Britain’s Laura Muir won the 1500m Diamond League title with a second-placed finish in the meeting in Zurich.
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Meanwhile, men’s 400m hurdles Olympic champion Kerron Clement is also celebrating after earning his Diamond Trophy with victory on the night in 48.72sec. “I came out to execute well”, said Thompson, who ends her season next week in the final Diamond League meeting in Brussels.
Importantly for Powell in the highly-competitive world of Jamaican sprinting, the overall Diamond Race title guarantees him a wildcard entry for next year’s world championships in London.
Thompson will line up against countrywoman and two-time Olympic champion Veronica Campbell-Brown; Allyson Felix, the 2012 Olympic champion and three-times world champion; plus Dafne Schippers, the 2015 World Champion and 2016 Olympic silver medallist.
Semenya entered the penultimate Diamond League meeting of the season on 40 points, two points ahead of second-placed Francine Niyonsaba, after four previous victories in the 800m and last night’s win now ensures she can not be overtaken next week in Brussells.
Winners of the series in their respective disciplines are awarded a diamond and prize money.
South Africa’s Caster Semenya continued her dominance in the women’s 800m in 1.56.44 in a race that had every finalist from Rio in the field and repeated the podium places with Francine Niyonsaba (Burundi) and Margaret Wambui (Kenya) second and third.
Brazilian Olympic champion Thiago Braz da Silva finished third, and fifth in the overall standings.
Darya Klishina, the only Russian track and field athlete now cleared to compete internationally, made the most of her opportunity with third place and a best of 6.63, with US Olympic champion Tianna Bartoletta sixth with 6.51.
Caster Semenya from South Africa, front, competes ahead of Selina Buechel from Switzerland, behind right, in the women’s 800m race, during the IAAF Diamond League worldwide athletics meeting in the Letzigrund stadium in Zurich, Switzerland, Thursday, Sept. 1, 2016.
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Brittney Reese of the US took the long jump honors at 6.95 to reverse her Olympic result with gold medalist Ivana Spanovic of Serbia. Rowbury’s time of 3:57.78 was her season’s best.
