<p><br />Our end-of-year reviews conclude with renowned statisticians A. Lennart Julin and Mirko Jalava taking a look back at 2019&rsquo;s key action in the sprints.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Men&rsquo;s 100m&nbsp;</h3>
<p>It&rsquo;s no doubt that Christian Coleman currently is &lsquo;the World&rsquo;s fastest man. Except for a very narrow loss to Noah Lyles in the Shanghai Diamond League in mid-May when both ran 9.86, Coleman was not just undefeated but never really challenged. His five-meet season included the Oslo (9.85) and Stanford (9.81) Diamond Leagues, the US championships (9.99) and World Championships (9.76 to move to No. 6 on the all-time list) and he usually had about a meter up on his nearest opponent.</p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/0DZbKRRE93o" width="500" height="288" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>Unfortunately he and Lyles never met again at 100m. Lyles, a 200m specialist, had just two more 100m competitions, the Monaco Diamond League where he was beaten 9.91 to 9.92 by veteran Justin Gatlin and the Diamond League final in Zurich which Lyles won clearly in 9.98.</p>
<p>The 37-year old Gatlin did not only beat Lyles once but 15 years after becoming Olympic champion he also prevailed in the tight battle the silver at the World Championships. However, Gatlin had qualified for that final only as a non-automatic qualifier after finishing third in his semi.</p>
<p>Which illustrates how muddled the picture behind Coleman was with &ldquo;everyone beating everyone&rdquo;. Another example: Andr&eacute; De Grasse took bronze in Doha after a season where his two Diamond League starts resulted in inauspicious fifth place finishes while Xie Zhenye, who was second in both Oslo and the Diamond League final, was eliminated in the Doha semis.</p>
<p>The most prolific 100m runner was Mike Rodgers who at age 34 ran 30 races at 21 different meets dipping under 10.10 no less than 14 times. 2019 was his 13th straight year running 10.10 or faster. And despite being eliminated in the semis in the 100, it was also the year when Rodgers &ndash; in the 4x100m &ndash; finally got his first ever global gold medal. Perseverance rewarded.</p>
<h3>Men&rsquo;s 200m</h3>
<p>Noah Lyles had already established himself as the undisputed No 1 in the 200m in 2018 after an undefeated season which included four sub-19.70 marks. Except for Usain Bolt, no one else has had four sub-19.70 races in an entire career.</p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/06Wpco4o9zs" width="500" height="288" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>Lyles was impressive also in 2019 running six meets and except for a narrow loss to Michael Norman in the season opener in Rome in early June, he was once more in a class of his own. He always ran well below 20 seconds and always won by between one and three metres. His top time was 19.50 in Lausanne, a new PB that moved him up to No 4 of all-time.</p>
<p>In Doha the other World Championship medals went to Andr&eacute; De Grasse (who was the only male sprinter to medal at both 100m and 200m this year) and Alex Quinonez. Defending champion Ramil Guliyev had to settle for fifth this time. During the Diamond League season, however, Guliyev had been the most consistent: He ran all seven races, had four performances at 20.01 or faster, won once (Doha) and finished runner-up four times.</p>
<p>We have been used to a domination of the USA and Jamaica in this event &ndash; the two combined for six of the eight finalists at the 2007 World Championships - but things have changed. Doha winner Lyles was the only US sprinter to advance from the first round and for the second straight World Championships Jamaica failed to get a runner into the final.</p>
<p>Divine Odururu and Kenny Bednarek showed exceptional potential with sub-19.80 times during the US Collegiate season. However, that form didn&rsquo;t survive through October so neither managed to reach the final in Doha. But watch out for them in Tokyo now that both have concluded their collegiate careers to focus on the global scene.</p>
<h3>Men&rsquo;s 400m</h3>
<p>The 400m is something of a national sport in the Bahamas and despite a population of just a third of a million they have collected eight medals in the 4x400m at global outdoor championships since 2000 - including the sensational Olympic title in 2012. Individually there have been two medals, Avard Moncur&rsquo;s gold in 2001 and Steven Gardiner&rsquo;s silver two years ago.</p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9cRBJV0RcSo" width="500" height="288" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>As Wayde van Niekerk &ndash; the winner of the last three global titles &ndash; was still out of action in 2019 after a severe knee injury in a celebrity rugby match two years ago. Instead Gardiner came into the meet as joint favourite with Michael Norman and Fred Kerley.</p>
<p>While the US runners had met three times (Stanford Diamond League, the US trials and Diamond League final) &ndash; with Norman winning the first and last encounters &ndash; neither had faced Gardiner before Doha. He, however, was undefeated in five meets and had been super impressive in his final tune-up in Chorz&oacute;w in mid-September where he clocked 44.14 and won by almost two seconds.</p>
<p>In Doha all three qualified easily from the first round but in the semis Norman &ndash; the outright world leader with his smooth 43.45 from April &ndash; suddenly slowed down in the middle of his race, obviously due to injury. But Gardiner and Kerley both looked in full control in their semis winning in 44.13 and 44.25 respectively.</p>
<p>Despite all eight finalists clocking between 44.13 and 44.77 in the semis the final turned into a one-man-show as Gardiner in his majestic style just strode away to win by several metres in 43.48 climbing to No 6 all-time. Behind him, Kerley was upset at the finish line by Colombia&rsquo;s Anthony Jos&eacute; Zambrano who lowered his 44.55 PB from the semis another four tenths to snatch the silver.</p>
<h3>Women&rsquo;s 100m</h3>
<p>The Jamaicans took control of the 100m sprint early in the season. The biggest duel of the early season was seen at the Jamaican Championships where reigning Olympic champion Elaine Thompson dipped at the finish line to win in a fast world leading 10.73, edging Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who was credited with the same time, in a photo finish.</p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/prbTRF4dPHo" width="500" height="288" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>After that the 27-year-old Thompson seemed to lose her speed. Despite victories at the Pan American Games in Lima and the Paris Diamond League, Thompson never returned to the same level and was not able to challenge Fraser-Pryce at the World Championships.</p>
<p>One big name of the early season was just 19-year-old Sha&rsquo;Carri Richardson. The American won the NCAA title in 10.75, breaking the 10.88 world U20 record set by East German Marlies Oelsner nearly 42 years earlier. But she too lost her speed since that race and did not make the US team to Doha, finishing eighth at the US Championships final in Des Moines.</p>
<p>In Doha Fraser-Pryce was in her own class. The 32-year-old double Olympic gold medallist (2008/2012) won her fifth individual world title with a world-leading 10.71 after having shown her class in the heats and semifinals. Double European champion Dina Asher-Smith had a good season from the outset and crowned that with a great performance in Doha. She raced in six 100m finals during the season, winning two and finishing second in the rest. In Doha she set a 10.83 national record for silver. Marie Jos&eacute;e Ta Lou won the bronze for Ivory Coast in 10.90 after taking silver two years ago.</p>
<h3>Women&rsquo;s 200m</h3>
<p>The reigning Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo was easily the fastest athlete in the 200m this season. But the 25-year-old Bahamian opted to run only the 400m distance in Doha. She won all four of her 200m meets of the year and clocked a 21.74 world lead and national record in Z&uuml;rich at the Diamond League meeting in late August.</p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5brt3-GAotE" width="500" height="288" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>Furthermore the reigning world champion from London 2017, Dafne Schippers, was nowhere near her usual form. The Dutchwoman barely made it to the 100m final in Doha, but did not start there and did not compete in the 200m. Elaine Thompson, the 2016 Olympic champion and the year&rsquo;s fastest of the competitors in Doha at 22.00, only competed in the heats and did not start her semifinal. Nigerian Blessing Okagbare, the next fastest with 22.05 in Stanford in June, was disqualified in the heats.</p>
<p>Because of all the missing athletes, there was a lot of space for new names in the Doha final. After already running incredibly well in the 100m, Dina Asher-Smith took command the race and won her stronger sprinting distance in 21.88, another national record and the first major gold medal for the Briton. Competing in her first major championships, in any age group, Brittany Brown of the US won the silver in 22.22, a personal best. Swiss record holder (22.26 in 2019) Mujinga Kambundji took the bronze in 22.51, her first medal in a global championships.</p>
<h3>Women&rsquo;s 400m</h3>
<p>In 2019, the women&rsquo;s 400m came down to a duel between two athletes, Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Salwa Eid Naser. But with the Bahamian racing sparingly over the distance - she ran four 200m competitions in 2019 and just three over 400m prior to Doha - the pair didn&rsquo;t face off prior to the World Championships final. The reigning Olympic champion ran a world-leading 49.05 in Gainesville, Florida, in April, won again in Kingston in June in 49.54 then took the national title in July clocking 49.59.</p>
<p><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MMsZtOrE4YI" width="500" height="288" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p>
<p>Naser on the other hand was more prolific over the distance. The Bahraini was unbeaten in her 10 400m finals, which included five Diamond League races. The 21-year-old had already won silver at 2017 World Championships at 19 and lowered her national record to 49.08 in 2018. But what she produced in the Doha final was still unprecedented.</p>
<p>For a long time it has seemed that Marita Koch&rsquo;s 34-year-old world record of 47.60 was impossible to beat, but Naser showed a different view on that in Doha. She won in 48.14, a massive improvement and the third fastest performance of all-time. Miller-Uibo also smashed her own national record in 48.37, 0.6 seconds faster than her previous best set in Monaco last year. Hers was the second fastest runner-up performance ever, behind Olga Bryzgina 48.27 behind Koch&rsquo;s world record in 1985.</p>
<p>Jamaican Shericka Jackson, who finished third in 2015, won her second 400m bronze with a 49.47 personal best. Haitian-born American Wadeline Jonathas was fourth in 49.60, also a personal best, in her first major championship. Reigning world champion Phyllis Francis was fifth in 49.61, another personal best. It says something about the standard of the competition when the previous champion clocks a career best and loses by 1.47 seconds.</p>
<p><strong>Mirko Jalava (women&rsquo;s events) and A Lennart Julin (men&rsquo;s events) for World Athletics</strong></p>

