by Stuart Weir
Seven Scandinavian takeaways
Having two Diamond Leagues in 4 days with a lot of athletes competing in both was a unique occasion – with athletes travelling by train to help the green agenda. Here are seven things that struck me.
1 Mondo is incredible
6.15 on Thursday and 6.28 on Sunday!
2 Men’s 300/400 hurdles
I was grudging about the 300m hurdles in Oslo but taking the 300 on Thursday and the 400 on Sunday together was intriguing. The same three athletes took the podium places but in a different order.
300 400
1 Karsten Warholm 1 Benjamin
2 Rai Benjamin 2 dos Santos
3 Alison dos Santos 3 Warholm
Aggregate times
1 Benjamin 79.76
2 dos Santos 80.06
3 Warholm 80.08
I asked Alison what he learned from running 300h. He replied “Never to do it again!”
3 Impressive double winners
200m – Reynier MENA Oslo 20.20, Stockholm 20.05
800m – Emmanuel Wanyonyi Oslo 1.42.78, Stockholm 1:41.95
100m – Julien Alfred Oslo 10.89, Stockholm 10.75
400m – Isabella Whittaker Oslo 49.58, Stockholm 49.78
4 Long jump
Tara Davis-Woodhall won the long jump with an opening leap of 7.05. And what will Larissa Iapichino be thinking? You jump 6.90, in June! And come second.
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5 Women’s 3000.
The 3000 flat is not a championship distance but athletes love it. In Stockholm the first three Linden Hall (8:30.01), Sarah Chelangat (8:31.27 ) and Innes FitzGerald (8:32.90) all ran PRs. Sarah’s was also a Ugandan national record. Innes was particularly thrilled with her run – just 19, not a pro, in her first ever Diamond League.
6 Women’s hurdles
It is only mid June but two athletes ran 12.3 in the sprint hurdles – Grace Stark (12.33) and Ackera Nugent (12.37). Femke Bol won the 400h in 52.11 and it was great to see Dalilah Muhammed – former world record holder – winning in Oslo and second in Stockholm.
7 Discus
There was a very competitive men’s discus with Kristjan Ceh just holding off local favorite Daniel Stahl in Stockholm 69.73 to 69.53.
