Rio Olympic champion Thomas Röhler only played a supporting role at the start of the Diamond League in Doha/Qatar in difficult winds.
In the javelin competition, the 30-year-old did not get past 72.51 m and took seventh place. Julian Weber from Mainz was a good third in 86.09.
At the site of his World Cup coup in 2019, Anderson Peters from Grenada smashed his personal best by almost six meters. The 24-year-old’s winning throw saw the javelin land after 93.07 m – Röhler’s meeting record from 2017 is 93.90 m The second-placed Czech Jakub Vadlejch also cracked the magic 90 m mark (90.88) on Friday.
The German record holder Johannes Vetter decided not to start in Doha. On Sunday, at the meeting in his adopted home of Offenburg, he throws himself in for the season highlights in Eugene/Oregon, where the World Championships will take place from July 15th to 24th, and Munich (European Championships from August 15th to 21st).
Because of the strong gusts in Doha, the men’s pole vault competition with world record holder Armand Duplantis (Sweden) did not even start. It will be made up for on Saturday at the Aspire Academy under a closed roof.
High jumper Barshim uses home game for himself
Shot putter Sara Gambetta (SV Halle) was seventh in her outdoor season debut with a distance of 18.40 m. World champion Noah Lyles (USA) won over 200 m in a strong 19.72 seconds (at a 2.1 m/s tailwind), Olympic champion Andre de Grasse from Canada was fourth (20.15).
In the duel of the “shared” high jump Olympic champions, Mutaz Essa Barshim clearly had the better end in his home game. The Qatari jumped 2.30 m and finished second, Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi only managed 2.20. It was their first meeting since Tokyo’s emotional night last summer.
The two-time world champion Barshim and European champion Tamberi had each jumped 2.37 m at the Olympics, but neither managed the increase of two centimeters despite several attempts. Barshim then asked the referee, “Can we have two gold medals?” And the official approved.