Our end-of-year reviews conclude with renowned statisticians A. Lennart Julin and Mirko Jalava taking a look back at 2019’s key action in the sprints.

2019 review: sprints

<p>Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands took everything the top Kenyans and Ethiopians could throw at her and withstood it all to win her first global outdoor gold in what was only her second 10,000m race here at the <strong>IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019</strong> on Saturday (28).</p>
<p>And there could be more gold to come for her here as she now targets the 5000m.</p>
<p>The <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships/iaaf-world-athletics-championships-doha-2019-6033/10000-metres/women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">women's 10,000m</a></strong></span> was the first track final of the night ahead of the <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships/iaaf-world-athletics-championships-doha-2019-6033/100-metres/men" target="_blank" rel="noopener">men&rsquo;s 100m</a></strong></span>, won by Christian Coleman of the United States in 9.76, bettering his own world-leading mark by 0.05 as he finished ahead of 37-year-old compatriot Justin Gatlin, who clocked 9.89, and Canada&rsquo;s Olympic bronze medallist Andre De Grasse, who took bronze in a personal best of 9.90.<br /><br /></p>
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Christian Coleman wins the 100m at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Hassan, who earlier this season broke a world mile record that was almost 23 years old before winning the IAAF Diamond League titles over 1500m and 5000m, won in a world-leading 30:17.62.</p>
<p>Hassan only took the lead at the bell, holding off a massive sustained effort from Ethiopia&rsquo;s 21-year-old Letesenbet Gidey, who finished &ndash;to huge cheers from flag-waving supporters &ndash; in a personal best of 30:21.23, with bronze going to Kenya&rsquo;s Agnes Tirop in a personal best of 30:25.20.</p>
<p>There was an unfamiliar winner in the <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships/iaaf-world-athletics-championships-doha-2019-6033/long-jump/men" target="_blank" rel="noopener">men&rsquo;s long jump</a></strong></span> too as Tajay Gayle of Jamaica lit the blue touchpaper by improving his personal best of 8.32m to 8.46m in the first round and then sealing victory with a fourth-round effort of 8.69m.<br /><br /></p>
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Tajay Gayle, winner of the long jump at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Silver went to Olympic champion Jeff Henderson of the United States, whose fourth-round jump of 8.39m pushed Cuba&rsquo;s 21-year-old Diamond League champion Juan Miguel Echevarria into the bronze-medal position with 8.34m.</p>
<p>Has there ever been a more tear-stained <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships/iaaf-world-athletics-championships-doha-2019-6033/hammer-throw/women" target="_blank" rel="noopener">women&rsquo;s hammer</a></strong></span> final? DeAnna Price of the United States was overcome by emotion after building on her first-round lead of 76.87m and confirming victory with a third-round heave of 77.54m.</p>
<p>But Poland&rsquo;s Joanna Fiodorow matched her lachrymal efforts, and almost her athletic efforts, taking silver with a personal best of 76.35m ahead of China&rsquo;s Wang Zheng, bronze medallist with 74.76m. The gold and silver medallists then embraced as if they never wanted to let each other go.<br /><br /></p>
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DeAnna Price after winning the hammer at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The semi-finals of the <span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong><a href="https://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-championships/iaaf-world-athletics-championships-doha-2019-6033/4x400-metres-relay/mixed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mixed 4x400m produced a world record</a></strong></span> as the United States quartet of Tyrell Richard, Jessica Beard, Jasmine Blocker and Obi Igbokwe reached tomorrow&rsquo;s final in 3:12.42.</p>
<p>Richard&rsquo;s split time was 44.51, with Beard recording 51.20, Blocker 51.27 and Igbokwe 45.44.</p>
<p>Jamaica was second fastest qualifiers in a national record of 3:12.73, ahead of a Bahraini team that included world 400m silver medallist Salwa Eid Naser, clocking an Asian record of 3:12.74, and Britain, who set a European record of 3:12.80 in this nascent event that will make its Olympic debut in Tokyo next year.</p>
<p>The first round of the women&rsquo;s 100m had produced some outstanding times, with Jamaica&rsquo;s 2008 and 2012 Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce &ndash; with bright yellow hair for these championships, tied in a ponytail &ndash; winning the opening heat in 10.80, the fastest ever time recorded in the first round of the 100m at any championships.</p>
<p>The air-conditioned stadium meant the temperature was pleasant, albeit that it was a steamy evening, and the wind reading was given as -0.2m/s.</p>
<p>Ivory Coast&rsquo;s world 100m and 200m silver medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou equalled her personal best of 10.85 in the second heat, where Britain&rsquo;s Daryll Neita followed her home in a personal best of 11.12.</p>
<p>Nieta&rsquo;s British colleague Dina Asher-Smith, European 100m and 200m champion and this year&rsquo;s Diamond League 100m champion, was the third woman to run sub-11 on the night, winning her heat in 10.96.</p>
<p>Norway&rsquo;s defending 400m hurdles champion Karsten Warholm ran 48.28 to win his semi final, despite slowing over the final 40 metres with the race won to finish as fastest qualifier to Monday&rsquo;s final.</p>
<p>His two main rivals, Rai Benjamin of the United States and home runner Abderrahman Samba, also went through after finishing first and second in their semi-final in 48.52 and 48.72 respectively. The Qatari, whose season has been interrupted by injury, was not as smooth as his rival, who equalled his own best time of 46.98 in following Warholm home in the IAAF Diamond League final, but showed his strength as he finished strongly.</p>
<p>Brazil&rsquo;s Alison Dos Santos is also a medal contender, having won the opening heat in a South American U20 record of 48.35.</p>
<p>Kyron McMaster, the Commonwealth champion and two-time Diamond League champion from the British Virgin Islands, missed one of the two automatic qualifying places by a hundredth of a second behind Turkey&rsquo;s Yasmani Copello but was then disqualified.</p>
<p>The big news in the men&rsquo;s 800m was the fact that Nijel Amos of Botswana, who tops the 2019 world list with 1:41.89, did not start his heat, despite declaring for it.</p>
<p>There was very nearly an early exit for another of the pre-event favourites as Poland&rsquo;s Adam Kszczot could only finish fifth in his heat but squeaked through to tomorrow&rsquo;s semi-finals as a non-automatic qualifier with a time of 1:46.20.</p>
<p>France&rsquo;s defending champion Pierre-Ambroise Bosse came safely through his heat on a night when Emmanuel Korir of Kenya and Morocco&rsquo;s Mostafa Smaili topped qualifying with 1:45.16 and 1:45.27 respectively.</p>
<p>In the men&rsquo;s pole vault qualifying the big casualty was France&rsquo;s world record-holder and 2012 Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie, who has never won a world title, only confirmed his continuing story at these championships as he failed to reach Tuesday&rsquo;s final, managing only 5.60m.</p>
<p>Laveillenie&rsquo;s younger brother Valentin went through on 5.70m, with defending champion Sam Kendricks of the United States, Poland&rsquo;s Piotr Lisek, Brazil&rsquo;s Olympic champion Thiago Braz and Sweden&rsquo;s Armand Duplantis all managed the automatic qualifying height of 5.75m, although the 2011 world champion, Poland&rsquo;s Pawel Wojciechowski, also missed the cut.</p>
<p>Another Polish past world champion, Piotr Malachowski, and Germany&rsquo;s Olympic champion Christoph Harting both failed to qualify for Monday&rsquo;s men&rsquo;s discus final after a qualifying competition topped by the Swede who also tops this year&rsquo;s lists with 71.86m, although on this occasion Daniel Stahl only required 67.88m &ndash; the longest throw in a World Championships qualifying round since 2005.</p>
<p>Jamaica&rsquo;s Fedrick Dacres was second overall with 65.44m, ahead of Australia&rsquo;s Matthew Denny, who reached 65.08m.</p>
<p>The stand-out athlete in the women&rsquo;s 800m qualifying was Uganda&rsquo;s small but powerful 24-year-old Halimah Nakaayi, who bundled her way between leaders Eunice Sum of Kenya and Natoya Goule of Jamaica like a latter-day Steve Ovett before surging on to win the last heat in a season&rsquo;s best of 1:59.35.</p>
<p>Had Goule not gone on to advance as a non-automatic qualifier, there might have been an appeal but as it was the Ugandan, who had earlier bumped Sum, the 2013 world champion, from behind, advanced without bother.</p>
<p>Hers was the fastest qualifying time for tomorrow&rsquo;s semi-finals, with Raevyn Rogers of the United States second fastest on 1:59.97, and her team-mate Ajee Wilson, winner of the opening heat, clocking 2:00.31.</p>
<p>The evening had begun with four re-allocated medal presentations from past IAAF World Championships events following the disqualification of original medallists as a result of the retrospective analysis of their samples.</p>
<p>Marija &Scaron;estak of Slovenia received a women&rsquo;s triple jump bronze medal from the 2007 World Championships in Osaka, Naide Gomes of Portugal got a women&rsquo;s long jump bronze from the 2009 World Championships, and Australia&rsquo;s Jared Tallent left the stadium in possession of two men&rsquo;s 50km race walk silver medals &ndash; from 2011 and 2013.</p>
<p><strong>Mike Rowbottom for the IAAF</strong></p>

Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands took everything the top Kenyans and Ethiopians could throw at her and withstood it all to win her first global outdoor gold in what was only her second 10,000m race here at the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019 on Saturday (28).

One down for Hassan, one to go – IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, day two

<p>Living up to his favourite&rsquo;s billing, Christian Coleman dominated the 100m to underscore his ambitions to stake claim to the &lsquo;world&rsquo;s fastest man&rsquo; title in the post-Usain Bolt era.</p>
<p>His style isn&rsquo;t quite reminiscent, but the manner of his 9.76 winning performance at Khalifa Stadium tonight was. In World Championships history, only Bolt&rsquo;s legendary 9.58 world record at the 2009 edition in Berlin has been faster.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I've been blessed with incredible talent and tonight I was able to show it,&rdquo; said Coleman, who knocked 0.03 from the career best he set in the Diamond League final in Brussels last year.</p>
<p>He was out fast, built a visible lead by 30 metres and by 60, already seemed uncatchable in his quest to improve upon his runner-up finish in London two years ago, where he relegated Bolt to bronze in the Jamaican&rsquo;s final 100m race.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I usually have a good start but I don't follow it up with execution, so I've been working on my drive phase and being patient. Tonight it all paid off.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Last time it was a surprise when I won silver but this time there was a lot of pressure, but I managed to come out with gold.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Only five men have ever gone faster than Coleman&rsquo;s winning performance tonight, two of them lining up in this race.</p>
<p>One is Justin Gatlin, the defending champion, who at 37 is still managing to win medals. This time he collected silver, his first of that color at the World Championships and fifth overall in the short dash, courtesy of a 9.89 performance to secure the fifth 1-2 in the event for the US.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Christian has had a spectacular season and I knew he'd be tough to beat,&rdquo; said Gatlin, who arrived with a 9.87 season&rsquo;s best. &ldquo;He ran a great race, but I have a message for next year - I'm coming. He'd better be ready.</p>
<p>Andre De Grasse illustrated that his comeback from injury is on track, finishing third in 9.90, a personal best that clipped 0.01 from the clocking that propelled him to Olympic bronze three years ago. That bodes well for the Canadian&rsquo;s ambitions in Doha which include a podium finish in the 200m, a chase that gets underway with the heats on Sunday (29).&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I am grateful to get myself back on the podium,&rdquo; said De Grasse, whose star rose in 2016 after he left the Rio Olympic Games with three medals. &ldquo;In the last couple of years, I have been trying to keep my mind positive and telling myself that I can come back and be back where I was and even better. Definitely today was a good sign.&rdquo;</p>
<p>He finished just ahead of African champion Akani Simbine, who clocked 9.93, coming just a few inches shy of securing Africa&rsquo;s first 100m medal of any kind at the World Championships.</p>
<p>Further back, 2011 champion Yohan Blake, who sits third on the all-time list at 9.69, finished fifth in 9.97, 0.02 faster than he ran in London two years ago but one spot back.</p>
<p>European champion Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain was sixth in 10.03, ahead of Italy&rsquo;s Filippo Tortu and Canada&rsquo;s Aaron Brown, who clocked 10.07 and 10.08 respectively.</p>
<p>The athletes were introduced in spectacular fashion, with a light show bouncing off the track and lights beaming the athletes&rsquo; names and portraits across the home straight as they were announced.</p>
<p><strong>Bob Ramsak for the IAAF</strong></p>

Living up to his favourite’s billing, Christian Coleman dominated the 100m to underscore his ambitions to stake claim to the ‘world’s fastest man’ title in the post-Usain Bolt era.

