, with the 2013 Diamond Trophy winner and world champion competing in his first competition for nearly two years following knee surgery.
He faces tough competition in joint-world leaders Thomas Donald and Majd Edin Ghazal, with 2018 champion Brandon Starc aiming for a strong start to his title defence.
Dominant shot put force Lijiao Gong will be aiming to impress on home soil and take her unbeaten run to 21 shot put contests, with the Diamond Trophy winner facing commonwealth games champion Danniel Thomas-Dodd and the emerging Chase Ealey.
The opening Shanghai event meanwhile will see another Chinese star in Huihui Lyu facing the Diamond Trophy winner Tatsiana Khaladovich, with Lyu hoping to kick on from her 67.72m PB to sit number one in the world rankings.
Startlists and results
Full startlists for the Diamond League events can be found on the official website here: https://shanghai.diamondleague.com/programme-results/programme-results-shanghai/
Results of each event will also be updated live.
You can also follow the results live from the Diamond League’s official twitter account here: https://twitter.com/Diamond_League?lang=en-gb
There will also be a more detailed account of the action on the official Diamond League live blog here.
