SHAOXING, CHINA, May 16 — The ’26 Diamond League season opened with strong performances, particularly in the field events, where Italian long jumper Mattia Furlani and Slovenian discus thrower Kristjan Čeh notched big wins and Swedish superstar Mondo Duplantis topped a quality vault lineup. For the second year in a row, Shaoxing hosted this meet while Shanghai’s stadium is being renovated.
Furlani, the reigning world champion, leapt to an outdoor PR 27-8 (8.43) in the second round for a dominant win over Bulgaria’s Bozhidar Sarâboyukov, who reached 26-5¾ (8.07).
“It is the best way to start the season,” said Furlani, who came within 4cm of the Italian Record. “It was a little bit of a surprise to jump so far in my first competition of the season, but I think I can jump further on a perfect day.”
Čeh hit 230-8 (70.31) in the platter’s second round, the farthest in the world this year outside of the famed Ramona, Oklahoma, setup. He backed that up with a 230-5 (70.25) on his next throw and then improved to 231-7 (70.58) in the fourth stanza. “I was hoping for this, and maybe expecting it, because training camp went very well, very successful, and I’ve gotten technically more stable,” said Čeh, the ’22 world champion.
Australian Matt Denny, who threw a world-leading 242-11 (74.04) in the Sooner State in April, was well back in 2nd at 221-7 (67.54).
Duplantis barely broke a sweat before locking up his 42nd DL title at 20-1 (6.12). Australian Kurtis Marschall was a distant 2nd at 19-¼ (5.80).
The Swede then had the bar raised to a WR 20-8 ¾ (6.32) but hit it on the way up on his first two attempts before bailing out on his final try. He admitted that the long trip to China and a busy schedule in recent weeks may have limited his potential.
“In a dream world I would have prepared it a little bit differently,” said Duplantis, who hasn’t lost since July ’23. “But I was at the Met Gala a couple of weeks ago and that was not the best preparation before this meet. Sometimes you have to make a few sacrifices and do things that are nice. If I can jump 6.12 here today in China under the circumstances then I feel pretty dangerous.”
In the 110H Jamal Britt closed well off the final barrier to pass fellow American Cordell Tinch, clocking 13.07 to Tinch’s 13.10.
“It was not my best race overall but to equal my PR for the third time this season I’m very excited about that,” said Britt. “I was trying to focus on staying in the race. My start wasn’t the best, but the back end of the race is my strength so I knew there was nothing to worry about.”
In a frantic finish to the 800 veteran Mark English came through on the outside for a stunning 1:43.85 win, outleaning Botswana’s Kethobogile Haingura (1:43.89), with American Brandon Miller (1:44.00) in 3rd.
“I thought tonight I’d be one of the strongest over the last 200 but you never know what shape these guys are in,” said the 33-year-old Irishman, a semifinalist at the last four global championships who scored the first DL victory of his career. “I’m not saying I’m overly surprised to win because it could have been any of us tonight.”
Mohamed Abdilaahi desperately held onto his advantage over the final lap of the 3000 before finally celebrating in the final 40m as he whacked a huge 9+ seconds off his PR. He crossed the line in a German Record 7:25.77, ahead of Reynold Cheruiyot (7:26.11) of Kenya and Sweden’s Andreas Almgren (7:26.48 NR). 14 broke 7:30, double the previous record (set at the ‘23 Prefontaine Classic) and best-ever marks-for-place were set in positions 6–18.
In the 100, Kenny Bednarek (9.98) recovered nicely from a sluggish start but was overhauled by fast-closing South African Gift Leotlela (9.97) and Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala (9.98) in lanes 1 and 8.
Brazil’s Alison dos Santos held off Norwegian rival Karsten Warholm in the 300H, still something of a novelty event, clocking 33.01. Warholm, who set the current all-time low of 32.67 in Oslo last year, took 2nd in 33.05.
“This year I’ve focused on getting faster and developing more speed and I think I have shown I have more speed, so I’m happy,” said dos Santos, who lowered his PR in the flat 400 to 44.38 in Florida in April.
SHANGHAI DL MEN’S RESULTS
100(0.6): 1. Gift Leotlela (SA) 9.97; 2. Ferdinand Omanyala (Ken) 9.98; 3. Kenny Bednarek (US) 9.98; 4. Trayvon Bromell (US) 10.01; 5. Lachlan Kennedy (Aus) 10.01; 6. Akani Simbine (SA) 10.05; 7. Letsile Tebogo (Bot) 10.12; 8. Christian Coleman (US) 10.19.
