Hard on the heels of an historic Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, the stars of track and field headed over to Europe as the Diamond League season races towards a climax. The newly renovated Hayward Field saw a slew of world leads and meeting records, with Elaine Thompson Herah, Athing Mu, and Norah Jeruto winning some of the fastest races of all-time. Anticipation remained high then as world athletics swung into the Olympic capital of Lausanne, followed less than 48 hours later by the French capital of Paris.
These days every race is a classic in the women’s 100 metres, as Thompson Herah and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce continue to forge the greatest rivalry in the history of women’s sprinting. With two Olympic and four World Championship gold medals to her name, Fraser-Pryce still stands tall despite her diminutive height as the greatest ever female sprinter, an accolade increasingly under threat as Thompson Herah enjoys a record-breaking season.
In Tokyo it was Thompson Herah who rounded into form at just the right time, scoring an unprecedented double-double by retaining her Olympic titles over both 100 and 200 metres. Her time of 10.61 in the final of the 100 metres was the second-fastest on record, leaving Fraser-Pryce trailing for silver. Then on Saturday in Eugene, Thompson Herah went faster still, as her time of 10.54 closed the gap on the controversial world record set back in 1988 by Florence Griffith-Joyner.
The rivalry between the two Jamaican athletes never shows through hostility or impropriety out on the track, where Fraser-Pryce is always full of smiles and the pair indulge in the customary post-race congratulations no matter the winner. But if familiarity has not quite bred contempt, the close proximity of Jamaican sprinting leaves little room for personal differences, with Fraser-Pryce moving on from the illustrious MVP Track Club while her former coach Stephen Francis has been credited for providing Thompson Herah with her newfound vigour.
While the backstory only adds to the drama, the differences extend to their explosive performances out on track, where Fraser-Pryce tends to be quicker out of the starting blocks while Thompson Herah holds her form better in the latter part of the race. In Lausanne, Thompson Herah was unable to make up the difference, as Fraser-Pryce held on to claim a memorable victory. Her mark of 10.60 was the third-fastest of all-time, bettering her previous best of 10.63 which she set earlier this year ahead of the Jamaican trials in Kingston.
That time was all the more impressive owing to the wind which swept across La Pontaise in Lausanne. In the 400 metre hurdles, the Olympic bronze medalist Femke Bol still managed a meeting record as she finished ahead of Shamier Little in a time of 53.05. But the transatlantic journey and all the exertions of Tokyo and Eugene were causing some athletes to flag, as the Olympic silver medalist Dalilah Muhammad finished down in fourth position.
The 200 metres featured Olympic medalists from three separate disciplines, as the 200 metre silver medalist Kenny Bednarek prevailed over the 100 metre silver medalist Fred Kerley and the new 400 metre champion Steven Gardiner. With a winning time of 19.65 and a second-placed finish of 19.77, both Bednarek and Kerley would have scored new personal bests if it wasn’t for an illegal tailwind.
Marileidy Paulino continued her run of form over 400 metres, while Wilbert London edged the men’s race ahead of Isaac Makwala as the hurdle champion Karsten Warholm languished in fourth. And in the 110 metre hurdles, Devon Allen recovered from an early knock to hold off the local favourite Jason Joseph and the leggy French athlete Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, at the end of a ragged race which saw the Olympic champion Hansle Parchment fall to last position.
In the middle distance events, Marco Arop led from the front to beat Emmanuel Kipkurui Korir and Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich over 800 metres, before Jakob Ingebrigtsen held on despite a late challenge from the young Ethiopian Berihu Aregawi to win the 3000 metres in a season’s best time of 7:33.06. Over 1500 metres, Freweyni Gebreezibeher kicked past Linden Hall to take the victory.
As athletics seeks to broaden its reach by traipsing into shopping malls and city centres, the high jump event in the centre of Lausanne saw Ilya Ivanyuk return to winning ways, while Gianmarco Tamberi came fifth just weeks after his shared gold in Tokyo proved one of the highlights of the Summer Olympics. A few hours later inside La Pontaise, the gusting wind was playing havoc with some of the other field events.
A clean card from Christopher Nilsen gave the steadily improving American victory over Sam Kendricks in the pole vault, while Armand Duplantis struggled with his vertical clearance in the wind and finished in an almost implausibly low fourth position. Renaud and Valentin Lavillenie also made a hash of the tough conditions. Meanwhile the imperious Mariya Lasitskene managed to eke past Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Nicola McDermott at the end of a competitive high jump.
