DL: Omanyala, Simbine renew rivalry in Keqiao
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Reading Time: 2min | Sat. 03.05.25. | 09:37
Simon Koech, who finished third in Xiamen, takes on the same field for a chance to win his second ever Diamond League race
Keqiao will debut on the Wanda Diamond League circuit on Saturday, 3 May, with Commonwealth Games champion and Africa’s 100m record holder Ferdinand Omanyala taking on a loaded field.
This is the second meeting of the season for Omanyala, who opened the series in Xiamen with a second-place (10.13) finish, behind on-form world indoor 60m bronze medalist Akani Simbine of South Africa (9.99).
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The duo goes up against Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo, Olympic silver medalist Kishane Thompson, who clocked 9.79 to finish just two thousandths of a second away from gold in Paris last year.
Tebogo finished sixth in that 100m final, setting a national record of 9.86, before going on to claim Olympic 200m gold in an African record of 19.46. There are several other big names in the field, including 2019 world champion Christian Coleman, European indoor 60m champion Jeremiah Azu, and Asian 200m record holder Xie Zhenye.
Meanwhile, another battle is expected as Africa Games 3000m steeplechase bronze medalist Simon Koech, who finished third in Xiamen, takes on the same field for a chance to win his second ever Diamond League race.
He goes up against Ethiopia’s Samuel Firewu, who unleashed a devastating kick to defeat Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali in Xiamen last weekend, clocking 8:05.61, and looks poised to lower his PB of 8:04.34.
World U20 champion Edmund Serem and Olympic bronze medalist Abraham Kibiwot are also on the field.
The men’s 5000m field is headlined by 2024 Olympic 10,000m silver medalist, Berihu Aregawi, who will be joined by his Ethiopian compatriots, Telahun Haile Bekele, who has a best of 12:42.70, and Getnet Wale, who finished fourth in both Olympic and world finals in the 3000m steeplechase.
Nicholas Kipkorir, the Kenyan who finished fourth in the 5000m at the Tokyo Olympics, will open his track season at the event, while several other contenders could spring a surprise.
