Fraser-Pryce, Dibaba to star in Doha
Opening Diamond League will kick off today
Fraser-Pryce will arrive in the Qatari capital brimming with confidence after her podium-topping outing in the world indoor 60m in Poland in March. PHOTO: AFP
DOHA:
Jamaican sprinting starlet Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will headline an impressive line-up at the opening Diamond League meet in Doha on Friday, with unstoppable Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba also going in the women's 3,000m.
Fraser-Pryce, the reigning two-time Olympic sprint champion, who also claimed world 100m gold in Moscow last year, will arrive in the Qatari capital brimming with confidence after her podium-topping outing in the world indoor 60m in Poland in March.
After skipping a couple of meets, including the Penn Relays, on medical advice, Fraser-Pryce bounced back to win the 200m at the Kingston Invitational last week.
"My outdoor season has begun," she said on her Facebook page.
"As an elite athlete I didn't take kindly to resting for two weeks, because I believe I need to work hard and train consistently to perform well. But I rested."
She added: "So as always I just wanted to execute and see where I was and what needed to be worked on.”
Elsewhere on the track, Genzebe Dibaba will aim to convert one of the most memorable indoor campaigns in recent memory to outdoors.
In a span of just five days in February, the 23-year-old Ethiopian shattered two world indoor records, first over 1500m in Karlsruhe, Germany, and then at 3000m in Stockholm.
Another outstanding female athlete on show will be New Zealand's Valerie Adams, the dominant figure in women's athletics and shot put.
The double Olympic champion also has four outdoor and three indoor world titles, and will arrive in Doha with a winning streak of 46 finals, having not lost a competition since August 2010.
In the absence of Usain Bolt, Jamaican teammate Warren Weir will be the star attraction in the men's 200m, compatriots Nickel Ashmeade and Rasheed Dwyer also in the line-up.
Jamaican sprinting starlet Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will headline an impressive line-up at the opening Diamond League meet in Doha on Friday, with unstoppable Ethiopian Genzebe Dibaba also going in the women's 3,000m.
Fraser-Pryce, the reigning two-time Olympic sprint champion, who also claimed world 100m gold in Moscow last year, will arrive in the Qatari capital brimming with confidence after her podium-topping outing in the world indoor 60m in Poland in March.
After skipping a couple of meets, including the Penn Relays, on medical advice, Fraser-Pryce bounced back to win the 200m at the Kingston Invitational last week.
"My outdoor season has begun," she said on her Facebook page.
"As an elite athlete I didn't take kindly to resting for two weeks, because I believe I need to work hard and train consistently to perform well. But I rested."
She added: "So as always I just wanted to execute and see where I was and what needed to be worked on.”
Elsewhere on the track, Genzebe Dibaba will aim to convert one of the most memorable indoor campaigns in recent memory to outdoors.
In a span of just five days in February, the 23-year-old Ethiopian shattered two world indoor records, first over 1500m in Karlsruhe, Germany, and then at 3000m in Stockholm.
Another outstanding female athlete on show will be New Zealand's Valerie Adams, the dominant figure in women's athletics and shot put.
The double Olympic champion also has four outdoor and three indoor world titles, and will arrive in Doha with a winning streak of 46 finals, having not lost a competition since August 2010.
In the absence of Usain Bolt, Jamaican teammate Warren Weir will be the star attraction in the men's 200m, compatriots Nickel Ashmeade and Rasheed Dwyer also in the line-up.