Qatar Sports Club’s Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium hosted the Ooredoo Doha Meeting that kicked off the Diamond League (DL) 2022 season on Friday. The event witnessed thrilling competitions at the venue, which was packed with spectators for first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Once again, Doha – the favourite venue for track and field athletes from across the globe – saw an array of superstars as seven reigning Olympic champions besides multiple other world champions participated in the event. The high wind in Doha posed a challenge for athletes but that did not stop them from giving thrilling performances.
Qatar Olympic Committee President H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani presenting the silver medal of London 2012 Olympics to Qatar’s high jumper Mutaz Barshim on the sidelines of the event also became the highlight of the day. Barshim’s high jump bronze at the London Olympics was upgraded to silver last year after Russian Ivan Ukhov, who had won gold, was proven to have taken part in the Russian state-backed steroid doping programme. United States’ Erik Kynard, who had finished second, was handed a gold medal.
Meanwhile, with Barshim returning to action after famously sharing Tokyo Olympics gold medal with his friend Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy last August, the men’s high jump event grabbed the spotlight at the Qatar SC. However, the Qatari Olympic hero finished second behind South Korea’s Woo Sanghyeok, who won the title.
Tamberi failed to impress in the opening meeting as he finished seventh. Grenadian Anderson Peters produced stunning performance in men’s javelin throw, clinching victory with a personal best of 93.07, also a world lead and area record. The throw was more than five and a half metres better than his previous personal best. In the men’s and women’s 200m races, world champion Noah Lyles and Gabrielle Thomas bagged victories.
Also in the season-opener, Brazil’s Alison dos Santos stunned American Rai Benjamin to win in men’s 400m hurdles, with home favourite Abderrahman Samba pulling out with a hamstring injury. There was no surprise in the postponed men’s pole vault as world record holder Mondo Duplantis of Sweden eased to victory in the event yesterday. The competition was moved to indoors at the Aspire Academy due high wind on Friday. The Ooredoo Doha Meeting saw a total of five world leading performances and with all arrangements up to the mark, the Qatari organisers succeeded in delivering another athletics spectacle.
