The final stop on the 2020 Diamond League tour supplied another round of incredible performances.
The COVID-adjusted Diamond League season came to a close with several world-leading times, national records, and career bests on Friday in Doha, Qatar.
Three-time world champion Hellen Obiri ran her second world-leading time this year. The Kenyan distance star finished the women’s 3,000 meters in 8:22.54, narrowly missing her personal best of 8:20.68. The performance followed Obiri’s victory in the 5,000 meters at Diamond League Monaco, where she ran a world lead of 14:22.12.
For the start of the race, Obiri led by running on the heels of pacemaker Winny Chebet, who brought the field through 1,000 meters in 2:48.46. With 500 meters remaining, Beatrice Chepkoech took the lead from Obiri, but the 3,000-meter world indoor champion didn’t let her have it for long. With just over 300 meters to go, Obiri sprinted ahead of the field and held her lead through the finish line.
“This season has not been the best for everyone, but I am happy it is coming to an end,” Obiri told race organisers. “We are all focusing on next year, an Olympic year. I am going back to Nairobi a happy woman, and I look forward to coming back here again.”
Agnes Jebet Tirop finished second in a personal best of 8:22.92, edging out Chepkoech who followed close behind.
Six runners in the top 10 clocked personal bests, including former University of Oregon NCAA champion Jessica Hull, who broke the Australian national record and finished 10th in 8:36.03, a 32-second improvement on her previous personal best.
“This season has not been the best for everyone, but I am happy it is coming to an end,” Obiri told race organisers. “We are all focusing on next year, an Olympic year. I am going back to Nairobi a happy woman, and I look forward to coming back here again.”
Agnes Jebet Tirop finished second in a personal best of 8:22.92, edging out Chepkoech who followed close behind.
Six runners in the top 10 clocked personal bests, including former University of Oregon NCAA champion Jessica Hull, who broke the Australian national record and finished 10th in 8:36.03, a 32-second improvement on her previous personal best.
Elaine Thompson-Herah continued her comeback campaign with another victory in the women’s 100 meters. Last year, the two-time Olympic champion withdrew from the 200-meter semifinal when her Achilles flared up at the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha. In her return to the Qatari capital, the Jamaican sprinter ran 10.87 seconds, well ahead of runner-up Marie-Josee Ta Lou and Kayla White. Friday’s victory is her second Diamond League win this season. In Rome, she ran 10.85 on September 17.
“I am happy to win, but my major focus is to finish the year healthy,” Thompson-Herah told race organisers. “Preparations for the Olympics is next on my agenda and it begins in earnest.”
With 200 meters to go, Faith Kipyegon sprinted away from the field to run the fastest 800 meters in the world this year. The Olympic 1500-meter champion ran 1:57.68, a personal best, three weeks after a near-miss at a 1,000-meter world record attempt in Monaco.
“I am happy to win here in Doha considering this is my second 800-meter race after about three years break from it,” Kipyegon told race organisers. “I wasn’t really expecting to win, and that’s why I am very surprised not only with the win but with my record here tonight.”
Behind Kipyegon, Esther Guerrero of Spain ran a personal best of 1:59.22.
Kaela Edwards, the lone American in the race, finished seventh in 2:01.49.
In a solo effort, Stewart McSweyn broke the Australian national record by running 3:30.51 in the men’s 1500 meters. Last year, the 25-year-old competed through the semifinal of the IAAF World Championships in Doha. In this COVID-adjusted season, McSweyn set a personal best in the 1500 meters at the Diamond League Stockholm meeting and improved on the time in Doha.
“I wasn’t in the best shape coming into this race, but to win tonight is something I am very delighted about,” McSweyn told race organisers. “I just wanted to race again considering how this season has been. It was a very competitive race but I executed my plan quite well and I maintained the pace.”
The Diamond League Doha meeting was the final stop on the 2020 tour, which included a mix of virtual and in-person competition amid safety precautions in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. Despite the upheaval caused by the global pandemic, including the postponement of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, several world records fell at Diamond League competitions.
In Monaco—the first completely in-person Diamond League event of the year—Joshua Cheptegei broke the world record in the men’s 5,000 meters by running 12:35.36 on August 14. The Ugandan took down a record that stood for 16 years.
Sifan Hassan and Mo Farah managed to break the women’s and men’s world record, respectively, in the one-hour run at the Diamond League Brussels meeting on September 5.
