Marileidy Paulino Impresses With First Diamond League Race Of The Season

By Kit Holden For DyeStat/Vinco

Diamond League Photo

Several global champions returned to winning ways at the Doha leg of the Wanda Diamond League on Friday, on a night that saw three world leads and two meeting records. 

Here’s what we learned at the 2026 Mazzraty Doha Meeting:

Paulino means business

Olympic 400-meter champion Marileidy Paulino is out to regain her throne in the Diamond League this year, after her loss to Salwa Eid Naser in last year’s final saw her end an 11-competition winning streak in the series. She lost the title for the first time in three years. At her first Diamond League race of the season in Doha, the Dominican Republic star immediately showed that she meant business, soaring to an impressive 48.91 to comfortably dispatch a field that included the likes of Natalia Bukowiecka and Martina Weil. “I wanted to open my season with 48 and that’s exactly what I did,” she said after the race. 

Velazco raises the bar

With world record holder Yulimar Rojas struggling with injuries, 15-meter jumps (49-2.50) have been few and far between in the women’s triple jump in the last few years. In 2024 and 2025, Thea LaFond was the only athlete to surpass the magical mark with her gold-medal winning jump of 15.02 meters at the Olympic final in Paris. In Doha, Cuba’s Davisleydi Velazco bucked the trend, landing a huge 15.13 to claim her second successive Diamond League win. As well as a world lead and a new PB for Velazco, it was also the biggest jump in the world for three years and a sign that after a few fallow seasons, the standard may be rising again in the women’s triple.

Wiley is world class

After her bronze medal at the World Indoor Championships in Poland in March, 2026 seemed to be the season in which 22-year-old American Addison Wiley would break into the world elite in the women’s 800 meters. She did just that in Doha, holding off Olympic silver medalist Tsige Duguma and former world champion Halimah Nakaayi with a world-class display of guts in the second lap to claim her first ever Diamond League win. “I have been thinking about winning a Diamond League meeting for over a year now,” she said. “I kind of just asked myself, 'how bad do you want this, do you want today to be the day?’”

Tinch back to winning ways

After his Diamond League and world titles last season, Cordell Tinch has not had the easiest start to life as the new world number one. Having taken a step back from training to prioritise his mental health in the winter, the American sprint hurdler suffered a couple of early-season defeats in the Diamond League this season. He was delighted, then, to return to winning ways in Doha with a solid 13.23. It proved to be a messy race, with both Asier Martínez and Jamal Britt clattering into hurdles after a bright start. Yet a win is a win, and Tinch can now look with renewed confidence to his upcoming clash with world record holder Ja’Kobe Tharp in Eugene on July 4.

Zapletalová just getting quicker

With Femke Bol and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone both out of the picture, the throne in the women’s 400-meters hurdles was very much up for grabs this season. As of June, one pretender has risen far above the rest. In Doha, Emma Zapletalová notched her third Diamond League win in the space of three weeks. The Slovakian remains unbeaten in the hurdles this year, and seems only to be getting faster. Her 52.30 on Friday was not just a meeting record, but also a national record and a new personal best.