{"id":658,"date":"2014-03-17T16:48:21","date_gmt":"2014-03-17T16:48:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/track\/?p=658"},"modified":"2014-03-17T16:49:01","modified_gmt":"2014-03-17T16:49:01","slug":"doha-2014-prepares-for-diamond-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/track\/pre-event\/doha-2014-prepares-for-diamond-league","title":{"rendered":"Doha 2014 prepares for Diamond League"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"pryce-fraser\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reigning World and Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will kick off her 2014 IAAF Diamond League campaign at the Doha 2014 meeting on 9 May, organisers announced on Sunday (16).<\/p>\n

There\u2019s not a bigger name in the world of women\u2019s sprinting at the moment than the 27-year-old Jamaican, who dashed to the IAAF World Indoor Championships 60m title in Sopot one week ago, and just seven months after winning global titles in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay at the 2013 IAAF World Championships.<\/p>\n

She was also the 2013 World Athlete of the Year<\/h2>\n

\u201cI enjoy running in Doha,\u201d said Fraser-Pryce. \u201cThe stadium is close and intimate which makes you feel connected with the fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her appearance in the opening event of the fifth season of the IAAF Diamond League series takes on added meaning as she sets out to defend her 100m and 200m double Diamond Race victory from 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 200m is the event I want to get better at. I am doing okay but I believe there is a lot more to give, so this season a lot will be placed on being better and faster at the 200m.<\/p>\n

\u201cCapturing another double would definitely top the year for me. Let’s see what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fraser-Pryce won the 200m in Doha last year, a victory that set her on course towards her first world title in the longer sprint. In 2012, she also sped to Olympic silver over the distance.<\/p>\n

This season, making her third appearance in Doha, Fraser-Pryce will contest the 100m against what is already shaping into a formidable field.<\/p>\n

Fraser-Pryce faces formidable foes<\/p>\n

Nigeria\u2019s Moscow double sprint finalist Blessing Okagbare will lead the challenge.<\/p>\n

Last year, the 25-year-old improved the African 100m record to 10.79. Fraser-Pryce\u2019s compatriot Kerron Stewart, a 100m finalist at the World Championships last season and 2008 Olympic 200m silver medallist, is also confirmed.<\/p>\n

Leading the charge for the US is 21-year-old 2013 national champion English Gardner, who finished fourth at the World Championships last year and has a 10.85 career best to her credit, and Alexandria Anderson, who last year joined the event\u2019s sub-11 club with a 10.91 personal best.<\/p>\n

Both Gardner and Anderson were on the silver medal-winning 4x100m relay quartet for the USA in Moscow. Barbara Pierre who recorded the world\u2019s fourth-fastest time in 2013 with 10.85, will also be in the field.<\/p>\n

There will be lots of speed on display throughout the programme. The men\u2019s 400m will feature the season\u2019s first rematch of last year\u2019s World Championships medallists.<\/p>\n

USA’s LaShawn Merritt flew to a commanding 43.74 victory for his second global title. Behind him, compatriot Tony McQuay edged Luguelin Santos by just 0.02 in 44.40 to take the battle for silver over the young Dominican.<\/p>\n

Joining the trio will be a rising star in the event, Czech Republic\u2019s Pavel Maslak, who followed up his fifth place at last year\u2019s World Championships with a powerful run to win the World Indoor Championships title last weekend. Maslak, just 23, is also the reigning European champion indoors and out.<\/p>\n

Saudi Arabia\u2019s 2013 World Championships finalist Youssef Ahmed Masrahi leads the Arab athletes\u2019 attack.<\/p>\n

Organisers for the IAAF<\/p>\n

2014 IAAF Diamond League calendar
\nDoha, QAT \u2013 9 May
\nShanghai, CHN \u2013 18 May
\nEugene, USA \u2013 31 May
\nRome, ITA \u2013 5 Jun
\nOslo, NOR \u2013 11 Jun
\nNew York, USA \u2013 14 Jun
\nLausanne, SUI \u2013 3 Jul
\nParis, FRA \u2013 5 Jul
\nGlasgow, GBR \u2013 11-12 Jul
\nMonaco, MON \u2013 18 Jul
\nStockholm, SWE \u2013 21 Aug
\nBirmingham, GBR \u2013 24 Aug
\nZurich, SUI \u2013 28 Aug
\nBrussels, BEL \u2013 5 Sep<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reigning World and Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will kick off her 2014 IAAF Diamond League campaign at the Doha 2014 meeting on 9 May, organisers announced on Sunday (16).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":659,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[141,4,1,387],"tags":[314,336,338,28,635],"class_list":["post-658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-diamond","category-featured","category-news","category-pre-event","tag-314","tag-diamond-league","tag-doha","tag-iaaf","tag-pre-event"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/track\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/track\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/track\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/track\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/track\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/track\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":662,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/track\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658\/revisions\/662"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/track\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/track\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/track\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.time-to-run.com\/track\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}