How has life been since?
“It’s been pretty chill,” he said. “Mentally I’ve been more on cloud nine compared to your average competition. I know I’m in really good shape, I knew that coming into it, but you never know if the technique is going to match up to your form coming on. I want to keep breaking world records and, for me, I don’t stress about it too much.”
Duplantis said it’s been “a super-cool experience” to visit China for the first time, and he’s hopeful of delivering more fireworks for the locals on Saturday.
“I know I can jump really high and I’m expecting similar results, as long as conditions are as good as they seem,” he said. “Every time I step on to the track, I want to get the most out of myself. Of course, it’s an Olympic year and all the competitions leading up to the Olympics feel extra important; you bring extra intensity to the track. I’m going to continue jumping as high as I possibly can. If I can jump higher tomorrow than last week, that’ll be super sick.”
Another who will hope to continue winning ways in Suzhou is Jasmine Camacho-Quinn. The Olympic 100m hurdles champion faces a field worthy of a global final, including world champions Tobi Amusan and Danielle Williams along with world indoor champion Devynne Charlton. What was the big lesson she learned from last week’s race in Xiamen, where she won in 12.45?
“I need to do better on my start,” said Camacho-Quinn. “My finish is pretty strong so I just need to get a stronger start and be a little bit consistent with it, and we can see where we go from there.”
On the red-hot rivalry in the 100m hurdles, she said: “We’re one of the most competitive events. The times we put up aren’t easy; we embrace it.”
Wu Yanni of China is also in the line-up and the four-time national champion will be keen to break 13 seconds after clocking 13.04 in Xiamen. “I was suffering from a minor cold last week when I competed,” she said. “It’s not mission impossible (to break 13), I lost my rhythm in the first footsteps which resulted in a mediocre performance. Tomorrow I’ll try focus on myself and maybe finish below 12.90.”
Christian Coleman and Fred Kerley will go head-to-head in the men’s 100m, a match-up that’s currently tied 2-2 when they’ve met at this distance. Coleman won in Xiamen last weekend, recovering from a sub-par start to clock 10.13 (-0.6m/s), with Kerley second in 10.17.
“Every race is not going to be perfect, you’ve got to just try to get to the finish line first so you can walk away feeling good about it,” said Coleman. “I’ve been trying to get better at my weaknesses and improve on my strengths. The name of the game is consistency, to go out there with the same mentality each time; go back, look at the film, and keep getting better.”
Kerley said: “I’m the most fit I’ve ever been right now. Me and my coach have been working on phases of the races.” He said the lesson from last week’s race is just to “keep on progressing”.
Gong Lijiao of China will have lots of support from the home crowd in Suzhou as the Chinese star takes on a top-class field in the women’s shot put that includes two-time world champion Chase Jackson of USA. Lijiao, a three-time Olympic medallist, won in Xiamen last weekend with 19.72m.
“I’ve achieved almost everything in my career but now my resolution is not for Olympic gold or a podium finish, it’s to break my PB,” said the 35-year-old.
Olympic champion Valarie Allman will start as favourite for the women’s discus after a win in Xiamen last weekend, where she threw 69.80m, but something beyond 70 metres may be needed given the strength of this field, which includes world champion Laulauga Tausaga and Cuba’s Yaimé Pérez, who has the world lead at 73.09m.
Allman said Xiamen was “the most stacked field” she’d ever been in and she was relieved to score an early-season win. “The biggest thing I've learned over the last couple years is you’ve got to fight every week.” Allman said she had “a really beautiful day” visiting a local high school and taking kids through a training session on Wednesday.
China’s Feng Bin is sure to have lots of support and the 2022 world champion said her plan this season to cope with pressure is “to focus on myself, then leave everything else to fate.”
In the men’s high jump, Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar will be keen to get back to winning ways after being beaten on countback in his season opener in Xiamen by USA’s Shelby McEwen, with both men clearing 2.27m. They’ll renew their rivalry in Suzhou in a field that includes world indoor champion Hamish Kerr of New Zealand.
“My current form is good, I was hoping to get more solid jumps last weekend but it was really risky and I can’t afford to have any more injuries,” said Barshim, a three-time Olympic medallist. “I’m trying to play it safe. I want to wake up and go out there and do my best, enjoy every competition. Hopefully the weather will stay like this.”
Wang Jianen, the 2022 world long jump champion, will take on a strong international field in Suzhou and he hopes this will be the year he puts injury issues behind him.
“I experienced ups and downs in my career so far, I suffered setbacks during the Olympics but I got a lot of takeaways from that and I’ve grown significantly since that failure,” he said. “A lot of fans and media expect me to finish on the podium (in Paris) but I cannot really say I can do that, I have to perform my best – that’s what I have to focus on. Tomorrow, my major goal is to indulge myself in the atmosphere; I’ll consider it a rehearsal for the Paris Olympic Games.”
Meeting director Ellen van Langen welcomed the athletes and media to Suzhou, saying: “After a break of four years, we’re delighted to stage the event again. It’s a unique cooperation between the city of Shanghai and the city of Suzhou and we’re very grateful that a lot of global stars and Chinese stars will participate.”