The Diamond League comes to Eugene, Oregon this weekend for the Prefontaine Classic. The field is more heavily American than most Diamond League events so the US should have a good chance to win a lot of events. Things will actually get underway Friday with the first three events. Coming off a third place finish in Shanghai Tianna Bartoletta will go for an even stronger finish in the long jump while Whitney Ashley (sixth in Shanghai) looks to do the same in the discus throw. On the men’s side the shot put will feature both Kurt Roberts (winner in Shanghai) and Joe Kovacs (third in Shanghai).

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Rabat Recap

With only nine Americans competing in Rabat, Morocco on Sunday we knew there wouldn’t be too many opportunities for the US to win events. The top contenders showed up strong though and managed to win two events. LaShawn Merritt made it two for two in the 400m defending his win earlier in the year from Doha and setting a new meet record in the process at 44.66. David Oliver stepped up in the 110m hurdles and won the event after finishing fourth in Doha. The margin was just 0.01 seconds and Oliver also set a meet record. Jason Richardson joined Oliver with a sixth place finish in the event giving the US two in the top six in both of the runnings so far this year.

Erik Kynard was unable to win the high jump for the second time this year but did manage to take second place. That was the same spot where Cassandra Tate found herself in the 400m hurdles after a season best performance. Also finishing top three with third place finishes were Buffalo Bills’ WR Marquise Goodwin in the long jump and Brittany Smith in the shot put.

It was a nice improvement after a fifth in Doha. The US had two in the top six in the 100m after Carmelita Jeter and Alexandria Anderson went back-to-back in fifth and sixth with Jeter notching a season best time.

The next Diamond League event is in the US as the world descends on the track and field hotbed of Eugene, Oregon on Saturday.

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Rabat Preview

A smaller field of just nine Americans will be competing in Rabat, Morocco on Sunday in a Diamond League event. Two of those going, LaShawn Merritt in the 400m and Erik Kynard in the high jump, have already won once this year. Other Americans in the field include David Oliver in the 110m hurdles (fourth in Doha), Cassandra Tate in the 400m hurdles (fifth in Doha).

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Shanghai Recap

The US couldn’t match their haul of seven wins from the first Diamond League event of 2016 but the four they grabbed in Shanghai is nothing to snicker at. In two events the US grabbed first and third, including the 100m.  Justin Gatlin and Michael Rodgers finished first and third with Gatlin winning by a full 0.13 seconds and finishing as the only runner to get under 10 seconds. It was the same spots they finished in for the season standings last year. The other first-third finish was in the shot put where defending champion Joe Kovacs was third with Kurt Roberts finishing in first this time. The US also got a win off the track in pole vault where Sam Kendricks had a personal best 5.88m to win the event. The final US win came in the 400m hurdles where Michael Tinsley took top honors with Kerron Clement in seventh.

Other top three finishers for the US were Natasha Hastings in the 400m (third place) and defending long jump champion, Tianna Bartoletta. Bartoletta was joined by Janay Deloach (sixth) and Hastings was joined by Ashley Spencer (fifth) to give the US two of the top six in each event. Kaylin Whitney was sixth in the 200m while Jenny Simpson finished the same in the 1500m. The men’s 100m hurdles had two Americans, David Oliver and Jason Richardson finishing back-to-back in fifth and sixth. Whitney Ashley finished sixth in the discus throw while Jeff Henderson was fourth in the long jump.

The only events featuring Americans where no American finished in the top six were the men’s high jump (Jesse Williams was seventh) and the men’s 800m (Erik Sowinski was eighth). The next Diamond League event is in Rabat, Morocco on Sunday the 22nd.

