2019 Diamond League

yerwanthere123

Surprised there's no thread already, so thought I may as well set one up! Should be an interesting year ahead as we lead up to the World Championships in Doha.

Season kicked off last Friday night, in the same stadium where the World's will be held later this year. Dina Asher-Smith kicked picked up where she left off last year in the 200m and Hellen Obiri had a nice win in the 3000m over Genzebe Dibaba. Guliyev, Manangoi and El Bakkali all won in the 200m, 1500m and 3000m respectively.

The biggest story going into the night was, of course, that Caster Semenya lost her hearing with the IAAF, so this would be her last time running middle distance without medication. Sure enough she won easily in 1:54.98, putting her 15th on the all-time list. She has insisted she's not going to take medication, but also states that she won't be retiring, so remains to be seen whether or not she'll move up to longer distances where the rules wouldn't apply. She tested the waters recently by winning the 5000m at the South-African championships in 16:05.97.

Anyway, hope there's enough interest in the thread to keep it going, but there seems to be a fair few athletics fans on here so I don't see any reason why there shouldn't be. Next stop will be Shanghai on Saturday, May 18th.

28064212

The women's 3000 was a pretty great race, super finish by Obiri to blow Dibaba away, but some performance by Rengeruk. Took a nasty fall in the pack around 6 minutes in, but got back up and managed to place 3rd

yerwanthere123

Forgot to mention also that this year is, as things stand, the last year of diamond league 5000m races as 3000m will be the longest distance from next year on Hope the athletes take a stand to this, it makes zero sense to me. Why have 3000m at the diamond leagues when they're not championship/Olympic events? It's bad enough we never so rarely get to see 10,000m races.

Obiri looks in super form, and surely the current favourite to retain her crown at the world's. I don't think she's even back to her best yet, lots more to see from her I reckon. I'm looking forward to her continued rivalry with Hassan over the distance, another athlete I think we've more to see from at 5000m level.

robinph

Only just managed to get round to watching the highlights. Nike really need to supply their kit in colours other than blue. They had a range of different colours for London Marathon which helped spot who was who, but that was just daft in one of the races with over half the field wearing identical kit. They can only be deliberately trying to make it more difficult to watch for people.

yerwanthere123

Shanghai Diamond League today, entry lists here. Will be shown on Eurosport 2 at 2.30pm.

28064212

Missed the broadcast, but this is some photo-finish in the 100m!

runnerholic

Reckon Lyles could go close to Bolts 200m wr.

yerwanthere123

Caster Semenya will be running the 3,000m at Prefontaine, be interesting to see how that goes. She's up against some field though; Obiri, Hassan, Dibaba and Ayana! Very intrigued to see how Ayana gets on if she runs, would be her first race since London 2017.

IvoryTower

going top watch it now

link for anyone who missed it , first race is barr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlINeE1Vfk0

wgtomblin

Stockholm Diamond League is up tonight. Live Eurosport. Highlights on BBC, on Saturday.


Thomas Barr in 400m H, against Warholm.
Final event is 10000m which will soon be a thing of the past in DL.

Chivito550

wgtomblin wrote: »

Stockholm Diamond League is up tonight. Live Eurosport. Highlights on BBC, on Saturday.


Thomas Barr in 400m H, against Warholm.
Final event is 10000m which will soon be a thing of the past in DL.

10000m is never part of DL usually anyway. Besides the day before the main Eugene programme I’ve never seen a 10k on a DL programme.

I hope they keep the TV coverage going past the usual 2 hours to show it.

28064212

wgtomblin wrote: »

Stockholm Diamond League is up tonight. Live Eurosport. Highlights on BBC, on Saturday.


Thomas Barr in 400m H, against Warholm.
Final event is 10000m which will soon be a thing of the past in DL.

Deferred on Eurosport, no? Barr's up in 10 minutes. Live blog here: https://www.diamondleague.com/news/single-news/news/detail/News/stockholm-live-updates-1/

wgtomblin

28064212 wrote: »

Deferred on Eurosport, no? Barr's up in 10 minutes. Live blog here: https://www.diamondleague.com/news/single-news/news/detail/News/stockholm-live-updates-1/

Was live on Eurosport Player. Perhaps not on TV.

wgtomblin

Chivito550 wrote: »

10000m is never part of DL usually anyway. Besides the day before the main Eugene programme I’ve never seen a 10k on a DL programme.

I hope they keep the TV coverage going past the usual 2 hours to show it.

Yes, rarely run , but from next year, never again.
I remember a great race at Brussels DL a few years ago.

wgtomblin

The stadium is practically empty for the 10000m. Only the die-hards remain! Maybe this tells us something........

Itziger

Barr was well back in 3rd there. Don't know his time exactly but on first impression he seemed to be high stepping more than normal, very 'bouncy' stride but kinda going up and down on the spot in a way. I might have a look back at other races and compare.

Itziger

wgtomblin wrote: »

The stadium is practically empty for the 10000m. Only the die-hards remain! Maybe this tells us something........

What a shame then cos that was a fascinating 10,000

I won't spoil it for anyone; here's a recording of the whole thing on YT.

Impressive!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEUdiyZ_ecA

Chivito550

Itziger wrote: »

Barr was well back in 3rd there. Don't know his time exactly but on first impression he seemed to be high stepping more than normal, very 'bouncy' stride but kinda going up and down on the spot in a way. I might have a look back at other races and compare.

Time isn’t good but good placing and more diamond league points. Very cold and breezy evening which isn’t ideal for fast times.

Warholm is a freak who can run fast in just about any weather but he’s the exception.

