Jamaican sprint queen Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce will be back to defend her 100m and 200m titles at the IAAF Diamond League Doha Meeting at the Qatar Sports Club on May 9. Other big names include Olympic bronze medallist Warren Weir of Jamaica in men’s 200 metres, and American LaShawn Merritt in men’s 400 metres.

By Sports Reporter/Doha


Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce will be back to defend her 100m and 200m titles at the IAAF Diamond League Meeting in Doha 2014 on May 9.
The Jamaican headlines the star cast of the Doha meeting, which will kick off the 14-leg series.
Some of the other names include Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria and Jamaican Kerron Stewart in women’s 100m, and LaShawn Merritt and Tony McQuay of the US in men’s 400m. Many more big names are expected to confirm their entries in the coming days.
“We are talking to the agents of several top athletes and hopefully you will hear some more names in the coming days. We are the only country from the Middle East to host this prestigious meeting which is now into its fifth season, and we want the best athletes to showcase their talents in Doha,” said General Dahlan al-Hamad, president of Qatar Athletics Federation (QAF) and the Asian Athletics Association.
There’s not a bigger name in the world of women’s sprint at the moment than the 27-year-old Fraser-Pryce, who just a week back won the World Indoor 60m title in Sopot, Poland. Last year was undoubtedly her best ever, during which she won the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at the World Championships in Moscow, culminating in her being adjudged the ‘World Athlete of the Year’, alongside compatriot Usain Bolt.
“I enjoy running in Doha,” said Fraser-Pryce, whose long list of accolades includes back-to-back Olympic 100m titles from 2008 and 2012. “The stadium is close and intimate which makes you feel connected with the fans.”
Her appearance in the opening event of the fifth season of the IAAF Diamond League series takes on added meaning as she sets out to defend her unprecedented 100m and 200m double from 2013.
“The 200m is the event I want to get better at. I am doing okay but I believe there is a lot more to give, so this season a lot will be placed on being better and faster at the 200m. Capturing another double would definitely top the year for me. Let’s see how it goes.”
Making her third appearance in Doha, Fraser-Pryce will contest the 100m against what is already shaping into a formidable field. One of them is Moscow double dash finalist Okagbare. Last year the 25-year-old improved the African 100m record to 10.79 to land on the doorstep of the event’s all-time top-10.
Fraser-Pryce’s compatriot Stewart, a 100m finalist at the World Championships last season and 2008 Olympic 200m silver medallist, is no pushover either.
Leading the charge for the US would be 21-year-old national champion English Gardner, who finished fourth at the World Championships last year, and Alexandria Anderson, who joined the event’s sub-11 club in 2013 with a 10.91 personal best clocking.
Both Gardner and Anderson were on the silver medal-winning 4x100m relay quartet for the US in Moscow. Barbara Pierre, who recorded the world’s fourth-fastest time in 2013 with 10.85 and was fourth at the 2012 World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, will also be in the field.
The men’s 400m, meanwhile, will feature the season’s first rematch of last year’s World Championships medallists. Merritt was a picture of dominance in Moscow last summer with his commanding 43.74 victory for his second global title.
Behind him, compatriot McQuay edged Luguelin Santos by just 0.02 seconds in 44.40 to win the battle for silver over the young Dominican. In 2012, Santos surprised the world with his silver medal run at the 2012 Olympic Games when he just 18.

“The 200m is the event I want to get better at. I am doing okay but I believe there is a lot more to give, so this season a lot will be placed on being better and faster at the 200m. Capturing another double would definitely top the year for me. Let’s see how it goes”

Joining the trio will be a rising star in the event, Czech Pavel Maslak, who followed up his fifth-place finish at last year’s World Championships with a powerful run to win the World Indoor title last weekend. Maslak, just 23, is also the reigning European champion indoors and out.
Asian champion and 2013 World Championships finalist Youssef Ahmed Masrahi from Saudi Arabia will lead the Arab challenge.
The men’s 200m field, too, boasts of the reigning silver and bronze medallists from the World Championships. Jamaican Warren Weir followed up his bronze medal performance at the 2012 Olympic Games with a runner-up finish behind Usain Bolt in Moscow last year. Illustrating his growing consistency and confidence, the 24-year-old twice clocked a personal best 19.79 in 2013.
Curtis Mitchell of the US, the World bronze medallist who improved to 19.97 last season, will lead the opposition. The field also includes reigning European champion Churandy Martina of the Netherlands, who was fifth at the 2012 Olympics and Jamaicans Jason Young (19.86 from 2012) and Nickel Ashmeade (19.85, 2012).
Qatar Athletics Federation Secretary General, Mohamed al-Kuwari, asserted that the meeting’s quality will be second to none. “As happens every year, we will see many great performances that will set the tone for the season,” al-Kuwari said. “Fans will experience a fantastic event with many surprises.”