Richardson's winning flourish against a field including the 2019 and 2022 world 200m champions, respectively Britain's Dina Asher-Smith and Shericka Jackson of Jamaica, took place shortly after the announcing team at the Qatar Sports Club had paid tribute to Bowie, the 2017 100m world champion, who was found dead at her home on Tuesday (May 20) aged 32.

Jackson took second place in 10.85, with Asher-Smith finishing third in 10.98.

Another 2023 world-lead and meeting record had been set in the preceding event in front of a sell-out crowd as Lamecha Girma of Ethiopia, who broke the indoor world 3,000m record at Lievin in February, held off the challenge of compatriot Selemon Barega, the Olympic 10,000m champion, to win in 7min 26.18sec, bettering the mark of 7:27.26 set in 2011 by another Ethiopian, Yenew Alamirew.

Third place went to Ethiopia’s Berihu Aregawi in 7:27.61 with Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali, who beat Girma to the last Olympic and world titles, a distant fourth in 7:33.87 - no doubt an extra cause for satisfaction as far as the winner was concerned.

India's Olympic champion and world silver medallist in the men’s javelin, Neeraj Chopra, got his season off to an impressive start as a best of 88.67m was enough to beat a stacked field.

Czech thrower Jakub Vadlejch, who took silver behind Chopra at the Tokyo 2020 Games, was second with 88.63, and the Grenada thrower who beat him in Oregon last year to retain his world title, Anderson Peters, was third on 85.88m.

In the men’s triple jump, Portugal’s world and Olympic champion Pedro Pablo Pichardo won a similarly talent-rich contest with a best of 17.91m, with Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso, the Olympic bronze medallist, second on 17.81 and Cubans Andy Diaz and Lazaro Martinez respectively third and fourth on 17.80 and 17.71.

American world champions Fred Kerley and Michael Norman met in the middle for the men’s 200m, and it was the 100m gold medallist Kerley who won in 19.92, while Norman, 400m champion in Oregon last summer, was eighth and last in 20.65 as another United States athlete, world and Olympic silver medallist Kenny Bednarek, finished second in 20.11.

Another Olympic champion, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico, showed promising early-season form to win the 100m hurdles in 12.48sec from Americans Alaysha Johnson in 12.66 and Doha 2019 world champion Nia Ali in 12.69.

Olympic and world men’s 400m hurdles silver medallist Rai Benjamin also got off to a winning start in 47.78sec ahead of fellow American CJ Allen, who clocked 47.93.

Local hero Mutaz Barshim, the world and joint Olympic high jump champion, had an off-day, managing only third place on 2.24m as the event was won by JuVaughn Harrison of the United States with 2.32m.

Slovenia’s world men’s discus champion Kristjan Ceh won with a meeting record of 70.89m.

Kenya’s double women’s 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon rounded the evening off by winning in a 2023 world-leading time of 3min 58.57sec.