Cheruiyot and Kipyegon headline Kenyan cast as Diamond League guns off

Kenyan athletic stars Timothy Cheruiyot and Faith Kipyegon are among the names that will light up the season opening leg of the Wanda Diamond League that is set to take place in Doha, Qatar on Friday 13 May 2022.

Cheruiyot, who is the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist, will commence his season over his specialist 1500 m distance in the city that means so much to him having won the world title in Doha back in 2019. The 26 year old enters the thirteen man field with the time to beat having set a personal best of 3:28.28.

Cheruiyot will face competition from countrymate Abel Kipsang, who claimed bronze at the world indoor championships and is fresh from winning the KipKeino Classic last weekend with a world lead 3:31.01, Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha and Australian Stewart McSweyn who follows closely with a 3:29.51 personal best.

Other Kenyans Kamar Etiang, Timothy Sein and Charles Simotwo will also feature in the race while talented Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Jakob Ingebrigsten will miss the season opener.

1500m Tokyo Olympic Champion Kipyegon will be put to the test when she competes in an unfamiliar 3000m in Doha against Diamond League 5000m champion Francine Niyonsaba.

However, same as Cheruiyot, Kipyegon will be looking to take advantage of racing in Doha that has been kind to her in previous years. She has won the 800m over there for the past two years, she broke four minutes for 1500m for the first time in Doha in 2013, set her 3000m PB of 8:23.55 in 2014 and earned world silver back in 2019.

World steeplechase champion Beatrice Chepkoech, current world 5000m leader Girmawit Gebrzihair and Beatrice Chebet, the surprise 3000m winner in Doha last year will also be looking to making their own statements in the race that also has Edinah Jebitok.

The 3000m steeplechase race for men will witness an enthralling race as Kenya’s Olympic bronze medallist and Diamond League champion Benjamin Kigen alongside Abraham Kibiwot, winner at the recent Continental Tour Gold KipKeino Classic go toe to toe with Gold medallist Soufiane El Bakkali and Olympic silver medallist Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia. Lawrence Kemboi and Leonard Bett will also line up in the star studded field.

Easy sail for Commonwealth Games champion Kibiwott

Teenager Noah Kibet, who scooped silver at the 2022 World Indoor Athletics Championships, will line up alongside Ferguson Rotich and Wyclife Kinyamal in the 800m.

The 2022 Wanda Diamond League starts in Doha on 13 May and concludes with a single final across two days in Zurich (7-8 September).

As announced on Friday 6 May, the 2022 calendar has been restructured due to travel restrictions and strict quarantine requirements currently in place for entry into China, therefore the mid-season meetings in Shanghai and Shenzhen will not take place this season.

A substitute meeting - the Kamila Skolimowska Memorial meeting in Chorzow, Poland - will be held at the Silesia Stadium on 6 August and will comply with all Wanda Diamond League requirements.