IAAF Diamond League Opens May 6 in Doha

Doha, April 19 (QNA) - The countdown to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) 2016 Diamond League has begun with 16 days to go before the world's top athletes resume their rivalries here. Qatar Athletics Federation President Major General Dahlan Al Hamad earlier announced names of athletes who will compete in Doha. The line-up includes the 2008 Olympic and 2011 and 2013 World Championships 400m gold medallist LaShawn Merritt, reigning 1500m world champion Asbel Kiprop and Derek Drouin, the 2015 world champion in the high jump. "From 2010 we have brought here dozens of star athletes. We raised the awareness of our sport and engaged, inspired and motivated a growing number of young athletes," said Major General Al Hamad. Most of the Qatar Olympic team members, along with a large number of youngsters will make their outdoor debut, competing against the best, he said. Qatarians Mutaz Barshim and Abdalelah Haroun will face tough opposition from some of world's top athletes in the high jump and the 400m respectively. Barshim will look for his first podium finish this year. He is winless in the three editions of league he competed. In search of his maiden home victory he will have to better the current mark of 2.37m or even a new meet record of 2.41m held by Ivan Ukhov. Three 2012 Olympic and two 2015 World Championships medallists will challenge Barshim in an event that resembles an Olympic final. Canada's reigning world champion and Olympic bronze medallist Drouin; China's Zhang Guowei, who was joint second in Beijing; Erik Kynard, the American Olympic silver medallist; and Robbie Grabarz who shared bronze with Mutaz and Drouin in London. Former world champion Donald Thomas from Bahamas, Italy's Marco Fassinotti who improved to 2.35 indoors this season and Qatari youngsters Muamer Aissa Barshim and Hamdi Alamine complete a brilliant high jump line-up. Qatar's 19-year-old Abdalelah Haroun will run his first scoring race in Doha, following his victory last year in a non-scoring 400m contest for Asian athletes only. In his debut he will face a line-up similar in depth and quality to a World Championships final. Half of the Beijing finalists are expected to run against Haroun, who earned silver at the recent World Indoor Championships in Portland. The most distinguished member of this formidable 400m squad is the former Olympic and two-time world champion LaShawn Merriitt, who also finished second at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing. Merritt set the current Doha meeting record of 44.19 in 2014. The American's personal best of 43.65 ranks him sixth on the all-time list, one place above another Doha Diamond League entrant, Isaac Makwala from Botswana. In 2015, Makwala, the former African record holder (43.72), was fifth in Beijing and winner at the All-Africa Games in Brazzaville. Another athlete with a sub-44 credentials to his name is Youssef Ahmed Masrahi from Saudi Arabia, the fastest Asian 400m runner ever (43.93). Masrahi was eighth in Beijing, one place behind Machel Cedenio from Trinidad & Tobago, another IDL Doha starter. Middle distance enthusiasts will be delighted to see a stellar line-up in the 1500m, which features among others Kenyans Asbel Kiprop, Elijah Motonei Manangoi and Silas Kiplagat. The IAAF Diamond League has introduced a new points format for the 2016 season. In the previous six seasons of the series, points were given to the top three athletes in Diamond Race disciplines, but the new system will reward athletes finishing in the top six with Diamond Race points. The new breakdown is as follows: 1st 10 points; 2nd 6 points; 3rd 4 points; 4th 3 points; 5th 2 points; 6th 1 point. As done earlier, points will be doubled at the IAAF Diamond League finals in Zurich and Brussels. The athlete with the most Diamond Race points at the end of the season wins the prestigious Diamond Trophy and the US$40,000 winner-takes-all first prize that comes with it. If two or more athletes are tied on points at the end of the season, the athlete with the most victories wins the Diamond Trophy. Also new for this season is a change to the number of attempts for throwing events and horizontal jumps. All athletes will have three attempts, then the top four will get three further attempts. (END)