My apologies for the delays with the Paris Diamond League. I was in the hospital for some testing and evaluations. I am back home, working full time. I had to change some meds and am working out daily (five days a week) in the cardiac training program.
Stuart did some fine pieces on Paris, Monaco, London, and coming up: European Champs and Commonwealth Games. Thanks, Stuart!
Meeting de Paris overview
The Meeting de Paris is always one of my favorite Diamond Leagues. Dr Johnson is supposed to have said: “If you are tired of London you are tired of life”. He might have said the same thing about Paris. Let’s start with the view from my hotel!
The Stadium at Charlety holds 19,000, a good size for a Diamond League, and it is usually full. Previously the event was at the (2024 Olympic stadium) Stade de France, but a decent crowd looked lost in its 60,000 capacity. The stadium was pretty full, but a significant proportion of spectators were still coming in after the program had begun.
This year the Meeting was complicated by temperatures of 40 Centigrade (104 Fahrenheit). There was a rumor that the event would be canceled, but a compromise was reached. The pre-Diamond League program was reduced to a minimum, and spectators were only allowed in 45 minutes before the DL program began.
Those who, like me, appreciate sprint hurdles got their money’s worth with six races – prelims and final, men’s and women’s. For those who regret that distance races are often considered to take up too much time in a 2-hour program, there was a men’s 5k, which Grant Fisher won. Those on the back straight got concurrent, if not quite simultaneous, men’s and women’s pole vault.
There is also “the luck of the draw” when planning a program. A women’s 800 was always going to be an exciting race, but when Femke Bol, in her first season in the event, decides to run and is challenged by Audrey Werro, who had run the third fastest ever time earlier this year – you know you are on a winner!
There was a mixed 4 by 100 relay, and I am delighted to report that all 8 teams got the baton round. The race was won by Germany (with Luckenkemper and Haase) from France and Italy, with a gap of just 0.29 from first to fourth.
There was a 20-minute track gap in the middle of the program, leaving the concurrent pole vault competitions and the women’s shot center stage. It was a great event, living up to what Paris usually delivers,
