The two-time world 200m champion scored a decisive win against a strong Chinese field early in the season.
Sherikka Jackson lays down after beating the women’s 200m field at the first meeting of the Diamond League of the 2026 season in Shanghai (May 16).
His fastest season-opener in the 200m since 21.98 in Rabat in 2023, the same year he won his second world title by half a lap – Jackson clocked 22.07 (0.3) to secure a dominant win.
The Jamaican, who boasts a 200m personal best of 21.41 from three years ago, is back from last season when a small tear in his Achilles tendon ruled the Jamaican out of the Paris Olympics. She secured the world 200m bronze medal in Tokyo behind Hunt and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden.
Jackson was powerful here and never looked back, with two-time Olympic 400m champion Shauna Miller-Whibaugh, competing in her first Diamond League since Zurich three years ago, second in 22.26.
Anavia Battle (22.40), Sha Curry Richardson (22.42) and Amy Hunt (22.48) were third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
The men’s 100m was much closer and was won by South Africa’s Gift Leotlela, beating a strong field in 9.97 (0.6). He finished just ahead of Ferdinand Omanyala and Kenny Bednarek, who both clocked 9.98.
Leotlela won from the front row and continued her good form from late last year when she set a personal best of 9.87 at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
The sprints took center stage in Shanghai as Masai Russell produced one of the best performances of the meet. Competing in a distinguished field that included world record holder Tobi Amusan and the last two world champions, Ditaji Kambundji and Daniel Williams, he ran 12.25 (0.4).
It was the joint fourth-fastest time of his career and he won convincingly ahead of three-time world 60m hurdles champion Devin Charlton (12.38).
The top quality race was the 3000m, which saw Tokyo Olympic champion Perut Chemutai beat reigning world champion Faith Cherotic in one of the best races seen in recent years.
The pair dominated throughout and barely anything could separate them in the closing stages, clocking 8:51.47 and 8:51.48 respectively. Those are the eighth and ninth fastest times in the history of the event.
In an extraordinary men’s 3000m, Mohamed Abdelahi, representing Germany, lowered his best from 7:37.31 to 7:25.77 to win. In the final 50 meters, he beat both Reynold Cheruyo (7:26.11) and Andreas Almgren (7:26.48), blitzing Kenenisa Bekele’s 2005 record of 7:25.77.
Mark English has aged like a fine wine in his career and the 33-year-old secured his first Diamond League victory with a superbly judged stroke to win the men’s 800m. Entering the straight, English was in fifth place and had more than 10m to make up on the leading pack. As they tired, he came through the field and set a meet record of 1:43.85. Botswana’s Ketobogil Hayingura thought he had won and celebrated before crossing the finish line, but had to settle for second in 1:43.89.
Alison dos Santos beat Carsten Warholm in a rare 300m hurdles with the pair clocking 33.01 and 33.05 respectively. They both fell short of Warholm’s world record of 32.67 from last year’s Oslo Diamond League.
The standout performance of the field event came from reigning world shooting champion Jessica Schilder, who recorded her biggest mark in 14 years at the event. It was one of the biggest throws of the century and only surpassed by Valerie Adams (21.24m in 2011 and 21.11m in 2012) since 2001.
Mondo Duplantis once again dominated the men’s pole vault, much to the dismay of his rivals. The Swede cleared 6.12m to secure victory against a field that failed to clear 6.00m. Duplantis made three attempts at the world record of 6.32m, but he failed to clear the mark.
The win extends Duplantis’ winning streak to 40 events, with his last loss coming three years ago in Monaco, and he has now cleared 6.00m a staggering 130 times in his career.
Another notable performance on the field came from Italy’s Mattia Furlani, who cleared a personal best of 8.43m in the long jump, bettering her mark of 8.39m from the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
