The Fantasy Diamond League contest returns for Xiamen

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Enter the Xiamen DL Prediction Contest by 7am ET Saturday here:
https://hpr.github.io/2025

It’s been a year already? The Diamond League is back for 2025, and it’s responding to challengers with a host of new changes. Who will come out on top? Join the Fantasy Diamond League in its third year to find out. (If you just want to enter the first contest, click here by 7am ET Saturday and feel free to skip the below.)

Last year’s contest was hard-fought, and the winners Presto, rodeo jones, and Will coop were the best in Brussels to close out the season. That left us with Will coop atop the overall 2024 standings with a commanding lead over SOGGY and John Wesley Harding, who claimed the minor medals.

This year’s contests should be just as engaging, with a few new technical improvements to the site including a home page, improved AI previews, and a light/dark mode toggle for those with sensitive eyes. Most importantly and unlike some other new circuits, select field events are now included so long as they start within the TV window, so we don’t have to move back the entries deadline.

It all starts on the ten-lane track in Xiamen, China this Saturday. Note that due to the short turnaround, the Xiamen contest will be held as a one-off with points not affecting league standings yet. Here’s a not-so-brief overview of what to look out for during the TV window at 7-9am ET:

Men's 400m: The Tebogo-slayer could get his first Diamond League win

Bayapo Ndori is coming off an undefeated season, including a 400m win over Olympic 200m champ Letsile Tebogo on their home track earlier this month. Veteran Kirani James holds the honor of the fastest PB in the field, though his 43.74 mark is nearing its 12th birthday this season. Chris Bailey and Vernon Norwood will represent the U.S. — Bailey was on the legendary USA Paris 4×400m Olympic record team and has kept up the momentum by the Kingston Slam 400m earlier this month.

Women's 5000m: Two GOATs might see who can hang on to 14:00 pace the longest

Beatrice Chebet was arguably the most accomplished athlete in any discipline last year, and this will be her first track race since her double-golden 2024 season. It won't be an easy win, because Gudaf Tsegay recently lit up the Nanjing Cube to set a championship record at the World Indoors 3K. We're not aware of the assigned pace yet, but given Tsegay ran 3:50.30 here last year, it's a safe bet they won't be holding back. Ella Donaghu set her 14:50 PB indoors this year and will be the only American you might see in the chase pack.

Women's Discus: Allman is all business, but she'll be challenged by China's best track athlete

Valarie Allman's two Olympic discus gold medals speak for themselves, and the numbers tell an even greater story as she's coming off a 73.52m North American record in Ramona this year. However this event also features Feng Bin, who won China’s best track medal at the 2024 Olympics to take silver behind Allman. Given the importance of this throw-off for Feng, can she pull off the upset? And always making the discus more interesting is Laulauga Tausaga, who has shown she can win World titles when her disc doesn't run foul.

Men's Long Jump: Jamaican sweep likely as U.S. sends vet and newcomers

Jamaica's Wayne Pinnock is the top World Indoors returner in the field (winning silver), making him the favorite along with teammate Tajay Gayle who has an 8.69 m PB. There are three Americans entered who could break them up, and you can take your pick of the veteran or the newcomers. The veteran is 2016 World Indoor champ Marquis Dendy, who showed he's still got it winning the Shanghai DL last year. Behind him are Jeremiah Davis and Isaac Grimes, both alumni of Florida State who will be eager to prove themselves on the international stage. Davis is the reigning Trials champ but didn't qualify for the Olympic finals.

Men's 110mH: If there's a race that matters, Holloway will be there to win it

Grant Holloway may not be as dominant over the longer 110mH as he is over 60m, but he's gotten pretty tough to beat lately. The reigning Olympic champ should dust the field although it's notable that Jamaican Hansle Parchment, who beat Holloway at the '23 Xiamen DL and won 2020 Olympic gold, is entered. There are three other Americans entered in Freddie Crittenden, Daniel Roberts, and Cordell Tinch -- Roberts has bested Holloway before in 2019 but it's been a while, Crittenden finished right behind Holloway at the super-fast 2024 Trials, and Tinch is out for vengeance after a 4th-place Trials finish. China enters Liu Junxi and Xu Zhuoyi in this event, and Xu could mix it up coming off his bronze medal in the 60 hurdles at World Indoors.

