News01 Jun 2017


World leaders Manyonga, Perkovic and Dacres join Stockholm cast - IAAF Diamond League

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Sandra Perkovic, winner of the discus at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Stockholm (© Hasse Sjogren)

Early season world leaders Luvo Manyonga, Sandra Perkovic and Fedrick Dacres are the latest star names confirmed for the Bahaus-Galan, the sixth stop of the 2017 IAAF Diamond League, on 18 June in Stockholm.

A stellar men's long jump field will be headed by South Africa's Manyonga, who has already sailed beyond 8.60m three times this season, topped by his 8.65m African record in Potchefstroom on 22 April. More recently the 25-year-old set an IAAF Diamond League record in Shanghai with an 8.61m leap.

He'll face world champion Greg Rutherford of Great Britain and local favourite Michel Torneus, a multi-medallist at European Championships.

In Belgrade in March Torneus was on the verge of defending his European indoor title when Izmir Smaljlaj surprised the field by securing Albania's first ever gold medal with his last jump.

Torneus improved the Swedish record to 8.44m last year when taking another European silver in Amsterdam, finishing behind Rutherford. But the focus will clearly be on Manyonga, the former teenage prodigy who has risen to another level over the past 12 months. In Rio, he was edged for Olympic gold by just one centimetre and has since produced five competitions in the 8.46m-8.65m range.

"I am partly coached by Dwight Phillips and we are both sure that Manyonga is going to break Mike Powell's world record," said Torneus, who currently trains at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.

The long jump field at the Stockholm's historic 1912 Olympic Stadium also features World silver medallist Fabrice Lapierre of Australia, South Africa's Rushwal Samaai who jumped 8.49m behind Manyonga at the South African championships in March and Andreas Otterling, a second Stockholmer and 2015 European indoor bronze medallist, who is on the rebound from a 15-month break due to injury.

Another summit of the discus elite

Meanwhile, the discus throw competition will continue where it left off in Shanghai where the world's best male and female discus throwers competed simultaneously for the first time ever at a top-level track and field meeting.

In a set-up that involves rotating men's and women's rounds, two-time Olympic champion Sandra Perkovic, the winner in Shanghai, will lead the women's field, which also includes Cuba's Denia Caballero, the 2015 world champion and last woman to beat the Croatian heroine. Perkovic is the current world leader at 70.23m.

The entries also include Olympic silver medallist Melina Robert-Michon of France, 2016 world leader Yaime Perez of Cuba, and Germany's Nadine Muller, the 2015 world bronze medallist.

On the men's side, the field features Belgian Philip Milanov, the 2015 world silver medallist and winner in Shanghai, and Germany's Harting brothers, 2012 Olympic champion Robert and 2016 gold medallist Christoph.

Also in the line-up are Jamaican Fedrick Dacres, the current world leader at 68.88m, and Swedes Axel Hardstedt and Daniel Stahl. Stahl, a 2015 world championship finalist, has thrown beyond 68 metres three times this spring, topped with a 68.36m effort, the second farthest of his career.

Bob Ramsak and organisers for the IAAF

2017 IAAF Diamond League calendar:
5 May – Doha, QAT
13 May – Shanghai, CHN
27 May – Eugene, USA
8 Jun – Rome, ITA
15 Jun – Oslo, NOR
18 Jun – Stockholm, SWE
1 Jul – Paris, FRA
6 Jul – Lausanne, SUI
9 Jul – London, GBR
16 Jul – Rabat, MAR
21 Jul – Monaco, MON
20 Aug – Birmingham, GBR
24 Aug – Zurich, SUI
1 Sep – Brussels, BEL

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