They’re among 12 Olympic gold medallists set to feature on the night at the spectacular Xiamen Egret Stadium. But despite their individual brilliance, the champion trio will have to be on top form to claim victory.
In the men’s pole vault, Duplantis is one of four men to have cleared six metres and he will face strong opposition from the other three: USA’s Christopher Nilsen and Sam Kendricks along with Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen.
Duplantis won his second world indoor title in March to add to his two world outdoor titles, and the 24-year-old Swede will be keen to make a flying start to the outdoor season as he eyes a second Olympic title in Paris. In his most recent appearance at the Wanda Diamond League – in last year’s final in Eugene – he soared over 6.23m, the seventh time he’s improved the world record.
Could we potentially see an eighth in Xiamen?
Nilsen won bronze behind Duplantis in Budapest last year and silver behind him at the Tokyo Olympics, and the 26-year-old – who twice cleared six metres indoors this year – will be keen to put his fourth-place finish in last month’s world indoor final firmly behind him. Kendricks, the world outdoor champion in 2017 and 2019, was also in excellent form indoors, winning silver behind Duplantis in Glasgow and clearing 5.95m at the US Championships. Guttormsen, the reigning European indoor champion, cleared 6.00m to win the NCAA indoor title last year.
The field in Xiamen also includes three men who have cleared 5.90m or better: Bo Kanda Lita Baehre of Germany, Jacob Wooten of USA and Kurtis Marschall of Australia. Marschall took the bronze medal in Budapest last year – shared with Nilsen at 5.95 equaling his PB. The Chinese fans will have plenty of interest in seeing how Asian Games silver medallist Yao Jie, who cleared 5.82m last year, and Huang Bokai, a 5.75m vaulter, fare against the world’s best.
The men’s high jump will see reigning world indoor champion Hamish Kerr of New Zealand – who cleared 2.36m to win gold in Glasgow – take on Barshim, the three-time world outdoor champion who will bid to win his second Olympic title in Paris.
After getting knocked out in the qualifying round at last year’s World Championships in Budapest, Kerr rose to a new level in 2024, setting an Oceanian record to win gold in Glasgow, adding to the bronze he’d won at the same event in 2022. His outdoor best is the 2.33m he jumped in Zurich last year but given his recent form, that looks ripe for revision in Xiamen.
Barshim won bronze last year in Budapest and was highly impressive on his last competitive outing, which was also in China, the 32-year-old winning gold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou last October with a 2.35m clearance. He bypassed the indoor season but many will be keenly awaiting his season debut in Xiamen as the clock counts down to the Paris Games.
Should Kerr or Barshim show up below their best, there are several others who could claim victory. Chief among them is USA’s Shelby McEwen, who cleared 2.33m indoors and won silver behind Kerr in Glasgow. Australia’s Joel Baden, Japan’s Tomohiro Shinno and China’s Wang Zhen are among the others who should feature.
The men’s triple jump pits reigning world indoor and outdoor champion Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso against the reigning Olympic champion, Pedro Pichardo of Portugal.
Pichardo ruled the event outdoors in 2021 and 2022, winning Olympic and world titles, but the 30-year-old had to withdraw from last year’s World Championships with a back injury. He hasn’t competed in 11 months, jumping a wind-assisted 17.91m (2.1m/s) in Doha last May, but all triple jump fans will be thrilled to see him back on the runway in Xiamen.
In his absence over the past year, Zango has been the king of the event, winning gold in Budapest with 17.64m and taking world indoor gold in Glasgow last month with 17.53m. He started his outdoor season by claiming the African Games title with 16.97m.
The home crowd will be fully behind China’s Zhu Yaming, who jumped his PB of 17.57m when winning Olympic silver in Tokyo in 2021. He backed that up with world bronze in Oregon two years ago but narrowly missed the medals in Budapest last year, finishing fourth, before claiming the Asian Games title in Hangzhou.
Zango, Pichardo and Yaming will have it all to do to beat one of the most promising athletes in the event, Jordan Alejandro Diaz Fortun. He won the world U18 title and world U20 title in the colours of his native Cuba, but he has represented Spain – where he now lives – since 2022. The 23-year-old set the Spanish record of 17.87m back in 2022 but missed the outdoor season last year through injury. He returned to action indoors this year, jumping 17.52m in Madrid.
The field also includes Asian Games silver medallist Fang Yaoqing of China and world indoor medallists Donald Scott of USA and Max Hess of Germany.
