New Zealand shot putter Tom Walsh has continued his thunderous shot put form, winning the Diamond League title with a record-breaking throw in Zurich.
Advertisement
It comes less than a week after Walsh won the Paris event.
Muir – the third British woman to win a Diamond League title – said it was “amazing” to be Diamond Race victor and she “never expected anything like this”.
On the points standings, it was between the British world No.1 and the Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon for the Diamond Race.
Schippers was second, just one-hundredth of a second adrift in 21.86sec, the second fastest time of her career bettered only by her 21.63 when winning the world title in Beijing a year ago. Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba is Semenya’s closest rival and if she wins the race, the trophy will go to her. “This year, I had quite a few struggles”. Britain’s Martyn Rooney had a solid run in fourth and 45.32 as he came back from his Olympic heats disappointment, but there was misery for a relay team-mate of his.
“I came out a victor and I’m happy!” said Thompson.
If you’re having Olympics withdrawals, you can soothe some of it by tuning into the Diamon League in Zurich. Not only did the teenager win gold in the steeplechase, but she also earned enough points to take home the Diamond Race trophy. He praised the “beautiful atmosphere” and “great audience” in Zurich. Brazil’s Olympic champion Thiago Braz was third with 5.84m. “I have not been home since Rio and I am longing to get home to Jamaica”. That overtook the 6.93m of Ivana Spanovic, who nevertheless took the overall title.
Olympic champions winning included Americans Kerron Clement in the men’s 400 hurdles and Christian Taylor in the triple jump.
LaShawn Merritt missed out on gold in the men’s 400m at Rio but is certain to finish top of this season’s Diamond Race.
Akani Simbine, meanwhile, dipped on the line for second place in the men’s 100m dash in Zurich, in 9.99, covering the sprint distance 0.05 behind Jamaican victor Asafa Poswell.
Already the first sprint hurdler to also boast a sub-10 seconds 100m on his resume, that was McLeod’s second competitive 100m race in his life.
Bahrain’s Olympic champion and world record holder Ruth Jebet won in 9:07.00 minutes.
Advertisement
A mix-up exchanging the baton by the U.S. allowed Jamaica to win the 4x100m relay, ahead of Ukraine and Germany.
