Richardson, Kerley power to victories; Barshim disappoints

Americans Sha’Carri Richardson and Fred Kerley stormed to sprint victories at the Diamond League opener in Doha, as three meet records tumbled on a cool evening at the Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium on Friday.
The packed crowd witnessed 15 Olympic and world champions on the night, but had to return home disappointed after home hero Mutaz Essa Barshim put on a sluggish show as he finished a disappointing third in the high jump. The Olympic and World champion stumbled at every height before finishing with 2.24m, while American Juvaughn Harrison soared to victory with an impressive 2.32m, while South Korea’s Woo Sanghyeok (2.27m) was third.
Barshim needed three attempts at 2.21m to get into the final and then failed with all three tries at 2.27m. The Qatari great vowed he would come back stronger as he bids for an unprecedented fourth World title this year. “This is home, so the crowd and support were incredible,” the 31-year-old said. “It wasn’t the performance I wanted, but the atmosphere was amazing, and I thank the crowd for their support. I definitely have few points to work on but it’s the first Diamond League of the season and I know what to do to improve. My next event is the Stockholm Diamond League,” he added.
But it was Richardson, who grabbed the limelight with her biggest win of her career in the star-studded women’s 100m. The 23-year-old, who missed the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for cannabis at the US trials, led from gun to win in 10.76 seconds to break the meet record set by Tori Bowie, the 2017 world champion who was found dead this week.
The last two world 200m champions — Shericka Jackson (10.85sec) of Jamaica and Dina Asher-Smith (10.98) of Britain – were second and third. “I found my peace back on the track, and I’m not letting anything or anybody take that anymore,” Richardson said, adding that she got “kicked out” of the 100m at her last meet in Botswana last Saturday, where she ran the 200m instead.
A little later, Kerley continued the American dominance in the sprint as the world 100m champion won the men’s 200m in 19.92. The Olympic and world silver medallist Kenneth Bednarek had led coming off the bend but Kerley produced a blistering finish as he used his long strides in the final 40 metres to romp home.
Bednarek was second (20.11) and Canada’s Aaron Brown was third (20.20). Andre De Grasse, the Olympic 200m champ from Canada, was sixth, while world 400m champion Michael Norman crossed the line in last place (20.65). Buoyed by yesterday’s triumph, Kerley was aiming for a 100-200m double at this year’s world championships in Budapest. “I was comfortable, but I know I still have work to do. The most important thing was to win and I did. I was happy with the competition, it was a good one, the guys gave me a fight. Next is Japan, (I will) open up my season in the 100 (metres),” the 27-year-old Texan said.
Two other meet records came on the night from Slovenian Kristjan Ceh in men’s discus, while Ethiopia’s Lamecha Girma put on a sensational run to win the 3,000m in 7:26.18.
World champion Ceh launched the discus to 70.89m to improve Daniel Stahl’s mark by 33 centimetres. The Swede had to settle for second behind Ceh with 67.14m. However, such was Ceh dominance that all four his valid throws would have sufficed for victory. “This means a lot to me. I just started my season and it was good. I’m aiming to raise my average.” said Ceh.
The men’s 3,000m was when the crowd was at its loudest with the event billed as one of the biggest clashes of the night and it did not disappoint.
Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi looked prime for win, but with 500 metres to go Girma edged ahead of his compatriot Aregawi followed by another countryman Selemon Barega. World and Olympic steeplechase champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco was way off his best in fourth.
India’s javelin superstar Neeraj Chopra at last claimed his first win in Doha, five years after making his debut. The Olympic champion and World silver medallist sent his spear out to a world-leading 88.67m in his first attempt, and that turned out to be the best effort among the field.
World and Olympic medallist Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic came within four centimetres of Chopra’s lead with 88.63m in round three but had to settle for second place, while two-time world champion Anderson Peters was third with 85.88m.
“It was a very hard win but I’m happy. It’s a really good start for me. I hope to come in first place in the next competitions and to be consistent during the season,” said Neeraj, who received a raucous reception from the fans.
In the women’s pole vault, Olympic champion Katie Moon held off stiff competition from Sandi Morris and Tina Sutej to win with a world-leading 4.81m.
Faith Kipyegon’s 3:58.57 in the women’s 1500m saw her round off a night of brilliant performances and make the perfect start to her Diamond League title defence.
There were further world leads from Winfred Yavi in the women’s steeplechase and Hugues Fabrice Zango in the men’s triple jump, although the latter ultimately lost to Pedro Pablo Pichardo, who claimed victory with a windy 17.91m. There were also victories for Rai Benjamin in the men’s 400m hurdles and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn in the women’s 100m hurdles.