Xiamen Diamond League: Faith Kipyegon to lead all-star cast
World record holder Faith Kipyegon will begin her Diamond League series campaign this season in Xiamen on April 20, 2024.
The athlete of the year will be among 12 Olympic gold medalists and 27 world champions who will be in action at the Egret Stadium that hosted the inaugural Wanda Diamond League meeting in Xiamen last September.
Kipyegon will look to continue with her dominance, especially in the 1500m race that the two-time Olympic champion and four-time world champion is yet to be beaten since 2021.
The superstar will have her fiercest rivalry coming from Ethiopia's world 10,000m champion, Gudaf Tsegay. She broke Kipyegon’s world 5000m record last year.
Ethiopia's unit is made even stronger by the presence of Diribe Welteji, who beat Kipyegon to the world road mile title in Riga last October. The world indoor 1500m champion, Freweyni Hailu, will also take part.
Other actions
Mondo Duplantis, who recently won his second world indoor title in pole vault, and US trio Christopher Nilsen, Sam Kendricks, and KC Lightfoot are stars that will feature in the Xiamen series.
Among the other reigning Olympic champions set to feature are Qatari high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim, US discus thrower Valarie Allman, Portuguese triple jumper Pedro Pichardo, Jamaican sprint hurdler Hansle Parchment, and Chinese throwers Gong Lijiao and Liu Shiying, according to World Athletics.
World champion US sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, discus thrower Laulauga Tausaga, shot putter Chase Jackson, along with Dominican Republic’s 400m specialist Marileidy Paulino, Canadian 800m runner Marco Arop, triple jumper Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso, and Bahraini steeplechaser Winfred Mutile Yavi, will also be in Xiamen.
Eyes will also be on the men's 100m, where super high-octane action is expected, especially between Jamaica and the USA.
The US charge will be led by past world 100m champions Fred Kerley and Christian Coleman. They’ll be keen to get one over on Jamaican rivals such as 2011 world champion Yohan Blake, world indoor bronze medallist Ackeem Blake, and 2023 Jamaican champion Rohan Watson.
Richardson may be better known as a 100m sprinter, but the US star proved in Budapest last year that she can also contend over 200m, earning bronze there in 21.92. In Xiamen, she will race the longer sprint, where the chief threat might come from fellow sub-22-second athletes Tamara Clark and Anavia Battle of USA.
