Kipyegon and Duplantis will grace the opening of the Diamond League in Shanghai.

Kipyegon and Duplantis will score the DL opener

SHANGHAI (CHN). This year’s Wanda Diamond League season opener takes place tomorrow in Shanghai / Keikao, with many of the sport’s biggest stars competing, including Mondo Duplantis, Faith Kipyegon, Karsten Warholm and many more. All three of the above could attack the respective world records. Both men’s events feature 7 of WA’s top 10 athletes in the pole vault and discus, while the women’s shot put features the top 6 throwers. Other anticipated events include the battle of global champions in the women’s short hurdles and the US-Africa clash in the men’s 100m. World-leading research is expected in many disciplines. The main session at the China Textile City Sports Center begins at 19:04 local time (11:04 GMT). The Diamond League started in 2010 and the Shanghai match is being held for the first time.

Brief event-by-event previews

Women

200 m. Sherikka Jackson and Sha Kari Richardson open their 200m seasons in Shanghai and face the returning Shauna Miller-Whebo, world championship medalist Amy Hunt, runner-up Jenna Prandini and more. MR 22.06 is under threat.

400 m. Salwa Aid Nasser opens her international season and will compete against the Jamaican duo of Nikisha Price and Stacey Ann Williams, Roxana Gomez, Cuba’s Roxana Gomez, Chile’s Martina Weil and USA’s Aliyah Butler. Also, MR 49.63 could be broken here.

1500 m. World Championship silver and bronze medalists Dorcas Evoy and Jess Hull will face the big squads of Ethiopia (Birke Hailom, Saron Behre and Warnesh Mesele) and Australia (Claudia Hollingsworth, Linden Hall, Sarah Billings and Abby Caldwell).

5000m (non-DL). Faith Kipyegon, which takes place before the main two-hour program, is expected to attack the world record. The former world record holder (14:05.20) is fastest in the field with Medina Eisa, Aynadis Mebratu and Chaltu Dida, all Ethiopians, also running PBs of 14:30.00. Britain’s Melissa Courtney-Bryant is the only European participant. MR not so easy (14:14.32) and definitely WL.

3000 m dome. Current world champion Faith Cherotic leads the field. Former Olympic and world champions Perut Chemutai and Nora Geruto are ready to challenge him. The line-up also includes speedy Tunisian Marwa Bouzayani, while the leading Europeans are Alice Finot and Courtney Wayment.

100 m hurdles. World champion Ditaji Kambundji, Olympic champion Masai Russell, two-time world champion Daniel Williams, world record holder Toby Amusan and three-time world indoor champion Devin Charlton are among the notably strong field. Megan Simmonds, Tonea Marshall, Akera Nugent and Yanni Wu also star. This field can improve 12.42 MR.

Long jump. Champion of the last two Diamond League Finals, Larissa Iapicchino begins her summer campaign against world number one Lex Brown, Monet Nichols, Claire Bryant and Natalia Linares, among others.

Shooting. Reigning Olympic, world and world indoor champions Yemisi Mabry (née Ogunley), Jessica Schilder and Chase Jackson, along with two-time world indoor champion Sarah Mitton, head the field. Fanny Russ, Maggie Ewen, Jayda Ross and Zhang Linru round out the top 10.

Men

100 m. Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo, South Africa’s Akani Simbine and Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala compete against the American trio of Christian Coleman, Trayvon Bromell and Kenny Bednarek. All men in the field have a PB under 10.00; Australia’s Lachlan Kennedy is the slowest at 9.96.

800 m. Seven men in 1:44.00 with Wyclife Kinyamal fastest by the PB and MR holder since 2018 with 1:43.91. Many have already competed this year, but France’s Yannis Mezia and American Brandon Miller open their season in Shanghai.

3000 m. Sweden’s Andreas Almgren, Jacob Kropp of Kenya, compatriot Timothy Cheruiyot, stepping up from his usual 1500m, Birhanu Balew of Bahrain and Getnet Wale, who leads a large Ethiopian contingent, have the fastest PB in the field (7:24.98). MR 7:36.36 must go.

110 m hurdles. World champion Cordell Tinch (here last year, his 12.87 PB) is up against Enrique Llopis, Orlando Bennett, world leader Rachid Muratake and Jamal Britt, among others.

300 m hurdles. Karsten Warholm bettered his world best of 32.67 in a race that included Alison dos Santos, Kyron McMaster, Caleb Dean (in his 300m hurdles debut) and over 400m WL holder Trevor Bassitt. MR is certainly being held for the first time.

Pole vault. Mondo Duplantis opens his outdoor season looking to continue his success indoors, including a new world record of 6.31m at the Mondo Classic. A strong field includes World Championship silver and bronze medalists Emmanuel Karalis and Curtis Marshall, American Sam Kendricks and European champion Menno Vlun. A late withdrawal is Sondre Gutormsen. Mondo believes that more than 611 MR.

Long Jump (not DL). Mattia Furlani leads the field but faces four men with PBs over his own 8.39m (Tajai Gayle, Bozhidar Saraboykov, Yohao Shi and season opener Wayne Pinnock). All men competing jumped at least 8.17m.

Discus throw. Reigning world champion Daniel Staal is joined by Olympic champion Roger Stona, plus Australia’s Matthew Denn and Germany’s Steven Richter, who have both thrown over 74.00m this season. Also competing are world championship bronze medalists Alex Rose and Christian Cech and British record holder Lawrence Okoye. One of the oldest meet records, 69.69 by Zoltan Kovago in 2010, is expected to break.