The athletes fared better in the vertical jumping events. Fresh off a world record performance in Tokyo, the Olympic champion Yulimar Rojas registered one of the best cards of all-time in the triple jump, stretching out twice beyond 15.50. The Venezuelan athlete is the only woman in history to have broken the mark, and she set a new meeting and Diamond League record in Lausanne, although her best jump on the night of 15.56 was aided by a hefty tailwind. In the long jump, Khaddi Sagnia set a new personal best of 6.92 in the third round, although a leap of 6.73 in the winner-takes-all sixth round was enough to secure victory for the always game Ivana Španović.
Johannes Vetter also bounced back after a disappointing result at the Tokyo Olympics. The German headed into the Games as the firm javelin favourite, with his throw of 97.76 last year falling perilously close to Jan Železný’s world record. Instead after qualifying with ease, two fouls in the Olympic final left Vetter down in ninth and out of the competition. In Lausanne he began making amends, with a leading throw of 88.54 and two more throws over 86 metres. No such trouble for Ryan Crouser, as the world record holder and Olympic champion continued to dominate with a meeting record of 22.81 in the shot put.
The 4 x 100 metre relay served as the traditional closer in Lausanne, this year with added lustre as the Swiss crowd waved off one of their own in Léa Sprunger. A European champion in the 400 metre hurdles, the multi-talented athlete is calling time on her solo career at 31 years old. A handpicked Team Léa finished fourth in the event, with Sprunger chasing home the Netherlands, Switzerland’s first team, and Great Britain as Daryll Neita surged past Salomé Kora for the finish.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce subsequently withdrew from the meet in Paris citing the steady buildup of fatigue, handing Elaine Thompson Herah free reign over 100 metres. In Lausanne, the top two had been hunted down by Shericka Jackson, Marie-Josée Ta Lou, Daryll Neita, and Ajla Del Ponte as six women raced under 11 seconds. The times weren’t quite as fast in Paris, but Thompson Herah still scored a meeting record of 10.72 with Jackson and Dina Asher-Smith doing enough in second and third to keep her honest.
Meanwhile Fred Kerley bettered his best over 200 metres, as the 400 metre convert continues to impress in his first full season over the shorter distances. At 19.79, he matched times with Kenny Bednarek but stuck out his chest to claim the narrowest margin of victory over his close friend and rival.
Fatigue was certainly setting in over the 400 metre hurdles. After pushing Femke Bol all the way over the course of the Diamond League season, finally it was Shamier Little’s time to shine, but the fifth-fastest woman on record looked entirely out of sorts as she finished in distant last place. Instead Gianna Woodruff held off Anna Ryzhykova and Janieve Russell to emerge as the surprise victor.
In the 100 metre hurdles, Danielle Williams set a season’s best time of 12.50, with Nadine Visser in second establishing a new Dutch national record. Over the 110 metre hurdles, Hansle Parchment bounced back to knock Devon Allen down into second as both men registered new season’s bests. Marileidy Paulino continued to dominate ahead of Sada Williams and Allyson Felix, as Femke Bol tried her hand over the 400 metres flat. And over 800 metres it was Wyclife Kinyamal who ended the winning run of Marco Arop, who finished third with Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich in second place.
That left a couple of middle distance races, with Benjamin Kigen setting a new world lead with a time of 8:07.12 in the steeplechase, as the Kenyan athlete finished comfortably ahead of his compatriots Abraham Kibiwot and Leonard Bett. But the performance of the day belonged to Francine Niyonsaba, who was tested over 3000 metres before setting a new world lead, meeting record, and national record in a time of 8:19.08.
Forced to step up to the longer distances owing to rules around differences of sexual development, the Burundian can now boast the fifth-fastest time ever over the distance. Ejgayehu Taye finished just behind her in a new national record for Ethiopia, with Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi, Elise Cranny, and Fantu Worku all setting new personal bests.
In the first field event of the day inside Stade Charléty in Paris, the high jumper Nicola McDermott scored a rare victory over Mariya Lasitskene on countback. The upbeat New Zealander keeps a journal alongside her training equipment, ranking herself out of ten after every jump. McDermott says that she never gives herself all tens, but there was little to fault as three first-time clearances left her ahead of the Olympic gold medalist, who also cleared a height of 1.98 after two unsuccessful attempts.
The conditions were calmer in Paris, and Armand Duplantis swiftly recovered from his poor showing in Lausanne, putting the field to bed with a clearance of 6.01 in the pole vault, before raising the bar to 6.19 as his own world record stays within sight. Anderson Peters toppled Johannes Vetter in the decisive round of the javelin, while Hugues Fabrice Zhango skipped past Yasser Triki in the triple jump. And a strong sixth round in the discus saw Yaimé Pérez and Valarie Allman improve on their best throws, only for Sandra Perkovic to cling on to the victory.
There are just two meets left of the Diamond League season, and both are short trips. World athletics travels to the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels next Friday, before the grand climax of the calendar takes place the following weekend, over two days of stellar competition at the Weltklasse Zürich.
