London, 21 July 2019 - The second day of the the London Diamond League takes place today, featuring two Qatari stars, the 2017 World Athlete of the Year, Mutaz Essa Barshim, and one lap sprinter Abderrahman Samba.
The reigning world champion and the two-time Olympic medallist, Barshim is set to make his first IAAF Diamond League appearance in 13 months after being sidelined due to an injury which he suffered during an attempt on a would-be world record of 2.46m in Szekesfehervar last year.
Barshim resumed training in April before making a roaring return to action, leaping to 2.27m to win at Sopot Grand Prix Athletics in Sopot, Poland, in June.
In London today, he will be up against current world leader Ilya Ivanyuk who topped 2.33m in Szekesfehervar, Hungary nine days ago. Syria’s Majd Eddin Ghazal, who took bronze at the IAAF World Championships London 2017, where Barshim won the gold, is also on the slate.
Samba, meanwhile, will be up against a strong field which includes Jonathan Jones of Barbados, Botswana’s Baboloki Thebe and Jamaican Akeem Bloomfield.
The women’s 5,000 metres will feature new mile world record holder Sifan Hassan while women’s 100m, will see local favourite Dina Asher-Smith going against double Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
