Three Diamond League meets are down, and our next arrives on Sunday in Marrakech, Morocco.

While the annual installment is usually held at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, renovations have taken the meet south to Marrakech to the Grand Stade de Marrakech. 

And with the season now heading into a critical juncture, the world's biggest stars are beginning to make inroads, with a few set to debut this weekend. 

Chief among them are Jamaica's Shericka Jackson and Canada's Andre de Grasse. The world's newly-recognized leader in the discus, collegian Mykolas Alekna, will also surface in the ring. 

• Subscribe To FloTrack To Watch More Track & Field Meets All Year Long
• Watch The Diamond League Live On FloTrack, Starting In 2025
• How Does The Diamond League Point System Work? Here’s What To Know

Unlock this video, live events, and more with a subscription!

Sign Up

Already a subscriber? Log In

Shericka Jackson makes 2024 Diamond League Debut in Women’s 200m

The reigning world champion at 200 meters will contest her main event for the first time in 2024 in Marrakech. 

After opening up her season two weeks ago in Jamaica, clocking an 11.03 mark for 100 meters, Jackson will begin her quest on the global stage by contesting the event she’s seen the most success in -- including two gold medals from the last two World Athletics Championships in Eugene and Doha. 

Her dominance at 200 meters has been historic. Over the last two years of competition in the 200 meters, Jackson has only lost twice, once in 2022 and once more in 2023. The level at which she dominates this event is truly world-class and she’ll display her talents once again this weekend.

Newly-Minted Men’s Discus World Record-Holder Mykolas Alekna Highlights Field

In his opening competition of 2024, Mykolas Alekna shocked the world by setting a world record in the men’s discus, heaving a 74.30 meter mark to break the previous world record of 74.06 meters, which was last accomplished in 1986 by Jurgen Schult. 

With that incredible start under his belt, Mykolas will compete against some great talents in Marrakech, such as last year’s world champion in the discus, Daniel Stahl. Stahl’s a gamer, having won two World Championship titles and an Olympic gold, so it’ll be excellent to see him and Mykolas battle it out in the same ring in Rabat. 

Some other names to watch out for are Kristjan Ceh, Matthew Denny, as well as Mykolas’ brother, Martynas Alekna.

Familiarity Could Breed Sub-8:00: El Bakkali Makes Season Debut in Home Country

As the most dominant figure in the men’s steeplechase over this past Olympic cycle, Soufiane El Bakkali will be making his season debut. He’ll start his campaign with hopes of ultimately defending his Olympic title from Tokyo. 

El Bakkali has won the past three global championships in the steeplechase, taking home the Olympic Gold in Tokyo, along with the past two World Championships in Eugene and Doha. He’s displayed one of the finest resumes in any individual event on the track in the 2020’s.

This will be his first listed race on the track in 2024, making this a true “rust-buster." This will also mark a good litmus test to see where his fitness is in his quest for repeating an Olympic gold medal.

In the last two editions of his home country’s Diamond League meet, El Bakkali has put on an electrifying performance, running sub-8:00 in both 2022 and 2023. 

Will he put on a show for his home crowd and show the world that he’s ready to go?

Andre De Grasse And Brandon Hicklin Squaring Off In The 100m

With a fine blend of younger and older athletes in this field, we should see a fun battle in the men’s 100 meters.

Brandon Hicklin is the only man in the field to have run under 10 seconds in 2024, but his breakout campaign has only been heating up. He ran an excellent 9.94 at the LSU Invitational in April, which currently sits as the third-best time in the world; it's only 0.01 seconds off of the World Lead -- which incredibly enough is owned by an American high schooler. 

Hicklin has begun to find his groove and this Diamond League meeting will only serve as another great opportunity to flex his progress.

Andre De Grasse, meanwhile, has been a long-standing name on the men’s sprinting circuit for many years, but he’s still kicking (and running fast). He most recently helped Team Canada to a Silver medal in the 4x100 meter relay at the World Relays and will be making his first Diamond League appearance here.

These two, along with other names such as Yohan Blake and Julian Forte, should provide a quality battle over 100 meters this weekend.

Emmanuel Wanyonyi, Emmanuel Korir Take Battle At 800m

Last year's world leader at 800 meters, Emmanuel Wanyonyi, will take the stage in Marrakech in his signature event after a remarkable season’s debut in April. 

Wanyonyi opened his season in 1:43.57, which is an incredible time to be running in April, let alone taking down fierce Kenyan talent such as Aaron Cheminingwa, Ferguson Rotich and Timothy Cheruyiot in your season opener. 

He took home the win in last year’s Diamond League Meeting and should certainly be looking to repeat in 2024.

Emmanuel Korir should provide a strong challenge to Wanyoyi, as the former Olympic and World Champion looks to bounce back after a rough 2023 campaign. 

Korir found himself bounced out of the heats at the World Athletics Championships in Doha, but only saw the track for a total of four meets in 2023, citing an injury for his apparent struggles. 

The world should remember how good Emmanuel Korir is from his 2021 and 2022 campaigns on the track, because if he’s healthy, he can certainly challenge for an Olympic medal. 

What better way for Korir to start his international competition in 2024 against his countryman and fellow 1:42 800 meter runner in Emmanuel Wanyonyi? 

Schedule For The Diamond League Rabat/Marrakech 2024

The order of events for the day and their starting times (local time) can be found HERE.

*The time difference from Marrakech to the Eastern Time Zone is five hours.

To follow the FloTrack coverage, click HERE.

Results For The Diamond League Rabat/Marrakech 2024

Results for the Diamond League event in Marrakech will be available here.

FloTrack Is The Streaming Home For Many Track And Field Meets Each Year

Don’t miss all the track and field season action streaming on FloTrack. Check out the FloTrack schedule for more events.

FloTrack Archived Footage

Video footage from each event will be archived and stored in a video library for FloTrack subscribers to watch for the duration of their subscriptions.

Join The Track & Field Conversation On Social

• Follow us on Twitter @FloTrack
• Follow us on Instagram @flotrack
• Follow us on TikTok @flotracktv
• Watch us on YouTube
• Like us on Facebook