Report: men's 100m - IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019

<p>With the <strong>IAAF Diamond League</strong> finals just weeks away, the women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles at Birmingham&rsquo;s Muller Grand Prix on Sunday (18) will be one of the most intriguing events of the meeting.</p>
<p>Not only does it pitch three of the seven fastest women of all time against one another &ndash; including world leader Danielle Williams and world record-holder Kendra Harrison &ndash; but there will be a fierce battle for the two remaining spots in the IAAF Diamond League final.</p>
<p>Williams, Harrison, Tobi Amusan and Christina Clemons are among the six women who have already done enough to book their place in the Brussels final, but will still be racing in Birmingham. For them, the most important aspect of this race will be to gain a psychological advantage over their opponents ahead of the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the likes of two-time world indoor champion Nia Ali, USA&rsquo;s Queen Claye, Jamaican duo Megan Tapper and Janeek Brown are among those vying for the seventh and eighth lanes in the final. Even Olympic champion Brianna McNeal, currently 17th in the standings, could in theory do enough to move into the top eight qualifiers.</p>
<p>It&rsquo;s a similar situation in the women&rsquo;s 200m where two of the four qualified finalists &ndash; two-time world champion Dafne Schippers and European champion Dina Asher-Smith &ndash; will line up against six women with ambitions of making it to Zurich.</p>
<p>Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo is currently ninth in the standings following her 22.09 victory in Monaco, but another victory in Birmingham would be sufficient for the Bahamian to qualify for Zurich where she could defend her Diamond League title.<br /><br /></p>
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Shaunae Miller-Uibo wins the Birmingham 200m showdown</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Jamaica&rsquo;s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Nigeria&rsquo;s Blessing Okagbare, the winner in Stanford with 22.05, are also in the field, along with world silver medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou.</p>
<p>Following the withdrawal of world silver medallist Christian Coleman, who has already secured his place in the IAAF Diamond League final, Akani Simbine, also Zurich-bound, will start as the fastest man in the 100m field.</p>
<p>The South African, who finished third in Shanghai and fourth in Monaco, is running into good form and won at the recent IAAF Diamond League meeting in London with 9.93, just 0.01 shy of his season&rsquo;s best.</p>
<p>Four other men in the line-up &ndash; Ivory Coast&rsquo;s Arthur Gue Cisse, 2011 world champion Yohan Blake, Olympic medallist Andre De Grasse and Japan&rsquo;s Yuki Koike &ndash; have also bettered the 10-second barrier this year.</p>
<p>With just one qualifying meeting left for the men&rsquo;s 400m ahead of the IAAF Diamond League final, there are still no automatic qualifiers. USA&rsquo;s Michael Cherry and Jamaica&rsquo;s Akeem Bloomfield, the winner in London, look poised to capitalise on the absence of world leader Michael Norman and US champion Fred Kerley in Birmingham. NCAA champion Kahmari Montgomery is the fastest in the field with a best this year of 44.23.</p>
<p>The men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles is also surprisingly open ahead of the IAAF Diamond League final, although next week&rsquo;s meeting in Paris represents another scoring opportunity. Brazil&rsquo;s Alison Santos has broken the South American U20 record on five occasions this year, most recently with his 48.45 to win the Pan-American Games title. The 19-year-old, now the third fastest U20 400m hurdler in history, will be making his IAAF Diamond League debut.</p>
<p>Santos may be the fastest in the field this year, but the likes of Yasmani Copello, Takatoshi Abe and Thomas Barr are more experienced on the circuit.</p>
<p>It may not be a scoring discipline in Birmingham, but the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles pits Olympic champion Omar McLeod against US champion Daniel Roberts in what will be their first ever clash.</p>
<h3>Field event throwdowns</h3>
<p>A persistent injury throughout the off-season set back Sandra Perkovic during the first half of the season as the world and Olympic discus champion uncharacteristically finished fifth in Stockholm and third in Rabat. Following a two-month break from competition, though, the Croatian returned to top form at the European Team Championships second league, throwing a season&rsquo;s best of 68.58m.<br /><br /></p>
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Discus winner Sandra Perkovic at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>That still puts her behind Cuban duo Yaime Perez, the winner in Rabat, and Denia Caballero, the Stockholm victor on the 2019 world list, but it seems as though Perkovic is rounding into form at the right time.</p>
<p>US champion Valarie Allman, South American record-holder Andressa de Morais and German champion Kristin Pudenz add further quality to the field.</p>
<p>The men&rsquo;s javelin is of a similar high standard with six of the top seven throwers in the world this year slated to compete. Five of the men in the field &ndash; including world leader Magnus Kirt, Olympic champion Thomas Rohler, Asian champion Cheng Chao-Tsun and European silver medallist Andreas Hofmann &ndash; have lifetime bests beyond 90 metres and, more importantly, have already done enough to guarantee a place in the IAAF Diamond League final.</p>
<p>World and Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi returns to the scene of her first ever victory at an IAAF Diamond League meeting. The Diamond League leader recently set a season&rsquo;s best of 4.83m and, provided the wind isn&rsquo;t too much of a factor like it was last year, will start as favourite in a field that includes world leader Jenn Suhr, Canada&rsquo;s Alysha Newman, world bronze medallist Robeilys Peinado and 2015 world champion Yarisley Silva.<br /><br /></p>
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Katerina Stefanidi in the pole vault at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Birmingham</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Despite being the world leader with 2.33m and topping the Diamond League standings, authorised neutral athlete Ilya Ivanyuk is yet to win at an IAAF Diamond League meeting this year. He will aim to rectify that in Birmingham but will be up against world bronze medallist and London winner Majd Eddin Ghazal, Diamond League champion Brandon Starc and Asian Games champion Wang Yu.</p>
<p>While the women&rsquo;s long jump in Birmingham features some of the discipline&rsquo;s best specialists, the focus for many will be on world heptathlon champion Nafissatou Thiam and world indoor pentathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who will clash for the first time in an IAAF Diamond League setting in what will be their only head-to-head ahead of the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019.</p>
<p>Just one centimetre separates the pair on season&rsquo;s bests, Johnson-Thompson having jumped 6.68m this year to Thiam&rsquo;s Belgian record of 6.67m. But the Briton is a 6.93m performer at best and will be cheered on by the home crowd.</p>
<p>Diamond League leader Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk, world indoor champion Ivana Spanovic and 2018 world leader Lorraine Ugen will likely be the top contenders as the jumpers vie for points in the last qualifying meeting of the season.</p>
<h3>Middle-distance meeting records under threat</h3>
<p>Birmingham&rsquo;s 9:17.43 is the slowest of all IAAF Diamond League meeting records in the women&rsquo;s steeplechase but will surely be consigned to history on Sunday as six women in the field have bettered that mark this year.</p>
<p>World record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech starts as favourite and, just as she did in Shanghai and Stanford, will want to ensure the pace is fast to give her the best chance of victory. If the pace drops, however, then the likes of Norah Jeruto &ndash; who beat Chepkoech in Oslo &ndash; and 2015 world champion Hyvin Kiyeng, who has an 8-7 head-to-head record against Chepkoech, could take advantage.</p>
<p>Aside from the meeting record, seven of the as-yet unassigned places in the IAAF Diamond League final will be up for grabs.</p>
<p>The oldest women's meeting record is Sonia O&rsquo;Sullivan&rsquo;s 4:24.27 in the mile set when the meeting was held in Sheffield in 1992, but that will be seriously challenged on Sunday.</p>
<p>Gabriela DeBues-Stafford will have a crack at the Canadian record of 4:17.87 she set in Monaco last month, but will take on Germany&rsquo;s Konstanze Klosterhalfen, who appears set for a swift clocking following her national records of 8:20.07 for 3000m and 14:26.76 for 5000m in recent weeks.<br /><br /></p>
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Gabriela Debues-Stafford at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Ethiopia&rsquo;s Axumawit Embaye, the field&rsquo;s only other sub-4:20 performer, should also contend for valuable Diamond League points.</p>
<p>Ajee Wilson lines up for the women&rsquo;s 800m in Birmingham as the only guaranteed finalist for that discipline in Brussels next month. But Jamaican record-holder Natoya Goule, who finished a close second to Wilson in Monaco last month, will be full of confidence following her victory at the Pan-American Games.</p>
<p>Raevyn Rogers, Lynsey Sharp and Olga Lyakhova will be looking to consolidate their positions in the top eight in the Diamond League standings.</p>
<p><strong>Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF</strong></p>

With the IAAF Diamond League finals just weeks away, the women’s 100m hurdles at Birmingham’s Muller Grand Prix on Sunday (18) will be one of the most intriguing events of the meeting.

Sprints and hurdles in the spotlight in Birmingham – IAAF Diamond League

<p>World leader Christian Coleman will head the field in the men&rsquo;s 100m at the M&uuml;ller Grand Prix Birmingham, the 11th stop of the 2019 <strong>IAAF Diamond League,</strong> on 18 August.</p>
<p>Coleman, who broke the world indoor 60m record in 2018 just weeks before taking the world indoor title over the distance in Birmingham, returns to the British city as the fastest man this year over 100m this year courtesy of a scorching 9.81 at Stanford in June.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Coleman is preparing to head back to the UK's second city fresh off the back of winning the USA 100m title at last week&rsquo;s championships in Des Moines where he clocked 9.99 after a 9.96 performance in the semi-finals. Earlier in the season, he also collected a victory in the Oslo leg of the IAAF Diamond League, clocking 9.85 after a 9.86 season opener in Shanghai, where he finished just and inch or two behind winner Noah Lyles.</p>
<p>The field will also include Canada&rsquo;s Andre de Grasse, who is on the rebound from injury. Having won three Olympic medals in 2016, de Grasse has returned to form in 2019 after a spate of injuries and ran his first legal sub-10 time since 2016 with 9.99 at the M&uuml;ller Anniversary Games in London last month.</p>
<p>Other contenders in the 100m include sub-10 and sub-20 seconds man Adam Gemili of Great Britain, multi-Olympic and world medallist Yohan Blake of Jamaica and Commonwealth and African champion Akani Simbine of South Africa.</p>
<p><strong>Organisers for the IAAF</strong></p>

World leader Christian Coleman will head the field in the men’s 100m at the Müller Grand Prix Birmingham, the 11th stop of the 2019 IAAF Diamond League, on 18 August.

Coleman to lead Birmingham 100m field - IAAF Diamond League

<p>World leaders Christian Coleman and Ryan Crouser reasserted their stature with dominant victories on Friday (27) at the USA Championships at Des Moines, Iowa.</p>
<p>Unheralded sprinter Teahna Daniels scored an upset in the women&rsquo;s 100m. Sha&rsquo;Carri Richardson, who set a world U20 record of 10.75 at last month&rsquo;s NCAA Championships, finished last and did not make the team for the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019.</p>
<p>The 100m national title was the first for Coleman, 23, the world indoor champion and world indoor record-holder. He was second in the 100m in 2017 behind Justin Gatlin, the eventual world champion. Gatlin qualified for the final but, with a bye to the World Championships, pulled out.</p>
<p>Coleman won in 9.99 into a -1.0m/s headwind after a 9.96 semifinal (-0.1m/s). Michael Rodgers was second and Christopher Belcher third, both in 10.12.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s just amazing. A long time coming,&rdquo; said Coleman, whose 9.81 in the Prefontaine Classic at Stanford is the fastest time in the world this year.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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Ryan Crouser spins to the US title in Des Moines</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Crouser, the Olympic champion, climbed from third to first in the shot put with a fifth-round distance of 22.62m. It was his seventh meet of 22 metres this season and gave him his third USA title.</p>
<p>Joe Kovacs was second at 22.31m and Darrell Hill third at 22.11m to complete the trio going to Doha.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This one was special or me,&rdquo; Crouser said. &ldquo;I had a couple of rough weeks of training.&rdquo;</p>
<h3>Daniels springs surprise in women's 100m</h3>
<p>Daniels won in 11.20 against a -1.7m/s wind. She was fourth at the NCAA Championships but has posted creditable marks all season, featuring times of 10.99, 11.00 and 11.03w (in winning the under-23 NACAC title).</p>
<p>Olympic 4x100m gold medallist English Gardner was second in 11.25. Morolake Akinosun, one year removed from achilles surgery, was third in 11.28.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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Teahna Daniels, 2019 US 100m champion</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>World champion Tori Bowie, with a bye to the World Championships, did not enter the 100m.</p>
<h3>Scott successfully defends triple jump crown</h3>
<p>Donald Scott repeated as triple jump champion with a wind-aided triple jump of 17.74m in the first round. Will Claye was second with 17.70m and was credited with a stadium record with a wind-legal 17.68m (1.8m/s). Omar Craddock was third with 17.55m.</p>
<p>Christian Taylor, with a bye to Doha, jogged down the runway and intentionally fouled. USA rules require him to compete at the National Championships to be eligible for the team.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I know that it was going to take a toll, and I thought it&rsquo;s better that I stay healthy and really hit it hard on the back end of the season,&rdquo; Taylor said.</p>
<p>Conor McCullough won his first title in the hammer, setting a facility record with a PB of 78.14m to move to eighth on the US all-time list. His distance was the longest by a US thrower since 2012. The 28-year-old was the 2010 world U20 champion and is the son of Conor McCullough, who represented Ireland in the hammer at the 1984 and 1988 Olympics.</p>
<p>Devon Williams scored 8295 points to win the decathlon. He had second-day victories in the 110m hurdles (13.78) and discus (49.47m).</p>
<h3>Felix advances to 400m final</h3>
<p>Allyson Felix, eight months after childbirth, was third in her 400m semifinal in 51.45 to make Saturday&rsquo;s final. The top time was 50.20 by defending champion Shakima Wimbley.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I wish I had more races. But I'm just trying to put myself in a position to give myself a shot,&rdquo; said Felix, 33, who has nine medals from the Olympics and 16 from World Championships.</p>
<p>World leader Michael Norman was fastest in the men's 400m semis clocking 44.04, just ahead of Fred Kerley&rsquo;s 44.09.</p>
<p>Among others advancing to finals were Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz in the 1500m, bronze medalist Clayton Murphy (1:45.24) in the men&rsquo;s 800m, Ajee Wilson in the women&rsquo;s 800m, Rai Benjamin in the 400m hurdles, world record-holder Kendra Harrison in the 100m hurdles and world champion Emma Coburn in the steeplechase.</p>
<p><strong>Roy Jordan for the IAAF</strong></p>

World leaders Christian Coleman and Ryan Crouser reasserted their stature with dominant victories on Friday (27) at the USA Championships at Des Moines, Iowa.

Coleman and Crouser dominate at second day at US Championships 

<p>It may have been aided by a strong following wind, but world and Olympic triple jump champion Christian Taylor produced one of the longest leaps of his career to win at the Istvan Gyulai Memorial in Szekesfehervar on Tuesday (9).</p>
<p>Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Christian Coleman sped to seasons bests to win their respectively 200m races, while Pawel Fajdek resumed his rivalry with fellow Pole Wojciech Nowicki in the men&rsquo;s hammer, part of the <strong>IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge</strong>.</p>
<p>Taylor was up against two of his biggest rivals: two-time world silver medallist Pedro Pablo Pichardo and two-time world indoor champion Will Claye, who was contesting his first triple jump competition since leaping a world-leading 18.14m 10 days ago. It was the first time three men with 18-metre PBs had lined up against one another in a triple jump competition.</p>
<p>Claye took an early lead with 17.52m but Taylor responded immediately with a season&rsquo;s best of 17.55m. Taylor improved to 17.68m in round three, breaking the meeting record, but Claye kept up the pressure, leaping 17.66m in round four and 17.61m in round five.</p>
<p>Aided by a 3.4m/s following wind &ndash; one of just two illegal wind readings in the entire competition &ndash; Taylor bounded out to 17.93m in the penultimate round to extend his lead. Under any conditions, Taylor has jumped farther than that on just five occasions, two of which were in World Championships finals.</p>
<p>Claye fouled out in the final round while Taylor closed his series with 17.61m. Pichardo was third with 17.29m.</p>
<h3>Decisive 200m wins for Coleman and Miller-Uibo</h3>
<p>In what was just his second 200m race since June 2017, world indoor champion Christian Coleman crossed the line comfortably ahead of world champion Ramil Guliyev and Canada&rsquo;s Aaron Brown.<br /><br /></p>
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Christian Coleman wins the 200m in Szekesfehervar</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Unsurprisingly for someone who holds the world indoor 60m record, Coleman got off to a strong start and had a lead of about a metre over Guliyev as they came off the bend. He extended his lead over the next 50 metres and maintained it to the end, crossing the line in 19.91 (0.6m/s).</p>
<p>Coleman&rsquo;s winning mark was the second-fastest clocking of his career, just 0.06 behind his PB. It also broke the meeting record of 20.14 set two years ago by Isiah Young.</p>
<p>Guliyev was a couple of metres adrift in second place, finishing just ahead of Brown, 20.23 to 20.24.</p>
<p>Miller-Uibo&rsquo;s winning margin in the women&rsquo;s 200m was even bigger than Coleman&rsquo;s.</p>
<p>The Olympic 400m champion, contesting her first half-lap sprint of 2019, was roughly level with Marie-Josee Ta Lou and Jenna Prandini at the half-way point, but pulled away from the field down the home straight to win in 22.18 (0.7m/s).</p>
<p>The Bahamian&rsquo;s time took 0.34 off Veronica Campbell-Brown&rsquo;s meeting record from 2016. Ta Lou was second in 22.76 with Prandini taking third place in 22.88.<br /><br /></p>
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Shaunae Miller-Uibo wins the 200m in Szekesfehervar</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Miller-Uibo&rsquo;s compatriot Steven Gardiner impressed over one lap of the track. The world silver medallist finished more than a second ahead of his opponents to win the 400m in 44.45, taking exactly half a second off his season's best.</p>
<h3>Fajdek gets the better of Nowicki</h3>
<p>In what was their sixth clash of 2019, three-time world champion Pawel Fajdek defeated European champion Wojciech Nowicki in the hammer and moved to the top of the IAAF Hammer Throw Challenge standings.</p>
<p>Fajdek improved with each of his four measured throws, opening with 76.38m and following it with 78.65m, 80.41m and 80.49m.</p>
<p>Nowicki, however, seemingly struggled and was five metres shy of his season&rsquo;s best, managing 76.60m in the fifth round. It was enough for just third place as Hungary&rsquo;s European bronze medallist Bence Halasz threw 77.36m to finish runner-up to Fajdek.<br /><br /></p>
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Polish hammer thrower Pawel Fajdek</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>France&rsquo;s 2015 world bronze medallist Alexandra Tavernier won the women&rsquo;s hammer. All six of her throws &ndash; ranging from 71.75m to 72.84m in what was an incredibly consistent series &ndash; would have been enough to win as Poland&rsquo;s Joanna Fiodorow finished second with 71.72m.</p>
<h3>Hurdle wins for Holloway and Harrison</h3>
<p>Sprint hurdler Grant Holloway was making his highly anticipated professional debut and did not disappoint.</p>
<p>The 21-year-old, competing for the first time since winning the NCAA 110m hurdles title in a world-leading 12.98, ran a composed race to win in 13.16. Brazil&rsquo;s Gabriel Constantino was a close second in a South American record of 13.18.</p>
<p>The women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles was similarly close as world record-holder Kendra Harrison held off two-time world indoor champion Nia Ali, 12.60 to 12.63. Sharika Nelvis was third in 12.66.</p>
<p>European bronze medallist Ilya Ivanyuk cleared a world-leading 2.33m to win the high jump, adding two centimetres to his lifetime best. Ukraine's Andrii Protsenko and Kenya's Matthew Sawe both cleared 2.28m, while Ivanyuk skipped that height. All three men struggled with 2.30m with Protsenko and Sawe exiting the competition but Ivanyuk got over it on his final attempt to take the lead. He then went on to clear 2.33m with his first try.</p>
<p>Swedish discus thrower Daniel Stahl added another victory to his tally in his 2019 head-to-head record with Jamaica&rsquo;s Fedrick Dacres, bringing it to 4-2. Dacres had the early lead with his second-round throw of 67.67m, but Stahl responded with a fourth-round effort of 68.77m.</p>
<p>Elsewhere, there were dominant wins from Salwa Eid Naser in the 400m, clocking 50.13, and Genzebe Dibaba in the 2000m, winning in 5:33.76.</p>
<p><strong>Jon Mulkeen for the IAAF</strong></p>

