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The Xiamen Diamond League, the first of 15 that will be held this year, is set to take place on Saturday, April 20. The event will be the season opener for several big names in track and field, and with the Paris Olympics right around the corner, competitive spirits will be running high.
One of the fiercest battles that fans will get to witness this weekend in China will be the 100m face-off between compatriots Christian Coleman and Fred Kerley. Both the Americans boast a personal best of 9.76 seconds in the event, tying them for the sixth-fastest men on the all-time list.
Coleman and Kerley have also been crowned World Champions in the distance, and as they bid to make it to the 2024 Games, it will be interesting to see who comes out on top at the Xiamen Diamond League.
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Another exciting all-American battle on track will be seen in the women's 200m, as Sha'Carri Richardson and Tamara Clark go head to head. The duo were teammates at the Budapest World Athletics Championships last year, leading the US to a gold in the 4x100m event.
Going into Saturday, Richardson and Clark are tied at personal bests of 21.92, but the former has the upper hand of the confidence that comes with a World Championships bronze in the event.
On the field end of things, Mondo Duplantis is expected to dominate the men's pole vault. However, the fight for second place will be a sight to see with Chris Nielson and KC Lightfoot battling it out.
In their Olympic battle in 2020, Nielson was the one who emerged victorious, clinching silver behind Duplantis, while Lightfoot was forced to settle outside of the podium in fourth. However, Lightfoot has made some major strides since then, breaking the American record with a 6.07m jump that put him fourth on the all-time list.
Xiamen Diamond League: When, where and how to watch
The 2024 Xiamen Diamond League meet is the first major outdoor competition of this Olympic year, and the first of 15 DL meets scheduled for 2024.
The competition will take place on Saturday, April 20, in the Xiamen Olympic Sports Center, Egret Stadium. Fans in America excited to watch the action can tune in to NBC’s Peacock. The competition begins with the men's high jump at 5:35 PM (local time). The main broadcast starts at 7:00 PM, with the women's 400m.
After the Xiamen Diamond League is done and dusted with, action will move to Shanghai on April 27.
