by Stuart Weir
Diamond League final Day 2
To say that day 2 of the Diamond League final was a complete program would be a massive understatement! The first finals – simultaneous men’s and women’s discus throws – started at 5:30 PM, following a half-hour break for the youth events. The final race concluded at 9:40 p.m., followed by presentations and a fireworks display. It was an evening of superlative track and field, with some shocks, lots of drama, and a bit of controversy. With the winner in each discipline of the Diamond League given a wild card to the World Championships, there was something extra at stake for those not yet selected for Tokyo. (To clarify something I wrote from day one. Joe Kovacs was the winner of the shot put on day one, but did not receive a wild card, as the USA has its normal three places plus a wild card for Ryan Crouser, the defending champion. And each country is allowed a maximum of four athletes in any event. Letzigrund in Zurich is an excellent stadium with a fantastic atmosphere. The Diamond League final day 2 delivered just like day 1.
- Julian Weber threw the javelin 91.37m for a personal best and world lead. Not satisfied with that, he propelled it 91.51 with his next throw.
- The women’s 1500m had the most dramatic end of the evening, with Jessica Hull ahead for all of the final lap, only for Nelly Chepchirchir to overtake her on the final meter to win by 0.03 seconds.
- In the women’s 100m, Marie-Josee Ta-Lou Smith was disqualified for a false start, ran under protest, finished third, and was then reinstated. I have seen no official explanation, only the comment from Ta-Lou Smith to me: “I don’t know what happened. Did you see a false start? I didn’t.”
- There were expected victories like Femke Bol and Karsten Warholm in the 400 m.
Femke Bol wins the 400m hurdles in Zurich, photo by Diamond League - There were shocks, such as Salwa Eid Naser beating Marileidy Paulino in the 400 m.
- There were almost dead-heats with Noah Lyles separated by just 0.02 seconds from Letsile Tebogo.
- There was an unexpected but very welcome Swiss victory in the 800m by Audrey Werro by all of 0.05 seconds. But a win is a win.
The race of the day was arguably the women’s 800 – but a case can be made for several others. Audrey Werro won it in 1:55.91 and there were two national records (Swiss and St Vincent) and two PRs. Running 1:59.14 got you eighth place! There was a very fast 100m hurdles won by Ackera Nugent winning in 12.30 and Ditaji Kambundji setting a Swiss record of 12:40 – what a year she is having – followed by three athletes separated by 0.01 seconds. Cordell Tinch won the men’s hurdles in 12.92 – will he beat Grant Holloway in Tokyo?
Olympic champion Julien Alfred won the 100m in 10.76 with the top five going sub 11. Julien just looks in a class of her own.
What a season Niels Laros is having! Tonight, he ran a national record of 3:29.20 in a race in which seven athletes were sub-3:31. We need to remember, however, that the Diamond League races are paced, while Tokyo will be real tactical races.
In a year with no championship, the Diamond League Final is the climax, but with the Worlds in about 3 weeks several top athletes have made the Diamond series a lower priority this year.
