Men’s heavy hitters ready to line up in Keqiao!

World record holders Karsten Warholm and Mondo Duplantis are among the host of star names that will headline the men’s fields at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Shanghai/Keqiao on Saturday (May 3). They will be joined by other Olympic gold medallists such as Pedro Pichardo, Letsile Tebogo and Quincy Hall for what should be a spectacular night of action at the China Textile City Sports Center. 

400m Hurdles
Warholm will start as a huge favourite in the 400m hurdles after setting a world best in the opening meeting of the Wanda Diamond League season in Xiamen last weekend, clocking 33.05. As he returns to the more familiar 400m hurdles, he will face three other men who have run under 48 seconds: CJ Allen, Carl Bengstrom and Kyron McMaster. The field also includes Brazil’s Matheus Lima, who has a best of 48.12 and who finished second to Warholm in Xiamen, clocking 33.98.

Pole Vault
Mondo Duplantis, who last week was crowned the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year, could well produce more fireworks in the men’s pole vault. With warm, dry weather forecasted for Saturday, his world record of 6.27m could come under threat yet again. The Swedish superstar got his outdoor season off to a winning start in Xiamen last weekend where he cleared 5.92m in breezy conditions and the 25-year-old will have all eyes on him when he takes to the pole vault runway in Shanghai/Keqiao. 

There are a number of other six-metre jumpers in the field, including two-time world champion Sam Kendricks, Olympic bronze medallist Emmanouil Karalis and two-time world medallist Ernest John Obiena. 

400m
In the men’s 400m, Olympic champion Quincy Hall will be the man to beat as he runs his first race since striking gold in Paris last August, where the US star came from behind to take victory in a blazing 43.40 seconds. Botswana’s Bayapo Ndori will hope to put it up to him after he stormed to victory in Xiamen last weekend in 44.25. He will be joined by the runner-up at that meeting, Christopher Bailey, who clocked 44.27, while Kirani James, the 2011 world champion and 2012 Olympic champion, is also in the field.  

100m
Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo faces a star-studded line-up in the men’s 100m which includes Olympic silver medallist Kishane Thompson, the Jamaican who clocked 9.79 to finish just two thousandths of a second away from gold in Paris last year. Tebogo finished sixth in that 100m final, setting a national record of 9.86, before going on to claim Olympic 200m gold in an African record of 19.46. 

Akani Simbine of South Africa has been in outstanding form of late and the recent world indoor 60m bronze medallist should turn in another strong showing here, having won in Xiamen last weekend in 9.99. There are several other big names in the field, including 2019 world champion Christian Coleman, European indoor 60m champion Jeremiah Azu, Asian 200m record holder Xie Zhenye and African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala. 

3000m Steeple Chase
Ethiopia’s Samuel Firewu should prove tough to beat in the men’s 3000m steeplechase. He unleashed a devastating kick to defeat Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali in Xiamen last weekend, clocking 8:05.61, and looks poised to lower his PB of 8:04.34. His biggest challenge will likely come from his Kenyan rivals, with Simon Kiprop Koech finishing third in Xiamen last weekend, while world U20 champion Edmund Serem and Olympic bronze medallist Abraham Kibiwot should also feature strongly. 

110m Hurdles
In the men’s 110m hurdles, Cordell Tinch could well dip under the 13-second barrier, having clocked 13.06 to win in Xiamen last weekend, and he will have a rematch here with the runner-up in Xiamen, Japan’s Rachid Muratake. Also in the field is the Tokyo Olympic champion Hansle Parchment, while China’s Xu Zhuoyi and Liu Junxi are sure to have lots of home support. Spain’s Enrique Llopis, who was fourth at the Paris Olympics, and Jamaica’s Rasheed Broadbell, who won bronze, will also be in contention. 

Triple Jump
Pedro Pichardo will get his 2025 season under way in the men’s triple jump, where the Portuguese star will take on the in-form Jordan Scott, the Jamaican who jumped a big PB of 17.27m to win in Xiamen last weekend. Pichardo, the Tokyo Olympic champion and a world champion in 2022, won silver last year in Paris and he bypassed the indoor season, which will make his return to action in Shanghai/Keqiao all the more anticipated. 

China’s Zhu Yaming, a silver medallist behind Pichardo at the Tokyo Olympics, is also in the field and he recently won silver at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing, jumping 17.33m. One place behind him there was Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso, the 2023 world champion, who will look to get back towards his brilliant best as he faces many of the world’s top triple jumpers. 

5000m
The men’s 5000m field is headlined by the 2024 Olympic 10,000m silver medallist, Berihu Aregawi, who will be joined his Ethiopian compatriots, Telahun Haile Bekele, who has a best of 12:42.70, and Getnet Wale, who finished fourth in both Olympic and world finals in the 3000m steeplechase. Nicholas Kipkorir, the Kenyan who finished fourth in the 5000m at the Tokyo Olympics, will open his track season at the event, while there are a number of other contenders who could spring a surprise. 

The men’s long jump, a non-Diamond League event, will feature Jamaica’s world and Olympic silver medallist, Wayne Pinnock, who finished second at the World Indoors in Nanjing last month and fifth in Xiamen last weekend. He will be joined by compatriot Tajay Gayle, the 2019 world champion. There is a strong trio of Chinese jumpers, led by Zhang Mingkun who took victory in Xiamen last weekend with a best of 8.18m, while Australia’s Liam Adcock, a world indoor bronze medallist last month, will hope to improve on his runner-up finish in Xiamen.