Kenya extended its dominance on the global athletics stage with a night of glory at the 2025 Wanda Diamond League series in Qatar, where five of the country’s athletes clinched top podium spots.
Following the wins, the athletes on May 16 took home hefty paychecks to match. In total, Kenya’s stars raked in a combined $50,000 (Ksh6.48 million) in prize money in Doha.
According to the new Diamond League prize money structure introduced for the 2025 season, each series meeting can nominate four “Diamond+ Disciplines” (two male and two female).
The disciplines offer higher levels of prize money, with the maximum for individual athletes rising from $10,000 (Ksh1.3 million) to $20,000 (Ksh2.6 million).
The Diamond+ Disciplines at Doha were 3000m steeplechase women, pole vault women, 200m men, and high jump men.
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Faith Cherotich, Renold Cheruiyot and Nelly Chepchirchir shine
In the 3000m steeplechase women’s race, Olympic bronze medalist Faith Cherotich led the charge with a dramatic victory.
The 20-year-old tactically edged out Olympic and world champion Winfred Mutile Yavi of Bahrain in a world lead time of 9:05.08, earning $20,000 in prize money for her first-place finish.
The win in Doha marked Cherotich’s third career win over Yavi in 11 matchups and her first victory this season, setting the tone for her Diamond League title defence after a historic triumph in Brussels last year.
In the men’s 5000m, a Diamond discipline, Reynold Cheruiyot delivered a breakout performance, clocking a personal best of 13:16.40.
The 2022 World U20 1500m champion outkicked Switzerland’s Dominic Lobalu and Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew in a thrilling finish. For his win, Cheruiyot pocketed $10,000.
The women’s 1500m also saw Kenyan colours on top. Nelly Chepchirchir beat compatriot Susan Ejore in a commanding run to stop the clock at 4:05.00, securing $10,000 for her Series Meeting win in the Diamond discipline.
Chepchirchir crossed the line in 4:05.00 with Ejore clocking 4:06.27 in second while BJemma Reekie of Britain completed the podium in 4:07.33.
For the second-place finish, Ejore took home $6,000 (Ksh777,952).
Wycliffe Kinyamal, former Commonwealth Games champion, rounded off Kenya’s impressive evening with a third-place finish in the men’s 800m, also a Diamond discipline.
Kinyamal, who ran a season’s best of 1:43.37, earned $4,000 (Ksh518,634) for finishing behind Botswana’s Tshepiso Maselela who clocked a world-leading 1:43.11 and America’s Bryce Hoppel who finished second.
President William Ruto led Kenyans in congratulating the Kenyan athletes for their wins.
“We salute our athletics team for representing us brilliantly at the 2025 Doha Diamond League, bringing home multiple victories. Congratulations to the winners. Your sterling performance has filled the nation with pride,” said President Ruto.
Wanda Diamond League
The Wanda Diamond League is the elite one-day meeting series in global athletics. It comprises 15 of the most prestigious events in global track and field.
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Athletes compete for points at the 14 series meetings in a bid to qualify for the two-day Wanda Diamond League Final, which this year’s edition will be held in Zurich on 27th and 28th August.
At each of the 14 series meetings, athletes are awarded 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1 points for ranking 1st to 8th respectively.
The top six in the field events, top eight for 100m-800m and the top ten for 1500m and long-distance events will qualify for the Final. In each discipline, one athlete may also qualify via national or global wildcard.
In 2025, Wanda Diamond League meetings will pay out a total of $9.24 million (Ksh1.198 billion) in prize money, the highest total pot in the series’ history.
All prize money is entirely gender-equal, with exactly the same rates for male and female athletes in each discipline.
The next five meetings are set to be held in Rabat, Rome, Oslo, Stockholm and Paris.
$1=Ksh129.66
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