The majority of the IDL Doha 2015 winners continue to thrive in this year’s Diamond Race and most of them are considered “safe bets” to close the season on top of the rankings, with only one meeting plus the two-leg final remaining on the schedule. Ten out of the 16 athletes –four men and six women—who emerged victorious this year in Doha continue to lead the Diamond Race charts, with three more lying in second place, two others in third while only one is currently ranked outside the top-three places.

These results prove Doha’s capacity to steadily attract and tempt the world’s best athletes with its facilities and hospitality, despite the fact that the meeting is annually being held at the very beginning of the outdoor season in early May.

Men’s Events

The 2014 Diamond Race and IDL Doha 2015 100m winner JustinGatlin added eightmore points to his tally, after finishing first in RomeandMonaco as well to bring his total to twelve points and grabthe lead in the Diamond Race. His 9.74 performance in Doha remains the fastest intheworld this season. Gatlin also won the 200m race at the US Champs in Eugene.

AyanlehSouleimanfromDjibouti, the surprise Doha 800m winner elected to concentrate on the 1500m instead, but managed to better theNationalRecord with a 1:42.97 clocking whenfinishingthirdin Monaco. In the 800m standings he is currently third with five points and in the 1500m he lies thirdaswell with sevenpoints after his victory in the Eugene Mile, a second place in ParisandathirdinLondon.

HagosGebrhiwet, who after setting his current personal best time in the 3000m (7:30.36) in Doha in 2013, returned to Qatar this year to register a prestigious win over Mo Farah and then finished third in Rome in the 5000m in his only post-Doha race so far to currently rank third in the 3000m/5000m Diamond Race with five points, a mere point behind co-leaders Farah and YomifKejelcha.

The IDL 2015 400m Hurdles winner, BershawnJackson, the diminutive American from Miami, emerged victorious in Lausanne and Monaco as well and was second in Eugene to establish a comfortable Diamond Race lead with fourteen points. In the meantime, he triumphed at the US Trials in Eugene to punch a ticket for the IAAF World Championships in Beijing.

In the absence of injured Renaud Lavillenie, KostasFilippidis scored his fifth career Diamond League win in Doha, but the Greek truly proved his potential by beating the French PoleVault world record holder at his own home in Paris with a massive 5.91 national record. Filippidis holds the second position in the overall standings with ten points after Lavillenie took advantage of a third place in Lausanne and a first place in Monaco to move into the lead with thirteen points.

PabloPichardo, who took everybody by surprise with his 2015 early form, proved his 18.06 Diamond League record in the TripleJump set in Doha was not a fluke with two more wins in Rome and New York. Christian Taylor, second in Doha, matched the Cuban’s Diamond League record in Lausanne leaving his rival lying in second place, but Pichardo had already leaped farther (18.08) in Havana at the end of May to maintain his place on top of the world. In the hunt for the Diamond, Pichardo leads with sixteen points, two more than Taylor.

The man who topped the IDL Doha 2015 ShotPut bill, DavidStorl, added two more wins in Rome and Lausanne, the latter with a huge personal best, 22.20, his first ever 22m-plus toss. An additional second place in Eugene extended temporarily the differencebetween the German and Joe Kovacs (only fourth in Doha) to four points. However, the latter took advantage of Storl’s sudden withdrawal from Monaco due to a niggling neck and with his first place in the meeting, he reached him on the top with a total of 14 points.

The only IDL Doha 2015 male winner that didn’t initially meet the early expectations is TeroPitkämäki. After bagging four points in Doha, the former JavelinThrow World Champion grabbed just one more point in Lausanne, but with his comfortable victory in Monaco he managed to reach again the second place in the overall rankings with 9 points. Moreover, the Finn threw 89.09 at the end of June to reach the third spot on the 2015 outdoor list.

Women’s Events

Doha’s past multi-winner, AllysonFelix came back to the IDL Doha in 2015 after missing last season’s meet to equal the 200m Diamond League record with a time of 21.98. As the season progressed none ran faster than Felix while the American also registered one more victory in Lausanne and was second behind JenebaTarmoh in Birmingham. Despite her absence from Monaco, Felix still holds the first position with 10 points, in her mission to defend her 2014 Diamond Race title. Meanwhile, Felix finished first in the 400m at the US Champs as well to secure another spot at the US team for the 2015 IAAF World Championships.

Another American who showed her teeth in Doha, FrancenaMcCorory still holds the 400m Diamond Race reins following three more wins in Rome, New York and Monaco. The American leads with 16 points, well ahead of Jamaica’s Stephenie Ann McPherson (third in Doha) who trails with ten points.

DawitSeayum, the surprise 1500m winner in Doha, continued her successful 2015 Diamond Race campaign with two more top-three finishes: a third place in Rome and in Oslo for a total of six points and a second place in the overall standings behind Sifan Hassan (14 points), who was second in Doha.

The 100m Hurdles 2015 surprise package from Pendleton, South Carolina, JasminStowers, who beat a strong field to storm to a new Diamond League record (12.35) in Doha, was victorious in Oslo as well and finished second in Lausanne to hold the Diamond Race lead along with fellow-compatriots Dawn Harper-Nelson and SharikaNelvis (runner-upinDoha) with ten points.

VirginiaNyambura produced the major upset of the Doha Diamond League when she took her pace-setting duties a step further to hold on and win the 3000m Steeplechase race, continued her 2015 heroics with victories in Birmingham and Lausanne after a runner-up finish in Rome. Thus far (including also a third place in Monaco) she has accumulated 15 points, sixahead of the 2014 Diamond Race winner HiwotAyalew, who has second in Doha and HyvinKiyeng who also has 9 points.

The 2014 Long Jump Diamond Race winner TiannaBartoletta has also registered three IDL wins (Doha, Eugene and Lausanne) and addedtwo second positions in New York and Monaco. The American, who won the 2005 World title at age 20, was also first at the US Champs with a 7.12 World Lead leap and saved the US selectors from the dilemma of whom of the wild card owners to choose (Bartoletta or the reigning World Champion, Brittney Reese) for the upcoming World Championships in Beijing.

AirinėPalšytė the HighJump winner in Doha didn’t gather any other Diamond Race points, but won the Universiade title in Gwangju. The Lithuanian is currently fifth in the Diamond Race standings with four points, just one behind MariyaKuchina and Kamila Licwinko who share the third place with five points. The current leader is Spain’s Ruth Beitia, who was only seventh in Doha.

Finally, SandraPerković the undisputed favourite for back-to-back DiscusThrow Diamond Race titles, scored three more wins in Rome, Birmingham and New York for a perfect four-win run. A second place finish in Lausanne where she was defeated by Yaime Pérez didn’t affect the Croatian’s tally and simply temporarily cut the margin between the 2013 World senior Champion and Cuba’s 2010 World junior Champion to nine points. Perković regained first position in Monaco and now holds a huge15-point lead over Pérez and Dani Samuels who currently have seven points each.

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