It may have been aided by a strong following wind, but world and Olympic triple jump champion Christian Taylor produced one of the longest leaps of his career to win at the Istvan Gyulai Memorial in Szekesfehervar on Tuesday (9).

Taylor, Coleman and Miller-Uibo shine in Szekesfehervar

<p>World-leading marks were set in six track events at the Prefontaine Classic, but it was the women&rsquo;s 3000m that produced the greatest set of marks at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Stanford on Sunday (30).</p>
<p>The field included world 1500m record-holder Genzebe Dibaba, world 5000m champion Hellen Obiri, Olympic 10,000m champion Almaz Ayana and European 5000m champion Sifan Hassan, among others. After a swift 31-second opening 200m, the pace soon settled and the pacemaker took the field through 1000m in 2:45.75.</p>
<p>Ayana was ultimately never a factor but the other big contenders were all still in the lead pack as they approached the final kilometre. Ethiopia&rsquo;s Letesenbet Gidey made an early break and led from Dibaba with 800m to go with Hassan and Germany&rsquo;s Konstanze Klosterhalfen also close behind.</p>
<p>With 600m left, Dibaba started to fall behind, while Hassan and Klosterhalfen were gaining. Gidey took the bell at 7:13.97, with Hassan a little more than second back. Hassan passed Gidey with 250 metres left as Dibaba was now contending with Klosterhalfen. Hassan pulled away down the homestretch and went on to win in 8:18.49 &ndash; the fastest time in the world since 1993 and a three-second improvement on the European record.</p>
<p>Klosterhalfen passed Dibaba and then Gidey to take second place in 8:20.07, also finishing inside the previous European record. Gidey finished third in an Ethiopian record of 8:20.27 while Dibaba was fourth (8:21.29) and Obiri sixth (8:27.26).</p>
<p>In an exciting three-way finish, world cross-country champion Joshua Cheptegei held on to take victory in the men&rsquo;s two miles.</p>
<p>The tightly bunched pack was led by a pacemaker through 880 yards in 2:03.4 and the first mile in 4:04.9. After the pacemaker stepped off, Selemon Barega, Cheptegei and Paul Chelimo were left to fight it out.</p>
<p>Over the next lap Barega put some distance between Cheptegei and Chelimo, but Cheptegei made up the lost ground on the next lap, leaving Chelimo nearly three seconds off the pace with a lap to go. Cheptegei moved on to Barega&rsquo;s shoulder with 200 metres to go and passed him at the top of the final bend.<br /><br /></p>
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Joshua Cheptegei wins the two-mile race at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Stanford</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Chelimo, meanwhile, was starting to motor and was closing with ever stride as he entered the home straight. Cheptegei passed Barega and for a moment it looked as though Chelimo&rsquo;s momentum would take him across the line first, but the Ugandan held on to take a narrow 8:07.54 victory over Chelimo, whose 28.63 last 200m left him .05 short. Barega faded to third in 8:08.69.</p>
<p>After a surprise defeat in Oslo, Kenya&rsquo;s world steeplechase record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech was keen to assert her dominance in Stanford.</p>
<p>A gap began to open after a quick 2:55.07 opening kilometre by Chepkoech, with Jeruto in second followed by Celliphine Chespol, world champion Emma Coburn and Hyvin Kiyeng of Kenya. Although she had slipped off world record pace, Chepkoech had a 10-second gap on the field with a lap to go.</p>
<p>Coburn, who had fallen earlier in the race, made up a bit of ground over the last two laps, but Chepkoech was a comfortable winner in a world-leading 8:55.58 &ndash; the fifth-fastest time in history &ndash; with Coburn second in 9:04.90 and Kiyeng third in 9:05.81.<br /><br /></p>
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Beatrice Chepkoech on her way to winning the steeplechase at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Stanford</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<h3>Kipyegon makes triumphant return</h3>
<p>A slew of fast finishers made the most of the women&rsquo;s 1500m as Kenya&rsquo;s Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon &ndash; making her return to competition after maternity leave &ndash; held off final lap assaults by Great Britain&rsquo;s Laura Muir and USA&rsquo;s Shelby Houlihan.</p>
<p>Kipyegon&rsquo;s last circuit of 61.33 put her 0.43 ahead of runner-up Muir, 3:59.04 to 3:59.47. Houlihan finished third in 3:59.64 with Ethiopia&rsquo;s Gudaf Tsegay taking fourth in 3:59.85.<br /><br /></p>
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Faith Kipyegon (second from left) in the 1500m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Stanford</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Timothy Cheruiyot retained his title in the Bowerman Mile, the Kenyan winning in a world-leading 3:50.49. Djibouti&rsquo;s Ayanleh Souleiman won the sprint for second (3:51.22) against the Norwegian Ingebrigtsen brothers Filip (3:51.28) and 18-year-old Jakob, (3:51.30).</p>
<p>USA&rsquo;s Craig Engels was fourth in 3:51.60, while Olympic champion Matthew Centrowitz was fifth in 3:52.26. World indoor record-holder Samuel Tefera finished eighth.</p>
<p>Caster Seymenya cruised to a 1:55.70 victory in the women&rsquo;s 800m, improving on her own meeting record. USA&rsquo;s Ajee Wilson, Raevyn Rogers and Hanna Green filled the next three places, all with sub-1:59 clockings.</p>
<h3>Benjamin and Coleman cruise to world-leading marks</h3>
<p>Perhaps the most impressive mark of the day on the men&rsquo;s side belonged to USA&rsquo;s Rai Benjamin, whose 47.16 in the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles set the tone for the Pre Classic, as it was the initial running event on the programme.</p>
<p>Starting in lane five, with the British Virgin Islands&rsquo; Kyron McMaster on his right and Turkey&rsquo;s Yasmani Copello in lane four, Benjamin could dictate his own race. McMaster tried sticking with Benjamin for the first half, but Benjamin moved up a gear on the final bend and pulled ahead.</p>
<p>He crossed the line in 47.16, the fastest time in the world this year and his second-best performance to date following his 47.02 PB from last year. McMaster finished a distant second in a season&rsquo;s best of 48.94.<br /><br /></p>
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Rai Benjamin on his way to winning the 400m hurdles at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Stanford</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>USA&rsquo;s Christian Coleman pulled away from world champion Justin Gatlin for a convincing win in the men&rsquo;s 100m in a world-leading 9.81 to Gatlin&rsquo;s 9.87. After being run down by Canada&rsquo;s Andre De Grasse in the Ostrava last week over 200m, the world indoor 60m record-holder showed no signs of fatigue as he established himself as the favourite for the IAAF World Athletics Championships Doha 2019. Great Britain&rsquo;s Zharnel Hughes finished third in 9.97.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It&rsquo;s always good to run on home soil,&rdquo; said Coleman. &ldquo;I just compete and try to come out with a win, but, obviously, guys are steadily getting better and better and always running faster. It&rsquo;s going to take some pretty good training to get a gold medal at the end of the year.&rdquo;<br /><br /></p>
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Christian Coleman in the 100m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Stanford</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The women&rsquo;s 100m saw the Ivory Coast&rsquo;s Marie-Josee Ta Lou prevail over USA&rsquo;s Aleia Hobbs, 11.02 - 11.04. The anticipated clash between newcomer Sha&rsquo;Carri Richardson and two-time Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce never quite materialised as Richardson placed fourth in 11.15 and Fraser-Pryce finished eighth.</p>
<p>Nigeria&rsquo;s Blessing Okagbare was a surprise winner in the women&rsquo;s 200m. Great Britain&rsquo;s Dina Asher-Smith had the lead coming off the turn in lane four, but then Jamaica&rsquo;s double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson forged ahead as they headed to the finish. But Okagbare, running in lane eight, swept by Thompson in the final few meters to win in 22.05, just 0.01 shy of her own African record.</p>
<p>Thompson finished in second in 22.21, while Asher-Smith held on for third in 22.42 and Bahrain&rsquo;s Salwa Eid Naser finished fourth in a Bahraini record of 22.51.</p>
<p>Michael Norman&rsquo;s return to the west coast was reminiscent of his last victory in California when he sped to 43.35 in April. He was even with US compatriots Fred Kerley and Kahmari Montgomery, but powered his way to the line in 44.62. Montgomery finished second as Kerley faded to third, 45.12 to 45.33.</p>
<p>Spain&rsquo;s Orlando Ortega won the men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles in 13.24 over France&rsquo;s Wilhem Belocian and Jamaica&rsquo;s Olympic and world champion Omar McLeod, who were both timed in 13.29 with the nod going to the Frenchman.</p>
<p><strong>Brian Russell for the IAAF</strong></p>

