by Stuart Weir
Stuart Weir attended the Allianz Memorial Van Damme on 2 September. This is one of his 4 stories on the highlights of the last regular Diamond League Meeting of the 2022 season.
So happy to see Kara Winger get her PB of 68.11m after twelve years (your editor was there, just by accident to see her last NR in 2010! ). What a great way to send the last regular DL meeting of the season!
Van Damme highlights
The Memorial Van Damme was the last Diamond League where athletes could gain qualification points for the Diamond League Final in Zurich next week. At the same time, it meant that athletes who had already secured qualifications might be tempted to skip Brussels. The early season World Championship, plus for some athletes, a European Championship and/or Commonwealth Games, all made 2022 a strangely scheduled year. The result was that the standard of the meet was varied, but there were a number of standout events and performances.
Men’s 5000
Jacob Krop won the race in 12:45.71, a world-leading time, with nine of the first 10 finishers running a PR and four new National Records set.
Women’s 100m hurdles
The sprint hurdles are on fire this year! Britany Anderson ran 12.44 and was fourth. The winner was Jasmine Comacho-Quinn with 12.27. Tia Jones ran 12.38 for second place, a sixth PR of the year!
Men’s 400m hurdles
Alisson Dos Santos won in 47.54, keeping his winning streak going. He told me that having several athletes pushing each other was creating a new level of performance.
Women’s 400
Three PRs and two national records, but the happiest athlete of the meet was undoubtedly Fiordaliza Cofil, winner in 49.8. I was particularly impressed with how the meet divided athletes between the A and B races. The slowest athlete in the A ran 51.73 and the winner of the B race 51.74!
Men’s pole vault
A rare defeat for Mondo Duplantis, with Ernest Obiena winning at 5.91. Perhaps Mondo has been doing too much sprinting in preparation for the show-down with Shelly-Ann.
Women’s Steeplechase
Jackline Chepkeoch ran a PR of 9:02.43 for the win. She is just 18!
Men’s Triple Jump
Christian Taylor is fourth in a season’s best 16.72m, speaking about gaining more confidence on a long road back from injury.
Women’s High Jump
The moment of the event, if I have to pick one, would be Yaroslava Mahuchikh clearing 2.05m for a Ukrainian national record and world lead. Her comment says it all: “The war in my country is terrible and today I jumped for all the Ukrainian people. I know that they smile now”.
Women’s Javelin
Celebration of the evening prize goes to Kara Winger USA 68.11 a PR, NR, MR, WL… To be fair, she has had 12 years – her previous PR was in 2010 – to plan the celebration.
The outstanding women’s 100m, 1500m, and men’s 800 are covered separately.
