Women’s Distance Stars Run Historically Fast

Before today, the earliest in a season that any woman had clocked a sub-9:00 in the 3000m steeplechase was May 26th (2017, Celliphine Chespol). World record holder Beatrice Chepkoech made the decision from the gun today to best that by over a month and ran away with a ten second win and a meet record (8:55.40). While we have no doubt that Chepkoech can run fast – this was her ninth career sub-9:00 performance and no one else has more than four – Chepkoech will still have to prove this summer that she can perform on the biggest stage, as she hasn’t won a global championship since 2019.

With Faith Kipyegon pulling out of the meet earlier this week, we were robbed of an early season showdown between arguably the two greatest middle distance runners in the game right now. Gudaf Tsegay made sure however that didn't stop her from taking the spotlight all to herself. With only one runner sticking with her as the pacers dropped off, Tsegay ran from the front – which she is becoming rather familiar with – and hammered the last lap to run the third fastest 1500m in history (3:50.30). With Tsegay's incredible range – world record holder in the 5000m and reigning world champion in the 10,000m – it will be worth watching if she opts to go up against Kipyegon in her specialty event this summer. If we are lucky we could get a few all-time duels between the two at 1500m and 5000m before 2024 wraps up.

Your Move, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone

The two fastest women in the 400m from 2023 were scheduled to open their seasons today, and Marileidy Paulino went first with a win over an impressive field in Xiamen. After ending her 2023 season with five straight sub-50’s, Paulino clocked a 50.08 for the fastest opener of her career. The 2023 World Champion is no stranger to finishing first, winning 11 of her 12 full-lap races last year, including four at Diamond League meetings.

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, last year’s world leader, is slated to kick off her 2024 campaign later today with a 4x100m at the Mt. SAC Relays in California. Her next move however is the one that the fans are awaiting, as she decides whether to continue her pursuit of the 400m against the likes of Paulino, or return to her specialty event in the hurdles against Dutch superstar Femke Bol.

Back in Xiamen, Paulino was followed by Natalia Kaczmarek (50.29) and American Britton Wilson (51.26) on the podium. Kaczmarek was the only woman other than Paulino with multiple Diamond League wins at the distance last year (including a head-to-head victory over the Dominican), while Wilson was making her Diamond League debut.

Long Season Of Hurdles Heavyweight Clashes Begin

With four of the six fastest women in the world last year lining up in Xiamen, plus the reigning world champion and indoor 60m hurdles world record holder, the hype was certainly there for the 100m hurdles at the first Diamond League meeting of the season. In the end, it was reigning Olympic champ Jasmine Camacho-Quinn who took home her 10th career Diamond League win (12.45), followed by Devynne Charlton (12.49), and Cyréna Samba-Mayela (12.55) whose French National record only netted her third in the world-class field. It's well established that the best 100m hurdlers on the circuit don't duck each other, so buckle up for a year where races like this will be the norm as opposed to the exception.

Field Event Roundup

– Elsewhere in the field events, American Shelby McEwen took home his first Diamond League win in the men’s high jump, topping several-time gold medalist Mutaz Barshim (both jumped 2.27m).

– Crowd favorite Gong Lijiao (19.72m) of China won the women’s shot put with her farthest throw since last June. The reigning Olympic champion out-threw 2022 World Champion Chase Jackson who finished third (19.62m).

– Another reigning Olympic champ took the win – in meet record fashion (69.80m) – in the women’s discus with Val Allman extending her win streak to seven competitions since being upset at the World Championships last year.

– Yet another reigning Olympic champ (sensing a theme?) won in the men’s triple jump as Pedro Pichardo needed only two valid attempts to set a meet record (17.51m) in his first competition since last May, handing reigning World Champ Hugues Fabrice Zango (17.12m) his first loss of the season.

Five More Rapid Fire Highlights

– Sha’Carri Richardson opened up her 200m season against a field of runners she had never lost a final to at the distance, but it was 19-year-old Torrie Lewis shocking last year’s bronze medalist from Budapest. In her first-ever race in a Diamond League event, Lewis, who is fresh off a win at the Australian National Championships last weekend, took after Richardson and took the win (22.96) from lane nine. Richardson finished second (22.99).