South Africa’s Gift Leotlela stunned a world-class men’s 100m field at the Shanghai/Keqiao leg of the 2026 Wanda Diamond League on Saturday 16 May, powering to victory in a sub-10-second performance.
The 28-year-old fought hard against a high-quality field and was confirmed as the winner after a photo-finish review. He clocked a season’s best of 9.97 seconds to claim his first-ever Diamond League, delivering a big statement to start the new season.
African record holder Ferdinand Omanyala finished just one hundredth of a second behind Gift Leotlela in 9.98, while USA’s Kenny Bednarek placed third in the same time.
South Africa’s Akani Simbine, took sixth place in 10.05 while Botswana’s Olympic 200m champion, Letsile Tebogo, placed seventh in 10.12.
Multiple World and Olympic Champion Faith Kipyegon secured an impressive victory in a tightly contested women’s 5000m race – which is a non-Diamond League event.
Kipyegon finished strongly in the final metres of the race, stopping the clock in 14:24.14 with Ethiopia’s Likina Amebaw pushing her all the way to the line in 14:24.21 for second.
Ethiopia’s Senayat Getachew completed an all-East African top three, finishing third in 14:24.71.
In the final event of the day, Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan ran an impressive race to finish third in a star-studded women’s 100m hurdles race.
Amusan, who was recently crowned African Champion in Accra on Wednesday 13 May, produced a season’s best time (12.41) behind the winner Masai Russell (12.25) and runner-up Devynne Charlton (12.38).
Amusan’s early-season form points to a successful year ahead of the Commonwealth Games Glasgow 2026 and the Ultimate Athletics Championships Budapest 26.
The world record holder is expected to defend her Commonwealth Games title in Glasgow this July and become the first Nigerian to win three successive titles.
An enthralling battle ensued between Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai and Kenya’s Faith Cherotich in the women’s 3000m steeplechase. Chemutai led from the front for most of the race, but Cherotich keeps on snapping at her heels despite a difficult last water jump.
The Ugandan almost celebrates too early in the final few strides, but just manages to dip over the line, clocking a meeting record of 8:51.47, just a hundredth of a second ahead of Cherotich.
CONTRIBUTORS
Kelly is a London-based digital editor driven by a love for sport, with track and field at the heart of it. She breaks up her excessive screen time by running laps around the park or planning her next holiday!
