Soufiane El Bakkali on his way to winning the steeplechase in Rabat (© Matthew Quine)
The Wanda Diamond League moves to Africa on Sunday (31) as many of the sport’s biggest names head to Morocco for the Meeting International Mohammed VI d’Athletisme de Rabat.
After stops in Shanghai and Xiamen, Rabat hosts the third meeting of the season, with a series of world and Olympic podium rematches set to take centre stage.
One of the most anticipated clashes will come in the final event of the programme, the men’s 3000m steeplechase, where Morocco’s double Olympic and two-time world champion Soufiane El Bakkali can expect huge home support as he takes on New Zealand’s Geordie Beamish.
Beamish was the surprise winner of the world title in Tokyo, where he beat El Bakkali to gold. The inclusion of Kenya’s Edmund Serem means the full World Championships podium will be reunited in Rabat, while Germany’s Diamond League champion Frederik Ruppert adds further quality to the field.
The women’s pole vault brings together the winner of every global title from 2020 onwards. Three-time world champion Katie Moon of the USA, world silver medallist Sandi Morris of the USA and world bronze medallist Tina Sutej of Slovenia are all entered, recreating the full 2025 World Championships podium.
They will take on Olympic champion Nina Kennedy of Australia, who makes her first Diamond League appearance since September 2024, as well as Britain’s two-time world indoor champion Molly Caudery and France’s 2025 world indoor champion Marie-Julie Bonnin.
The men’s javelin also features a global podium rematch. Sri Lanka’s world leader Ramesh Tharanga Pathirage takes on the three medallists from last year’s World Championships: Trinidad and Tobago’s Keshorn Walcott, Grenada’s Anderson Peters and USA’s Curtis Thompson. Germany’s 2016 Olympic champion Thomas Rohler, Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch and Kenya’s 2015 world champion Julius Yego – all 90-metre throwers – are also in the field.
There’s another podium reunion in the men’s 400m, where Olympic champion Quincy Hall of the USA is set for his first race in almost a year. He faces Britain’s Matt Hudson-Smith and Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga, the other two medallists from the Olympic final, while the field also includes sub-44-second performers Khaleb McRae of the USA, Zakithi Nene of South Africa and Jacory Patterson of the USA.
The men’s 200m brings together the two most recent Olympic champions. Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo will take on Canada’s Andre de Grasse, the Rabat meeting record-holder, as well as two medallists from last year’s World Championships: USA’s Kenny Bednarek and Jamaica’s Bryan Levell. South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile, a world finalist who recently clocked 19.77 in Nairobi, also lines up.
Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson will look to continue her winning start to the Diamond League season in the women’s 200m, having taken victories in both Shanghai and Xiamen. Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller-Uibo was runner-up in both of those races and will renew that rivalry in Rabat, while USA’s Cambrea Sturgis arrives off the back of a 21.93 PB in Nairobi last month.
The women’s 100m includes Jamaica’s world silver medallist Tina Clayton and Italy’s world indoor champion Zaynab Dosso.
World champions Wanyonyi, Odira and Nader lead middle-distances
Kenya’s world and Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi opens his Diamond League campaign in the men’s 800m, where he faces USA’s 2019 world champion Donavan Brazier, Britain’s world and Olympic finalist Max Burgin and Ireland’s Mark English, winner of the Diamond League 800m in Shanghai.
Wanyonyi’s compatriot Lilian Odira makes her first Diamond League appearance since landing a surprise 800m victory at the World Championships last year. The high-quality field also includes Olympic silver medallist Tsige Duguma, Switzerland’s world indoor silver medallist Audrey Werro, USA’s world indoor bronze medallist Addison Wiley, South Africa’s 2025 world indoor champion Prudence Sekgodiso, Botswana’s Oratile Nowe and Ethiopia’s Nigist Getachew, who beat Odira in Nairobi last month.
Portugal’s world champion Isaac Nader heads the men’s 1500m field, where he will face Kenya’s world bronze medallist Reynold Cheruiyot, Ethiopia’s steeplechase world record-holder Lamecha Girma, France’s Azeddine Habz and USA’s Yared Nuguse.
Crouser seeks response in shot put
USA’s Ryan Crouser will look to rebound in the men’s shot put after finishing third in Xiamen. The world and Olympic champion faces Jamaica’s Rajindra Campbell, who threw a national record of 22.34m to win in Xiamen, as well as Italy’s world leader and world bronze medallist Leonardo Fabbri, New Zealand’s world indoor champion Tom Walsh and USA’s two-time world champion Joe Kovacs.
Ukraine’s world record-holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh heads the women’s high jump field. The Olympic champion faces Australia’s 2022 world champion Eleanor Patterson, Serbia’s world bronze medallist Angelina Topic, Poland’s world silver medallist Maria Zodzik and Ukraine’s Yuliia Levchenko, the world indoor silver medallist who won in Xiamen with 1.99m.
In the women’s discus, the winners of the past three world titles will clash. USA’s world and Olympic champion Valarie Allman faces 2023 world champion Laulauga Tausaga of the USA and China’s 2022 world champion Feng Bin, while the field also includes world silver medallist Jorinde van Klinken of the Netherlands.
Elsewhere, USA’s Olympic silver medallist Anna Cockrell and Slovakia’s world bronze medallist Emma Zapletalova are among the leading names in the women’s 400m hurdles.
