Paris 2024 Olympic Games and 2025 World Championships gold medalist in the men’s high jump – Hamish Kerr will return to Qatar for the Mazzraty Doha Meeting – the opening meeting of the 2026 Wanda Diamond league series – on Friday 8 May.
Kerr, a proven championship performer, and national record holder has a best of 2.36m, a title-winning height he’s achieved on three occasions, first at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Glasgow [2024], followed by the Olympic Games in Paris [2024] and most recently, at the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo [2025].
He finished second at the Doha Diamond League meeting in 2025 with 2.23m, but after a summer that included series wins in Rabat and Silesia, he went on to claim his first ever Diamond Trophy with 2.32m at the Wanda Diamond League final in Zurich.
“The Doha crowd support was amazing last year and while I was happy enough with my result, I obviously wanted more from a performance perspective,” said Kerr, who is currently preparing for the New Zealand Championships – and a tilt at his tenth national title – next month.
“It’s still early in the season so my training will be pretty heavy, but it’s about building momentum and confidence. I’ve always said you can chase easy or you can chase growth, and taking risks – even when it’s early season and it feels a bit scary – can be where you learn the most. That all said, nothing beats the feeling of jumping high and I hope I can give the crowd something to really cheer about this time around.”
The Mazzraty Doha Meeting is the opening meeting of the 2026 Wanda Diamond League. The series comprises 15 of the most prestigious events in global track and field across four different continents. It concludes with a single final across two days in Brussels [4-5 September].
Source: www.newsmen360.com
