Ethiopian athletes tipped to conquer the Doha Diamond League in May

Addis Ababa, April 6, 2023 (FBC) – Ethiopian runner Lemecha Girma, who set a world indoor 3000m record earlier this year, will contest that same distance at the Doha Meeting, taking on a field that includes five winners of global titles at the Wanda Diamond League opener on 5 May.

In his only appearance of the indoor season, the 22-year-old Ethiopian clocked a stunning 7:23.81 in Lievin to take more than a second off the world indoor record that had stood to Daniel Komen for 25 years. According to the World Athletics data, only two men in history – Komen and Hicham El Guerrouj – have ever gone faster than that outdoors.

Lemecha Girma, the Olympic and two-time world steeplechase silver medalist, will now make his outdoor 3000m flat debut on 5 May.

He will be one of several men vying for victory, though. His opponents include fellow Ethiopians Selemon Barega (Olympic 10,000m champion) and Yomif Kejelcha (two-time world indoor 3000m champion).

The line-up also includes 2019 world 1500m champion Timothy Cheruiyot of Kenya, world U20 cross-country champion Ishmael Kipkirui of Kenya, and world 5000m bronze medalist Oscar Chelimo of Uganda, as well as world and Olympic steeplechase champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco.