With just one day to go until the first Wanda Diamond League meeting of the season in Shanghai/Keqiao on Saturday, several stars spoke to the media at the China Textile Sports Center on Friday afternoon.
Swedish superstar Mondo Duplantis said he was “super excited” to open his outdoorseason, squaring off in the pole vault against the second-highest vaulter of all time in Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis.
“You always have a little bit of nerves going into your first outdoor competition which I like, it gets you fired up and gives you a bit of energy,” said Duplantis, who will chase his sixth straight Diamond League title this season. “I feel good, we’ll find out tomorrow if it really is good. I love jumping here and when you have a nice stadium like this, with the lighting at night, it sets a mood. I want to jump high, like always.”
Duplantis made a change to his approach indoors this year, taking 22 steps on the runway, which helped him to his 15th pole vault world record of 6.31m. He will repeat that approach on Saturday. “I hadn’t really made a change in any part of my jump for the past five or six years, that felt really nice and fresh,” he said. “It feels like a nice, new experience.”
Kenyan superstar Faith Kipyegon will push herself out of her comfort zone at themeeting, stepping up to 5000m where she will be looking for the 30th DiamondLeague win of her illustrious career.
“I’m so grateful to be back here in China for my season opener, it feels so crazy to start the season with endurance,” said Kipyegon, who won the world title over 5000m in 2023. “I know the 1500m is here but I chose the 5000m because I want to see how my endurance is, so we’ll see how it will go. I think anything can be possible but for the start of the season, it’s only to see how the body is and to start the journey to the final.”
Karsten Warholm, the reigning Diamond League champion in the 400m hurdles, will run his first race since last year’s World Championships when lining up for the 300mhurdles in Shanghai/Keqiao, where he faces 2022 world champion Alison dosSantos. At a distance where he holds the world best at 32.67, how does his raceapproach differ from the 400m hurdles?
“You have five metres more to the first hurdle and it’s on a straight so the speed when you hit the first hurdle is higher,” he said. “That creates a little bit of a challenge. But I train a lot doing six, seven, eight hurdles. It’s a faster race and a little bit more technically demanding.”
The event is now a more regular presence on the circuit and Warholm welcomes its rising popularity. “I think we’re getting down to where we can mix more and more athletes,” he said. “My dream is to do something fun sometime with a 200m hurdles and get the 110m hurdlers in. It’s important to keep the base layer of our sport but sometimes mixing it up can get more attention and draw more interest. The 300m hurdles is a very fun race to do in the beginning of the season.”
Sweden’s Andreas Almgren will also run his first track race since last year’s World Championships, where he claimed bronze over 10,000m. He will face a stacked field over 3000m, where his Swedish record of 7:31.42 could come under threat.
“My strategy to win is to try to run fast,” he said. “I’m a strong runner, coming from base training, so I have very good endurance now, maybe not the best championship kick just yet. So a good, fast race would be the best for me.”
His Swedish compatriot Daniel Stahl will take on a loaded field in the men’s discus and the reigning world champion knows it will take a big throw to claim victory as hesets out on the Road to the Final, looking to claim his first Diamond League title since 2021. “My hope for tomorrow is to go as hard as I can,” he said. “Tokyo final participants are there and I’m really excited to meet the colleagues and try to do my best.”
At the age of 33, Stahl believes he has many years left at the top. “I just love the sport so much that I want to continue. The philosophy is to stay injury free all the time, enjoy the sport, train hard.”
Cordell Tinch produced fireworks at this meeting last year, clocking 12.87 to win the 110m hurdles before going on to claim the Diamond League title and the world title in Tokyo. The US star dabbled in the long jump indoors this year, setting a PB of 8.29m, but said the hurdles will be his focus for the outdoor season.
“The main goal for this season is to make sure I’m still having fun, enjoying the sport,” he said. “It’s more [about] the energy of having fun in the long jump and bringing that attitude back to the hurdles – making sure you don’t lose that love for it.”
His reflection on the blazing run here last year? “It really came out of nowhere. We were just trying to figure out where we were. To run the best race of my life, it went pretty good. This year, it’s kind of the same plan: get in healthy, get out healthy and hopefully put on another good show. As far as my form, I guess we’ll find out on Saturday.”
Dutch star Jessica Schilder had a dream year in 2025, claiming the Diamond League title and winning gold at the Tokyo World Championships. She showed strong form indoors this year, equalling her Dutch record of 20.69m.
“I want to improve my national record,” she said. “Outdoors is what I love more than indoors, but my personal best indoors is better and that doesn’t sit right with me.”
There will be lots of Chinese stars for the locals to cheer on and one of the most popular is Wu Yanni, who will line up against a stellar field in the women’s 100mhurdles that features the past four global outdoor champions. “I don’t want to set any limits for myself,” said Yanni. “I want to have fun and enjoy the competition.”
Rising star Chen Yujie will face a slew of star names in the women’s 200m that includes Shericka Jackson, Shaunae Miller-Uibo and Sha’Carri Richardson. The 17-year-old, who was Asian champion last year, is relishing the chance. “For me to enter this professional arena, I have to strike a balance between my training and studies,” said the student-athlete, who has a best of 22.97.
At the other end of the career spectrum is Xie Zhenye, the Asian 200m record holder who grew up in the area. He will take on a world-class field in the men’s 100m that includes Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo.
“Thank you for coming to my hometown,” said Zhenye. “It’s a good stage to start the season. I want to exert my ability and hope everybody can have a wonderful performance.”
Tebogo, meanwhile, will look to rack up the ninth Diamond League win of his decorated career, having raced for Botswana on home turf recently at the World Relays in Gaborone. With massive crowds and a 4x400m win there for the hosts, it was proof that he’s a key part of a rise in both the popularity and standard of athletics back home.
“There was a foundation laid by the previous athletes, all we had to do is take it to another level,” said Tebogo. “Everyone is eager. We did it locally and we had to make sure we did it globally. We’re going to change that narrative in how African athletes are being looked at. We are almost meeting the final destination where, now, people are looking to Africa.”
And it was left to another African star, Kipyegon, to send a message to locals in Shanghai/Keqiao about tomorrow’s meeting.
“I want to tell you all to come and watch the greatest athletes in the world,” she said. “We welcome you to come and cheer us along. See you tomorrow.”