800: 1. Mark English (Ire) 1:43.85; 2. Kethobogile Haingura (Bot) 1:43.89; 3. Brandon Miller (US) 1:44.00; 4. Luke Boyes (Aus) 1:44.16 PR; 5. Yanis Meziane (Fra) 1:44.17; 6. Ben Pattison (GB) 1:44.19; 7. Adrián Ben (Spa) 1:44.45; 8. Wyclife Kinyamal (Ken) 1:44.61;… rabbit—Patryk Sieradzki (Pol) (51.12).
3000: 1. Mohamed Abdilaahi (Ger) 7:25.77 NR (WL);
2. Reynold Kipkorir (Ken) 7:26.11 PR; 3. Andreas Almgren (Swe) 7:26.48 NR; 4. Timothy Cheruiyot (Ken) 7:27.24 PR; 5. Cornelious Kemboi (Ken) 7:27.46 PR; 6. Mathew Kipsang (Ken) 7:27.58 PR; 7. Eduardo Herrera (Mex) 7:27.63 NR; 8. Jacob Krop (Ken) 7:28.72 PR; 9. Kuma Girma (Eth) 7:29.20 PR; 10. Ishmael Kipkurui (Ken) 7:29.31 PR; 11. Seth O’Donnell (Aus) 7:29.49 PR; 12. Birhanu Balew (Bhr) 7:29.60 NR; 13. Santiago Catrofe (Uru) 7:29.72 NR; 14. Getnet Wale (Eth) 7:29.98 PR.
(best-ever mark-for-place 6–14)
110H(0.1): 1. Jamal Britt (US) 13.07 =PR; 2. Cordell Tinch (US) 13.10; 3. Rachid Muratake (Jpn) 13.18; 4. Orlando Bennett (Jam) 13.20; 5. Junxi Liu (Chn) 13.22; 6. Zhuoyi Xu (Chn) 13.39; 7. Enrique Llopis (Spa) 13.43; 8. Jason Joseph (Swi) 13.
300H: 1. Alison dos Santos (Bra) 33.01 PR; 2. Karsten Warholm (Nor) 33.05; 3. Matheus Lima (Bra) 33.75 PR; 4. Trevor Bassitt (US) 34.02 PR; 5. Matic Ian Guček (Slo) 34.14 PR; 6. Caleb Dean (US) 34.51 PR; 7. CJ Allen (US) 34.53 PR; 8. Zhiyu Xie (Chn) 35.58; 9. Kyron McMaster (BVI) 35.72.
Field Events
PV: 1. Mondo Duplantis (Swe) 20-1 (6.12) (18-4½, 19-¼, 19-8¼, 20-1, 20-8¾ [xxx]) (5.60, 5.80, 6.00, 6.12, 6.32 [xxx]);
2. Kurtis Marschall (Aus) 19-¼ (5.80); 3. tie, Thibaut Collet (Fra), Sam Kendricks (US) & Menno Vloon (Neth) 18-8¼ (5.70); 6. Bokai Huang (Chn) 18-8¼; 7. Emmanouíl Karalís (Gre) 18-8¼; 8. Chenyang Li (Chn) 18-8¼; 9. Zach Bradford (US) 18-4½ (5.60).
Non-DL LJ: 1. Mattia Furlani (Ita) 27-8 (8.43) PR (f, 27-8, f, f, 26-6½, f) (f, 8.43, f, f, 8.09, f); 2. Bozhidar Saraboyukov (Bul) 26-5¾ (8.07); 3. Anvar Anvarov (Uzb) 26-3½ (8.01); 4. Liam Adcock (Aus) 26-3 (8.00); 5. Mingkun Zhang (Chn) 26-¾ (7.94); 6. Tajay Gayle (Jam) 26-¼ (7.93); 7. Wayne Pinnock (Jam) 26-¼ (7.93); 8. Jeremiah Davis (US) 26-0 (7.92).
DT: 1. Kristjan Čeh (Slo) 231-7 (70.58) (221-0, 230-8, 230-5, 231-7, 223-4, 219-7) (67.37, 70.31, 70.25, 70.58, 68.09, 66.94);
2. Matt Denny (Aus) 221-7 (67.54); 3. Daniel Ståhl (Swe) 218-10 (66.71); 4. Lawrence Okoye (GB) 216-7 (66.03); 5. Steven Richter (Ger) 214-10 (65.49); 6. Roje Stona (Jam) 213-0 (64.92); 7. Sam Mattis (US) 212-8 (64.83); 8. Lukas Weißhaidinger (Aut) 209-9 (63.95); 9. Martynas Alekna (Lit) 196-6 (59.89).
