Some of the biggest names in sprinting will square off over 100m at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Shanghai/Keqiao on 3 May, with Olympic medallists Letsile Tebogo, Marcell Jacobs, Kishane Thompson, Akani Simbine, Jeremiah Azu, Xie Zhenye, along with former world 100m champion Christian Coleman, all set to take to the track.
Tebogo has shown his brilliance across many events in recent years, winning two world U20 titles over 100m in 2021 and 2022 and medals at both 100m and 200m at the 2023 World Championships. The 21-year-old’s crowning glory came at the Paris Olympics last summer, where he scorched to victory over 200m in an African record of 19.46, which made him a national hero in Botswana. He also finished sixth in the 100m final, setting a national record of 9.86, and later anchored Botswana to silver in the 4x400m with a scorching leg of 43.04 seconds.
Jacobs announced his talent to the world by powering to Olympic glory over 100m in 2021, setting a European record of 9.80 and later helping Italy to gold in the 4x100m. He finished fifth in the Olympic 100m final in Paris last year and the 30-year-old will be keen to win his first world outdoor medal in Tokyo later this year.
Thompson, 23, won Olympic silver over 100m in Paris last year, clocking 9.79 to finish just two thousandths of a second behind gold medallist Noah Lyles. After clocking a 60m PB of 6.48 earlier this year, the Jamaican appears primed for another huge outdoor season over his specialist distance of 100m.
Coleman was the 2019 world champion over 100m in 2019 and has won two world indoor titles at 60m, a distance where he holds the world record at 6.34. He has a best of 9.76 for 100m, which makes him the joint sixth fastest man in history.
Simbine won his first global medal in Paris last year, anchoring South Africa to a superb silver in the 4x100m, having earlier clocked a PB of 9.82 to finish fourth in the 100m, just one hundredth of a second away from a medal. A three-time Olympic finalist and three-time world finalist over 100m, the 31-year-old will be keen to announce himself as a chief contender again this year when he takes to the track in Shanghai/Keqiao.
Azu will return to the track after a breakthrough indoor season in which the 23-year-old British sprinter won gold over 60m at the European Indoor Championships, clocking a PB of 6.49. He has a 100m best of 9.97, which looks ripe for revision.
The home crowd is certain to be fully behind Xie Zhenye, who hails from the nearby Shaoxing. He is the Asian record holder over 200m and has helped China to world and Olympic medals in the 4x100m. He was Asian Games champion over 100m and 200m in 2023 and has a 100m best of 9.97.