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Shanghai Preview

The second diamond league event of 2016 is Saturday in Shanghai, China and the US has a large number of athletes in the field. 29 US athletes are in the field for the events including several of last year’s top finishers. Justin Gatlin and Michael Rodgers finished first and third in last year’s 100m overall standings and both are here competing in Shanghai. The same is true of David Oliver and Jason Richardson who were first and fourth in the 110m hurdles. Sam Kendricks was tied for third in the pole vault last year and opens his 2016 campaign here. Jeff Henderson was the third of three US men in the top six of the long jump last season but is the only one competing Saturday. Joe Kovacs is the defending shot put champion with Ryan Whiting in the field after a sixth place overall finish last year.

Candyce McGrone was fourth last year in the 200m (thanks to a win in Monaco) and is competing this weekend. Also fourth last year and beginning this weekend are Natasha Hastings in the 400m and Jenny Simpson in the 1500m. The defending long jump champion, Tianna Bartoletta, is also in the field.

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Doha Recap

It was a dominant start to the 2016 Diamond League in Doha, Qatar as the US had athletes competing in 11 of the 16 events and won seven of those. On the men’s side the US went four for five with only the 110m hurdles title eluding the US athletes. All three athletes for the US had season best marks but David Oliver, the defending champion, was 0.11 seconds off the winner and finished fourth in 13.16. Ameer Webb set a meet record in the 200m as he won by .21 seconds at 19.86. Lashawn Merritt won the 400m in 44.41, a winning margin of 0.27.  Erik Kynard was the only one to clear 2.33m in the high jump, the best mark in the world this year, while Christian Taylor also posted a world best mark in the triple jump at 17.23m, winning by .16m.

Tori Bowie similarly set a 2016 world best and a Doha meet record with a fast 10.80 100m, just 0.03 ahead of second place. The other two US wins were Tia Brooks in the shot put with a personal best 19.48m (winning by 0.26m) and Sandi Morris who dominated the pole vault with a 4.83m score that tied the Diamond League record as well as being the top score of 2016. She tried three times unsuccessfully to set a new record of 4.93m.

In the other women’s events the US was unable to medal. Chanelle Price was the top American in the 400m but her time of 2:01.05 was sixth place and 1.31 off third place despite being a season best. Cassandra Tate had a season best in the 400m hurdles in 55.57, good enough for fifth place 0.52 behind bronze. Over in the javelin Brittany Borman’s 61.27m throw was only fifth best and 1.15m less than third place.

The next Diamond League event will be in Shanghai on May 14th though with different events featured than this weekend.

Previous Diamond League Doha Coverage:
Preview

The 2016 version of the Diamond League will get started on Friday in Doha, Qatar with competition beginning in half of the 32 events that will be held throughout the year. Friday’s schedule will feature 200m, 400m, 1500m, 110m hurdles, 3000m steeplechase, high jump, triple jump, and discus on the men’s side. The women will compete in the 100m, 800m, 3000m, 400m hurdles, pole vault, triple jump, shot put, and javelin.

27 Americans will be taking part in the competition including. The US has a trio of men competing in both the 200m and the 400m races. The 200m will feature Walter Dix, Isiah Young (5th in 2015), and Ameer Webb while the 400m will feature Tony McQuay, David Verburg (5th in 2015), and Lashawn Merritt (2nd in 2015). Three more US men, David Oliver (1st in 2015), Aries Merritt, and Spencer Adams, will take part in the 110m hurdles. The final US men to compete will be Jesse Williams and Erik Kynard in the high jump and Christian Taylor (1st in 2015) in the triple jump.

On the women’s side Tori Bowie (3rd in 2015), Jeneba Tarmoh, and Mikele Barber will compete in the 100m with Chanelle Price and Molly Ludlow in the 800m. The final track competitors are Tiffany Williams, Jernail Hayes, and Cassandra Tate (5th in 2015) in the 400m hurdles. The US has three women competing in the pole vault, Katie Nageotte, Mary Saxer, and Sandi Morris, as well as three competing in the shot put, Felisha Johnson, Tia Brooks (4th in 2015), and Michelle Carter (2nd in 2015). Brittany Borman will take part in the javelin event.