World-leading marks were set in six track events at the Prefontaine Classic, but it was the women’s 3000m that produced the greatest set of marks at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Stanford on Sunday (30).

Hassan takes historic 3000m victory in Stanford – IAAF Diamond League

<p>World leaders Christian Coleman and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce form part of two strong 100m fields at the Prefontaine Classic, part of the <strong>IAAF Diamond League</strong>, which will take place in Stanford on Sunday (30).</p>
<p>In 2018 Coleman broke the world indoor 60m record, won world indoor 60m gold and ended the season with the fastest time in the world, 9.79. After finishing second at the Prefontaine Classic in 2018 in a wind-aided 9.84, the 23-year-old returns to this year&rsquo;s edition off the back of two world-leading marks: 9.86 in Shanghai and 9.85 in Olso.</p>
<p>This weekend he will face a field full of sub-10-second performers, two of whom have bettered that barrier this year.</p>
<p>Cravon Gillespie recorded lifetime bests of 9.93 for 100m and 19.93 for 200m on the same day to finish second in both events at the recent NCAA Championships.</p>
<p>European champion Zharnel Hughes of Great Britain is undefeated at 100m this year and heads to Stanford with a season&rsquo;s best of 9.97, just 0.06 shy of his lifetime best.</p>
<p>The field also includes world champion Justin Gatlin, prolific sub-10-second performer Michael Rodgers, 2018 NCAA champion Cameron Burrell, 2018 Jamaican champion Tyquendo Tracey and Italian record-holder Filippo Tortu.</p>
<p>The women&rsquo;s 100m may not be a scoring discipline in Stanford, but that hasn&rsquo;t affected the quality as all eight women in the field have previously bettered 11 seconds and four of them have sub-10.80 PBs.<br /><br /></p>
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Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce after winning at the 2013 IAAF Diamond League in Eugene</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Multiple world and Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who became a mother in 2017, is back to her best. At the recent Jamaican Championships she posted times of 10.73 and 22.22 &ndash; her fastest times since 2013 and just a whisker away from her lifetime bests.</p>
<p>The 32-year-old won the Prefontaine Classic 100m in 2013 and 2015 so will be looking for a third victory this weekend.</p>
<p>But the experienced Jamaican will be up against one of the newest and most exciting sprint talents.</p>
<p>Sha&rsquo;Carri Richardson, aged just 19, won the 100m in 10.75 and placed second in the 200m in 22.17 at the NCAA Championships earlier this month, breaking the world U20 records in both events (pending ratification).</p>
<p>The teenager has since turned professional and this will be her first race since her record-breaking feats at the NCAA Championships.</p>
<p>Double world silver medallist Marie-Josee Ta Lou, who won last year&rsquo;s Pre Classic, will be back, so too will her Ivorian compatriot Murielle Ahoure, the 2018 Diamond League champion.</p>
<p>Two-time Pre Classic winner English Gardner, US champion Aleia Hobbs, world indoor bronze medallist Mujinga Kambundji and Olympic finalist Michelle-Lee Ahye are also in the loaded field.</p>
<p><strong>Organisers for the IAAF</strong></p>

World leaders Christian Coleman and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce form part of two strong 100m fields at the Prefontaine Classic, part of the IAAF Diamond League, which will take place in Stanford on Sunday (30).

Coleman, Richardson and Fraser-Pryce lead Stanford’s 100m fields – IAAF Diamond League

<p>Christian Coleman sped to a dominant 9.85 victory in the 100m at the Bislett Games in Oslo as the 2019 IAAF Diamond League resumed in the Norwegian capital on Thursday (13).</p>
<p>Quickest out of the blocks, the reigning Diamond League champion pulled away mid-race and was never threatened as he chipped 0.01 from the previous world lead he shared with compatriot Noah Lyles and Divine Oduduru of Nigeria. Given the evening chill that descended upon the sold out Bislett Stadium, Coleman was pleased.</p>
<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;m pretty excited about it - it was good run and pretty good time,&rdquo; said Coleman, who uses &ldquo;pretty good&rdquo; as a characterization of the third fastest time of his career.</p>
<p>&ldquo;It wasn&rsquo;t ideal conditions, but the crowd made it exciting and I came out for the victory. I executed better than in my last race.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Xie Zhenye of China was second in 10.01, a season&rsquo;s best, with Michael Rodgers third in 10.04.</p>
<h3>Barega takes 3000m showdown</h3>
<p>Coleman&rsquo;s performance was one of six world leads on the night, the first coming courtesy of Selemon Barega in a 3000m contest that had the capacity crowd on its feet.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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Selemon Barega on his way to winning the 3000m at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Oslo</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Uganda's Joshua Cheptegei did much of the leading, taking command just beyond the midway point, hoping to run the zing from the Ethiopian's legs. It wouldn't come to pass.</p>
<p>Tucked behind Kenyan Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli, Barega maintained close contact in third over the first kilometre, then moved into second with 600 metres remaining. He then made his decisive move with just over half a lap to go to take the victory in 7:32.17, a lifetime best for the 19-year-old. Cheptegei held his position to finish second in 7:33.26 with Kimeli next in 7:34.85, personal bests for both.</p>
<p>Behind them, Henrik Ingebrigtsen captivated the crowd with the strong final lap of his own, moving from sixth with 500 metres left to race to fourth across the line, his 7:36.85 a new national record. The stadium erupted.</p>
<p>The evening-capping Dream Mile, the meeting&rsquo;s signature event, didn&rsquo;t witness a similar finish for Henrik&rsquo;s youngest brother Jakob, the double European champion, who couldn&rsquo;t manage better than sixth. Instead, it was Pole Marcin Lewandowski who emerged the winner in a blanket finish clocking a 3:52.34 world lead, 0.04 ahead of Kenyan Vincent Kibet. Ayanleh Souleiman was another step back, clocking 3.52.66 for third.</p>
<h3>Jeruto upsets Chepkoech</h3>
<p>Norah Jeruto produced the biggest upset of the evening, taking the steeplechase in 9:03.71, a meeting record and another world lead to end world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech's unbeaten streak at seven.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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Norah Jeruto gets a surprise steeplechase win at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Oslo</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Chepkoech, whose last loss came in Rome more than a year ago, took command 1300 metres into the race, with Jeruto shadowing closely. As the laps wore on, the order didn't change, with Jeruto running confidently, seeming waiting for the right moment to pounce. That came in the final 100 metres. As she was passed, Chepkoech didn't even try to respond, content with her eventual 9:04.30 seasons best.</p>
<p>In a quality race, Hyvin Kiyeng was third in 9:07.56 with world champion Emma Coburn fourth in 9:08.42.</p>
<h3>Schippers building momentum</h3>
<p>Dafne Schippers continues to round into form, the Dutchwoman producing a convincing 22.56 run to collect her third 200m Oslo victory.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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200m winner Dafne Schippers at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Oslo</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;I'm coming back from injury and I'm getting faster and faster, that's part of the plan - I just need more races." The two-time world champions races next on Sunday in Rabat.</p>
<p>Cystal Emmanuel of Canada was a distant second in 22.89.</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
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Christina Clemons wins the 100m hurdles at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Oslo</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Christina Clemons won her second 100m hurdles race in three days, breaking free from Sharika Nelvis five metres from the finish, clocking 12.69. Nelvis, who ran slightly off balance on her last two strides, clocked 12.74.</p>
<p><strong>Bob Ramsak for the IAAF</strong></p>

Christian Coleman sped to a dominant 9.85 victory in the 100m at the Bislett Games in Oslo as the 2019 IAAF Diamond League resumed in the Norwegian capital on Thursday (13).

Coleman dashes 9.85 in Oslo - IAAF Diamond League

<p>Chinese sprint sensation Su Bingtian is set to clash with heavy competition when he bids to regain his 100m crown at the Shanghai Diamond League on Saturday 18 May, the second stop on the 2019 IAAF Diamond League circuit.</p>
<p>Twelve world and Olympic champions are among the galaxy of stars announced today, along with five of China&rsquo;s top international athletes. The stellar line-up includes eight gold medallists from the IAAF World Championships London 2017 and four who struck gold at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, plus two world indoor champions from Birmingham last year.</p>
<p>One of those is Christian Coleman, the US sprinter who smashed the 20-year-old world indoor 60m record at the US Indoor Championships before taking victory ahead of Su in Birmingham. He then scorched to a sensational 100m time of 9.79 to win the IAAF Diamond League final in Brussels last summer.</p>
<p>Coleman skipped the indoor season this winter, while Su blazed a trail across Europe, running a world-leading time of 6.47 in Birmingham, just five hundredths outside the Asian record he set in the same city last year.</p>
<p>While Coleman withdrew from last year&rsquo;s Shanghai meeting, Su was pipped for victory in a photo-finish by Britain&rsquo;s Reece Prescod and will be keen to regain the crown he made his own in 2017.</p>
<p>The Guangzhou native will return to Shanghai full of confidence after lowering his national record to 9.91 last summer and twice equalling the Asian record before taking 100m gold at the Asian Games in Jakarta last August.</p>
<p>Chinese fans will be treated to a number of other tasty head-to-head battles, not least in the 110m hurdles when world and Olympic champion Omar McLeod bids for a fourth consecutive victory in the meeting&rsquo;s spotlight event against world silver medallist Sergey Shubenkov.<br /><br /></p>
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Omar McLeod on his way to winning the 110m hurdles at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Shanghai</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The Jamaican made Shanghai history last year when he completed the meeting&rsquo;s first ever sprint hurdles hat-trick, a feat not even local hero Lui Xiang could achieve in his hometown stadium.</p>
<p>McLeod&rsquo;s fellow Jamaican Elaine Thompson will be one of the big draws of the women&rsquo;s track events with the double Olympic champion racing against Marie Jos&eacute; Ta Lou over 100m. Thompson scorched to a 10.78 win here two years ago but Ta Lou was beaten just once over 100m in 2018 and claimed the African and Continental Cup titles.</p>
<p>World indoor and outdoor champions will clash in the men&rsquo;s 5000m as world indoor mile record-holder Yomif Kejelcha takes on fellow Ethiopian Muktar Edris. Following her world 5km road record in February, Dutch distance ace Sifan Hassan leads the women&rsquo;s 1500m field.</p>
<p>Steeplechase world record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech goes over the barriers for Kenya, while Olympic champion Kerron Clement heads the line-up in the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles.<br /><br /></p>
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Beatrice Chepkoech wins the steeplechase at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Shanghai</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>World, Olympic and European champion Katerina Stefanidi will be the woman to beat in the pole vault. And Germany&rsquo;s Olympic and world champions, Thomas R&ouml;hler and Johannes Vetter, bid for early season bragging rights in the men&rsquo;s javelin.</p>
<p>The 200m will also promise fireworks with Ramil Guliyev present in Shanghai. The world champion was sixth in the 100m last year but went on to win the European 200m title in Berlin, setting a Turkish record in the process.</p>
<p>World shot put champion Gong Lijiao of China returns to Shanghai in a bid to win for a fifth time after her crowd-pleasing victory last year.</p>
<p>So too does Lyu Huihui, who unleashed a meeting record of 66.85m to take women&rsquo;s javelin victory 12 months ago.</p>
<p>China&rsquo;s Asian Games jump champions, Wang Jianan and Wang Yu, will also take on the world&rsquo;s best on home soil as they contest for long and high jump points respectively.</p>
<p>Wang Jianan faces South Africa&rsquo;s world champion Luvo Manyonga, who won in Shanghai last year with 8.56m, while Wang Yu takes on Italy&rsquo;s Gianmarco Tamberi, the newly-crowned European indoor champion who makes his Shanghai debut.<br /><br /></p>
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Long jump winner Luvo Manyonga at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Shanghai</div>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The women&rsquo;s 400m features Bahrain&rsquo;s Salwa Eid Nasser, while the men&rsquo;s one-lap event pitches last year&rsquo;s victor and world silver medallist Steven Gardiner against Qatar&rsquo;s world bronze medallist Abdalelah Haroun.</p>
<p>The 2019 Shanghai Diamond League meeting on 18 May will showcase 16 international events, nine for men (100m, 200m, 400m, 5000m, 110m hurdles, 400m hurdles, high jump, long jump, javelin) and seven for women (100m, 400m, 1500m, 3000m steeplechase, pole vault, shot put, javelin).</p>
<p><strong>Organisers for the IAAF</strong></p>

Chinese sprint sensation Su Bingtian is set to clash with heavy competition when he bids to regain his 100m crown at the Shanghai Diamond League on Saturday 18 May, the second stop on the 2019 IAAF Diamond League circuit.

Su, Coleman, Thompson and Kejelcha head stellar line-up for Shanghai

<p>With just 14 days to go until the <strong>IAAF Athletics Awards 2018</strong>, the IAAF is delighted to reveal the names of the five finalists for the 2018 <strong>IAAF Male Athlete of the Year</strong> award.</p>
<p>The five athletes, who represent five countries from four Area associations, have illustrated excellence across nearly all athletics disciplines in 2018.</p>
<p>The finalists are (in alphabetical order):</p>
<p><strong>Christian Coleman (USA)</strong><br />- World indoor record and world indoor champion at 60m<br />- World lead and IAAF Diamond League champion at 100m</p>
<p><strong>Armand Duplantis (SWE)</strong><br />- European champion at pole vault with a world-leading height<br />- World U20 champion<br />- Eight world U20 records or bests, indoors and out</p>
<p><strong>Eliud Kipchoge (KEN)</strong><br />- London Marathon champion<br />- Berlin Marathon champion with the biggest improvement on a men&rsquo;s marathon world record since 1967</p>
<p><strong>Kevin Mayer (FRA)</strong><br />- World indoor champion at heptathlon<br />- World record at decathlon</p>
<p><strong>Abderrahman Samba (QAT)</strong><br />- World lead and unbeaten in nine finals at 400m hurdles, setting the world&rsquo;s quickest time since 1992<br />- Asian Games champion at 400m hurdles and 4x400m<br />- IAAF Continental Cup winner<br />- Asian indoor 4x400m champion</p>
<h3>Voting procedure for 2018 World Athletes of the Year</h3>
<p>A three-way voting process determined the finalists.</p>
<p>The IAAF Council and the IAAF Family cast their votes by email, while fans voted online via the IAAF's social media platforms. The IAAF Council&rsquo;s vote counted for 50% of the result, while the IAAF Family&rsquo;s votes and the public votes each counted for 25% of the final result. Voting closed on 13 November.</p>
<p>The male and female World Athletes of the Year will be announced live on stage at the <strong>IAAF Athletics Awards 2018</strong> on 4 December in Monaco.</p>
<p><strong>IAAF</strong></p>

With just 14 days to go until the IAAF Athletics Awards 2018, the IAAF is delighted to reveal the names of the five finalists for the 2018 IAAF Male Athlete of the Year award.