Kenyan stars set for Diamond League opener in China
Kenya’s top athletes are set to launch their 2025 season at the Wanda Diamond League opener in Xiamen, China, on Saturday, 26 April. With the Diamond League Final and World Championships on the horizon, the meeting marks an important first step for stars like Faith Kipyegon, Beatrice Chebet, and Ferdinand Omanyala.
Kenya’s top track and field athletes will launch their 2025 season in style today, when the Wanda Diamond League kicks off at the Egret Stadium in Xiamen, China.
For many athletes, this will be the first step towards two major targets this year: the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich on 27-28 August, and the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo in September.
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Faith Kipyegon, fresh from winning her third Olympic 1500m title in Paris last year, will make her 2025 debut in Xiamen.
However, the triple Olympic champion will not be running her usual 1500m. Instead, she will compete over 1000m, a distance she rarely races. Kipyegon is already the second-fastest woman ever over 1000m, with her time of 2:29.15 from Monaco in 2020, just 0.17 seconds off the world record.
This will be Kipyegon’s first race since winning her fifth Diamond League title last September in Brussels and her first appearance since racing at the Athlos meeting. She also returns to China after missing the 2024 Xiamen meeting due to injury.
The 1000m field in Xiamen will be strong, featuring Ethiopia’s world U20 champion Saron Berhe, Olympic 800m silver medallist Tsige Duguma, Australia’s Abbey Caldwell, Uganda’s Halimah Nakaayi, and Benin’s Noelie Yarigo.
One of the most anticipated events will be the women's 5000m, where Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet will face Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay.
Chebet, who won both the 5000m and 10,000m Olympic titles in Paris, holds the world records for the 10,000m and the 5km road race.
Tsegay, meanwhile, holds the 5000m world record and recently won the world indoor 1500m title in Nanjing.
Tsegay currently leads their head-to-head record in 5000m finals by 3-2, adding extra spice to this rematch — their first meeting since the Olympics.
Other strong competitors in the race include Ethiopia’s two-time world indoor champion Freweyni Hailu, teenage star Birke Haylom, and world U20 steeplechase champion Sembo Almayew, who will be making her 5000m debut.
Africa’s fastest man, Ferdinand Omanyala, will also open his Diamond League season in Xiamen.
After finishing second at the FNB Botswana Golden Grand Prix earlier this month, Omanyala is aiming to make a strong statement in the men’s 100m.
He will face tough competition from Olympic 200m champion Letsile Tebogo and South Africa’s Akani Simbine, who already holds the second-fastest 100m time this year and recently beat Omanyala in Gaborone.
Great Britain’s Jeremiah Azu and Lachlan Kennedy, both standout performers during the indoor season, will also be in the lineup.
The men’s 100m is scheduled for 3:01 pm EAT.
The men’s 3000m steeplechase will once again pit Kenya against Morocco.
Olympic bronze medallist Abraham Kibiwott, World U20 champion Edmund Serem, Diamond League winner Simon Koech, and Wilberforce Kones will all line up, determined to break Soufiane El Bakkali’s dominance.
Bakkali, the reigning Olympic and world champion, has not lost a major steeplechase final since 2021.
Kibiwott heads into the race after finishing third at the National Police Service Cross Country Championships, while Serem will be making his season debut.
Kones, who finished seventh in Gaborone, will also be hoping for a strong performance.
The men's 3000m steeplechase is set for 3:33 pm EAT and promises to set the tone for the rest of the season.
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