Women's 200m: Shericka Jackson is back, but there's a lot of questions here

It's a relief to all track fans to see Shericka Jackson back on a Diamond League starting line following her mysterious DNS at the 2024 Olympics. She's had a low-key early 2025, running both under and over her signature 200m distance to mixed results; Xiamen will be her first true test since Paris. Her PB is nearly half a second faster than the rest of the field, but that doesn't mean veteran Jenna Prandini, who just finished a surprise 2nd at the Kingston Grand Slam, will let her have the win so easily. 2024 Olympian TeeTee Terry and Tamara Clark are both global 4x1 champions for the USA, and Anavia Battle finished 2nd at last year's Shanghai Diamond League beating Sha'Carri Richardson in the process. Any one of those four entered Americans could win if Jackson isn't on the very top of her game. Asian Games and Asian Champs medalist Li Yuting fills the field for China.

Men's 100m: Tebogo v. Coleman may be the race of the night

After winning the Paris Olympic 200m, Botswana's Letsile Tebogo officially became the main character of sprinting whenever Noah Lyles isn't around. And he'll face the 2024 Olympic matchup that never was this weekend as Christian Coleman, who finished fourth at the U.S. trials, will join Tebogo over a distance that favors Coleman slightly. Not to be forgotten is Akani Simbine, a circuit staple who just won his first career individual global medal at World Indoors. The race might gather the most applause of the night as Xie Zhenye, the fastest man in China seen by many as Su Bingtian’s successor, will be hungry for a podium following his 4th-place finish at World Indoors.

Women's 1000m: What does Kipyegon have in store?

The undisputed GOAT of the 1500m Faith Kipyegon highlights this off-distance event, and typically in the Diamond League when you hear "off-distance event" you should start thinking if the world record is in play. Svetlana Masterkova's 2:28.98 1K record has stood since 1996, and if she goes for it, Kipyegon might be the only person that could break it. She hasn't run a race since the 2024 Athlos meet, so this performance should answer all questions about if she's still in her winning ways — and if she’ll be in shape for Nike’s recently-announced Breaking4 attempt this summer. The American Sage Hurta-Klecker was mid-pack at the Kingston Grand Slam placing 5th, and might be attempting to better that in Xiamen.

Women's 100mH: Will Amusan be on or off?

Tobi Amusan's 12.12 world record is still one of those times that's so fast it's almost incomprehensible, and nobody including herself has scared it since 2022. On the other hand Jamaica's veteran Danielle Williams is on a tear this season, winning the Kingston Grand Slam and proving she has the flat 100m speed to win if it comes down to a lean. The host country's entry of Wu Yanni is a viral sensation in China and barely missed out on the World Indoors 60mH final, showing there's more to her than her 12.74 PB being a ways off the field.

Men's 3000mSC: How long can El Bakkali stay at the top?

In the post Ezekiel Kemboi / Conseslus Kipruto world, Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali has been the king of the championship steeplechase, and when he shows up (albeit sparingly), he almost always wins. The field is sadly missing his biggest rival Lamecha Girma, who hasn't raced since his 2024 Olympic fall, but there's a host of worthy East African challengers. To pick three, Abraham Kibiwot surprised to win the Olympic bronze medal last year, while Samuel Firewu and Abrham Sime both won 2024 Diamond League steeples in Doha and Paris respectively.

Men's 300mH: An interesting new event with Warholm's world record on the line

At the World Athletics administrative meeting in March, the 300 meter hurdles -- an event which some Americans might only be familiar with as contested on the high school level -- was made an "official" event eligible for records and world rankings. This doesn't mean we'll be seeing it at the Olympics any time soon, but it does mean we might see it more often at Diamond Leagues. Karsten Warholm holds the world best at 33.26 seconds, set during his legendary 2021 season. He hasn't been quite as dominant since then but should still have the best shot at improving that record if he's healthy. CJ Allen will represent the U.S. coming off a tough performance at the Kingston Slam, and China's Xie Zhiyu is the national 400mH record-holder at 48.78 seconds. Expect nearly every athlete to set a national record.

Click the unified link below and remember to submit your entries before the deadline, being sure to check that your submission was received by going to the “Submissions” page. Good luck, and feel free to reply to this email or click the email icon on-site with any feedback.

Enter the Xiamen DL Prediction Contest by 7am ET Saturday here:
https://hpr.github.io/2025