That’s especially true in the women’s 100m hurdles, which gathers the last five global sprint hurdles champions, including the indoor and outdoor world record holders. At the pre-event press conference at Egret Stadium on Friday, reigning world champion Danielle Williams of Jamaica highlighted how the strength of the event is pushing her to new heights.
“Competition is good, our rivalries are good, it forces us to show up every time on our A-game,” she said. “It’s April, so I’m looking forward to competing, seeing where we are against this fast group of female hurdlers.”
Williams opened her season with two 12.5-second clockings in Florida, USA, last weekend which she said was “just getting the rust off”. Her goal in Xiamen? “Run as fast as I can.”
She’ll have to be on top form to win, given the presence of the last two World Indoor champions, Devynne Charlton and Cyrena Samba-Mayela, world record holder Tobi Amusan, Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho Quinn and formidable US duo Alaysha Johnson and Masai Russell.
Camacho-Quinn said she was unsure of her current fitness: “Honestly, I’ll see where it’s at tomorrow. I have time and I’m not going to try be in tip-top shape so early. I’m taking it day by day, month by month. The biggest goal is the Olympics, so every race is used as preparation for that.”
The men’s 110m hurdles also features the defending Olympic champion in Hansle Parchment and the Jamaican has good memories of Xiamen, winning here last year in 12.96. “That was an awesome race, it was warm, the crowd was hyping us up, and I’m looking forward to making this a good one,” he said.
Parchment hasn’t raced since last September and said it’s been a “slow development” in training, but that the “main aim of course is the Olympics”. What to expect in Xiamen? “It’s the first race, a big race, I have no idea where I’m at now,” he admitted. “But it’s a test so I’ll try put my best foot forward.”
The men’s 100m will be one of the showpiece events with former world champions Christian Coleman and Fred Kerley taking on a world-class field, Coleman winning in a world lead of 9.83 here last September.
“Last year was incredible, I was coming off the World Championships where I didn’t perform exactly how I wanted so I was looking at it as an opportunity to clean things up and have some success again,” he said. “It was a great meet. Hopefully I can replicate that kind of performance.”
Coleman said training has been “pretty good” since he won the World Indoor 60m title in Glasgow last month. “I felt good about winning but I knew I had a lot more in the tank if we were to taper off and specialise indoors,” he said. “After that we went back into a training block, lifting heavy weights, doing some longer workouts, now I feel like my legs are coming off that and starting to feel pretty good so hopefully I can start the year off on a good note.”
Kerley switched coaches in the off-season, moving to California to train under Quincy Watts, and he feels in a good place as the outdoor season prepares for lift-off.
“Not too many change for an Olympic year but I know I have to stay grounded, listen to what my coaches say to elevate what I do,” he said, adding that training has been “hard, but lovely” in recent months. “I’m in the weight room now, I’m in a bulking phase in the gym, trying to turn over the speed in the gym to the track.”
After Kerley joked that he planned to do the 100m, 200m and 400m at the US Olympic Trials, he admitted his plan is actually a 100m-200m double, just like Coleman, adding: “I keep the main thing the main thing, and right now that’s the 100m.”
Marileidy Paulino, the reigning world 400m champion, said training has been “very hard” this year “in order to make sure I get to the Olympics in my best form and to have a great performance for myself and my country.” In Xiamen, the Dominican star will face the two women who won medals behind her in last year’s world final: Natalia Kaczmarek and Sada Williams.
“My goal for tomorrow is to have a good season opener,” she said. “I don’t know if I can do 48 (seconds), it would be nice, but 49 would be a good sign.” She added that she hopes to break the world record of 47.60 this year. “If God allows it,” she added.
The field events will feature some global stars of the sport and all eyes will be on the men’s pole vault to see if Mondo Duplantis starts his outdoor season with a bang.
“Everything’s been on schedule, as it should be,” he said on Friday. “It was a short indoor season, short and sweet, and I was able to get the job done when it most counted. It’s been a good training cycle since World Indoors. I’m feeling good.”
What’s the goal for the Swedish star in his first ever visit to China?
“It’s a little hard to predict but I guess that’s the fun in it,” he said. “There’s different juices that rumble in the stomach when it’s a season opener but I like that kind of feeling of the unknown. I think anything is possible. I think I have a high bar in me.”
Duplantis was asked about his college teammate at Louisiana State University, Sha’Carri Richardson, who will compete in Xiamen over 200m.
“It’s super cool to see where Sha’Carri and I are now; it’s very special,” he said. Duplantis said he was “unbelievably proud” to see Richardson win the world 100m title last year. “She’s fought through so much adversity to get to the point where she was in Budapest, she’s as good as they come so to see everything happen the way that it did, with the timing, it was perfect.”
Coleman was also asked about Richardson and said: “She’s special, she’s someone who’s at the forefront of women’s empowerment in sport. She’s somebody who’s going to continue to propel the sport forward and take it to new heights. She’s someone I take inspiration from.”
Mutaz Essa Barshim will be back in action in Xiamen in his first competition since winning the Asian Games title last October. He bypassed the indoor season due to hip and back injuries.
“I had plans to compete indoors but then I had some issues so I decided not to risk it,” he said. “But now I’m feeling healthy again, training is good so I’m happy with where I am. It’s a very important season. I want to push myself (in Xiamen). I want to jump high. How high? We’ll see. I want to put on a good show.”
The Olympic champion said he wants to do everything possible in the coming months to be “ready to fight and be on the podium” at the Olympics, which would be his fourth consecutive medal at the Games.
Meanwhile, the home crowd in Xiamen will be fully behind Feng Bin in the women’s discus on Saturday, but the 2022 world champion will face tough opposition, chiefly from Cuba’s Yaimé Pérez, who launched a whopping 73.09m throw last weekend in the US.
“Her 73.09m is a pressure for me but I really enjoy competing with top athletes so this makes me excited,” said Bin. “To have all these top athletes here, this makes me feel like it’s a rehearsal for the Paris final. I want to fight for the gold in Paris, to have a breakthrough at the Olympics.”
