Another week of incredible performances on the Diamond League circuit, with several world leaders achieved and many fierce battles in Doha.
Even though some of the sprints weren’t as deep due to the World Relays the weekend before, we saw incredible races from Kenny Bednarek, Alison de Los Santos, Daryll Neita, Tamari Davis and many more.
Mary Moraa, Jemma Reekie, Beatrice Chebet, Ejgayehu Taye and Samuel Firewu highlighted some of the best medium and long distance performances of the day.
Kenny Bednarek is world leader in men’s 200m
Even though the running events weren’t the highlight of this year’s Doha Diamond League, “Kung Fu Kenny” Bednarek made people pay attention by running an impressive 19.67 in the 200 meters, which is the fastest time in the world. world in 2024. distant.
Without much competition to pressure him, Bednarek ran incredibly strong in Lane 7, never giving his opponents an advantage as he took the lead early and raced away from the field.
Once he hit that corner 👋
19.67 = 200m PR, world leader, meet record, 9th all time in USA@kenny_bednarek #DohaDL💎pic.twitter.com/2rAcHmrIbc
-FloTrack (@FloTrack) May 11, 2024
Bednarek has always been an unknown guy behind Noah Lyles and Fred Kerley…but this kind of performance in early May makes him a lethal weapon at the top of the running world. Watch out for Kung Fu Kenny!
Mary Moraa Wins First Diamond League Appearance of 2024
Positioning herself just behind the pacemaker, Mary Moraa looked very calm as she ran 1:57.91 to win the women’s 800 meters in Doha.
After going 56 seconds out in the first 400 meters, Moraa maintained the lead, but with Jemma Reekie, Noelie Yarigo and Haibtam Alemu behind her, it was an incredibly tight pack with just 100 meters remaining.
Moraa would employ his signature shot down the home straight, taking victory over runner-up Reekie by half a second and exuding great confidence in competing against a large field.
After all those 400 meter races to start the year, Moraa appears to be starting to refine his pace in the 800 meters to wreak havoc on the world stage once again.
Brian Komen almost runs PB in men’s 1500m upset victory
The star-studded cast in this men’s 1500 field included Timothy Cheruyiot, but Brian Komen outpaced him in the closing stages to win his first Diamond League meet in 3:32.42, just behind his PB of 3:32.43.
Reynold Cheruyiot finished third, while pre-race favorites Narve Gije Nordas finished fifth and Samuel Tefera finished a modest 11th, three seconds off the lead.
As the pace remained fairly honest throughout, Timothy Cheruyiot took the primary lead for most of the race after the pacemaker left, but was unable to hold off the Komen attack, who also brought home 1500m gold in the African Games. a few weeks ago.
Komen’s career on the international stage is quite young, which bodes well considering he is already signing top talents like Cheruyiot and Nordas. With results mainly only in the 1500m listed in his young career, could we see him move down to the 800m or the 5000m?
Two centimeters separate 1st and 2nd place in the men’s javelin throw
There was an incredibly close battle in the men’s javelin, with Jakub Vadlejch beating Neeraj Chopra by just two centimetres, with Vadlejech throwing 88.38m to Chopra’s 88.36m.
Vadlejch took the lead early on, remaining strong, and this third move was what guaranteed him the victory, failing on the last two moves. Chopra, on the other hand, saved her best throw until last, as her 88.36 fell just short of victory and finished just 1.6 meters short of her PB. We’ll likely see some excellent battles between the two throughout the remainder of the season and this was an excellent, drama-filled start.
Alison de Los Santos dominates the men’s 400m hurdles and leads the world
Continuing her legacy as a perennial medal contender in the 400m hurdles, Alison de Los Santos destroyed the competition in Doha, running 46.86 to establish the new world lead by more than a second.
After a late start to the 2023 campaign and finishing 5th at the World Athletics Championships, de Los Santos has already run faster in 2024 than in all of 2023 – this is by far his fastest season opener .
He’s clearly ready to challenge the likes of Karsten Warholm and Rai Benjamin… and it’s only early May! We should be excited about the state of the men’s 400m hurdles with these three to watch.
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