Location: Khalifa International Stadium Date: Friday, 5 May |
Coverage: Live on BBC Two, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sport website & app from 17:00 BST |
Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith says she is relishing the chance to test herself against some of the world’s best in the Diamond League opener in Doha.
Asher-Smith will line up in a high-quality 100m field on Friday which features reigning world 200m champion Shericka Jackson.
The 27-year-old went undefeated during an indoor season which saw her improve her British 60m record to 7.03 seconds.
“I’m very much a competitor so I love challenging races,” Asher-Smith said.
“I don’t think you improve without running against the best in the world.”
In a challenging 2022, Asher-Smith lost her grandmother Sislyn before the World Championships, where she won 200m bronze but finished fourth in the 100m and pulled up with a hamstring injury duringcompeting in the 4x100m relay.
That injury forced her to miss the Commonwealth Games, before calf cramps caused by her period ended her hopes in the 100m final at the European Championships in Munich.
However, she got the better of Jamaica’s Jackson – who also claimed world 100m silver in Eugene last summer – in winning the 60m at the World Indoor Tour Final in Birmingham in February.
Alongside Jackson, whose early season mark of 10.82secs is one hundredth of a second quicker than Asher-Smith’s personal best, the 100m is completed by Americans Sha’Carri Richardson, Melissa Jefferson, Abby Steiner, Teahna Daniels and Twanisha Terry, plus New Zealand record-holder Zoe Hobbs.
“There are so many women in the sprints running fantastic times,” said Asher-Smith, the first British woman to win a major global sprint title with her world 200m triumph in Doha in 2019.
“Almost every Diamond League for the past three or four seasons has been super-fast with loads of depth in each race. I’m very much used to it.”
One topic which has captured the imagination is the prospect of one-on-one races between the sport’s biggest names, after men’s world 100m champion Fred Kerley said on social media he would be willing to take on Olympic gold medallist Lamont Marcell Jacobs.
Asked during Thursday’s news conference who she would potentially want to face in such an event, Asher-Smith chose five-time world 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
“I really like racing Shelly,” said Asher-Smith, who was runner-up to the Jamaican over 100m at the 2019 World Championships.
“She is an incredible athlete and an incredible competitor.
“I really enjoy racing against her, mainly because I really like her race model compared to mine. It’s like a training exercise.”
Kenya’s 1500m Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon named Britain’s silver medallist Laura Muir as the athlete she would most like to race against.
Kipyegon was also asked whether she could target Genzebe Dibaba’s world record on Friday which, at three minutes 50.07 seconds, is 0.30 seconds quicker than the 29-year-old’s personal best from last year.
“That’s a really difficult question. Let me see what happens tomorrow,” Kipyegon said.
“If I wake up healthy [and] the weather is good, I will go to the track and see what is possible.”