Barr beat some good athletes there.

yerwanthere123

Bit of a crazy women's 5000m race, Obiri took a heavy fall with 3 laps to go and then it was anyone's race. Nearly had a shock winner in Canadian Gabriela DeBues-Stafford, but she wound up in 4th, albeit with a Canadian record. Tirop took the win, and should be a medal contender in Doha.

yerwanthere123

Caster Semenya's ban has been temporarily lifted, so for now she's free to run again.

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Caster Semenya's ban has been temporarily lifted, so for now she's free to run again.

Common fecking sense at last, I did not hear them complain about Michael Phelps having
1. Double jointed ankles
2. Disproportionate arm length relative to body
3. Most critically, genetic mutation allowing him to produce less than half the lactic acid of rivals.

All successful athletes have huge genetic advantages over your standard person (and even more pronounced at elite level).

Should Basketball be capped at a height of 5'10" (Average height)?
Boxers only have a set reach?

IvoryTower

Deleted User wrote: »

Common fecking sense at last, I did not hear them complain about Michael Phelps having
1. Double jointed ankles
2. Disproportionate arm length relative to body
3. Most critically, genetic mutation allowing him to produce less than half the lactic acid of rivals.

All successful athletes have huge genetic advantages over your standard person (and even more pronounced at elite level).

Should Basketball be capped at a height of 5'10" (Average height)?
Boxers only have a set reach?

There's a thread for that argument already, you'll find it there on the main page somewhere

Fusitive

Deleted User wrote: »

Common fecking sense at last, I did not hear them complain about Michael Phelps having
1. Double jointed ankles
2. Disproportionate arm length relative to body
3. Most critically, genetic mutation allowing him to produce less than half the lactic acid of rivals.

All successful athletes have huge genetic advantages over your standard person (and even more pronounced at elite level).

Should Basketball be capped at a height of 5'10" (Average height)?
Boxers only have a set reach?

Semenya is only allowed to compete until her appeal is heard, this is not a ban lift and it is highly unlikely that it will be overturned by CAS.

Before I get in the fatal flaw of your argument which is a logical fallacy called false equivalence. A few points about your points. Micheal Phelps does not have a genetic mutation that allows him to produce half the lactate of his rivals. Athletes will in general have a higher lactate tolerance or higher rate of lactate clearance. Lactate is fuel so a high clearance rate means he has a very strong aerobic system, a high tolerance like another swimmer who produces twice the amount of Phelps means that swimmer has a very powerful anaerobic system(much stronger than Phelps). This isn't a one way street where lower means better, if you tested ever elite swimmer in those events, you would find that some would have much less lactate production than twice Phelps(very aerobically strong swimmers)and others would have more than twice(very anaerobically strong swimmers). For the hell of it, someone might come along and produce more than twice Phelps Lactate in a few years and dominate and the same media outlets will say that he has an incredible tolerance to lactate. It's the way psyiology works.

On the boxing point re reach. Boxing is already a divided sport within male competition when it comes to weight.

The basketball comparison has been shot down by almost everyone already as a false equivalence. Better comparisons would be along these lines.

Would it be ok for Phelps to compete in Women's swimming?
Would it be ok for Anthony Joshua to compete in Women's boxing?
Would it be ok for Lebron to compete in the WNBA?

Stretched but more relevant questions in this debate.

The line is drawn on Biological SEX. Making comparisons within unprotected division in MALE sports with Phelps and Basketball is a false equivalence. It sounds good and wins over people but those arguments are logically irrational, they make no sense in this debate. Women are protected in sport because if they weren't, a female athlete would never win a world title or at any sport.

Caster Semenya, Francine Niyonsaba or any of the other 6 or 7 46XY DSD athletes who have already been officially effected by the CAS ruling are not Female in a sport where the dividing line is a SEX line. This is not a Micheal Phelps type advantage over other men, this is about the difference between male and female performance(the most significant performance gap in this species). These athletes are intersex, have genetic male chromosome profiles, some have testosterone levels in excess of the average males(albeit with less sensitivity) and underwent male puberty. The comparison you make with Phelps advantage in the male division is like comparing grains of sand in the Sahara when there's a much wider picture when you stand back.

Pherekydes

Rome Diamond League on now on Eurosport.

Barr a distant 4th in the Hurdles, predictably won by a wide margin by Benjamin.

4Ad

What a finish to the 5000m mens race !

dna_leri

4Ad wrote: »

What a finish to the 5000m mens race !

Some great races last night, also men's 800m and women's 1500 & 100m

runnerholic

A super 1500m performance from Muir considering she was bumped early on.

yerwanthere123

As above, great 1500 race. Didn't actually notice Muir got bumped, but she'd have been in a much better position to win had she not been so far back during the first couple of laps. I think I read it was her second fastest 1500 ever? I'd be shocked if she doesn't medal in Doha later this year. Must've stung a bit to lose to her bestie though

yerwanthere123

Start lists for Oslo out. Irish representation in Thomas Barr in the hurdles and Paul Robinson in the 3,000 metres. It's also the season debut of Emma Coburn in the 3,000 metres steeplechase, really looking forward to seeing how she gets on.

KSU

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Start lists for Oslo out. Irish representation in Thomas Barr in the hurdles and Paul Robinson in the 3,000 metres. It's also the season debut of Emma Coburn in the 3,000 metres steeplechase, really looking forward to seeing how she gets on.

Don't be too surprised if Robinson lines up as pace maker, unless Bideau has pulled some major strings I would imagine that given the field and his form shown since return from injury that is the reason for his inclusion (IIRC he did pace making duties last year for one of the DL meets)

wgtomblin

KSU wrote: »

Don't be too surprised if Robinson lines up as pace maker, unless Bideau has pulled some major strings I would imagine that given the field and his form shown since return from injury that is the reason for his inclusion (IIRC he did pace making duties last year for one of the DL meets)

Right you are. Robinson leading them out now. Taking them through 1500.
And he did a poor job , according to commentator.