Ditaji Kambundji and Simon Ehammer shine in Qatar

Ditaji Kambundji and Simon Ehammer shine in Qatar

Two Swiss athletes on the Diamond League podium in the same evening – now that’s something to remember! In Doha, Ditaji Kambundji, who won the 100m hurdles with an extraordinary finish, and Simon Ehammer, 3rd in the long jump, set the tone with just a month to go before the European Championships.

On her outside lane 8, Ditaji Kambundji fought hard over the last 5 metres to take 1st place in 12.49, 0.02 seconds off her national record, ahead of American Tonea Marshall and Poland’s Pia Skrzyszowska, the reigning European champion. The top four are within five hundredths of each other. “I’ve still got it in me and I can run faster”, said the younger Kambundji without boasting.

Simon Ehammer also wore his best smile. With a jump of 8.30m, albeit with the help of the wind (+2.6m/s), he broke the 8m barrier for the third time this season and above all achieved his sixth Diamond League podium at the age of 24. He was beaten by Jamaican Carey McLeod (8m52), bronze medallist at the World Indoor Championships, and Olympic and world champion Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece (8m36).

Both the men’s 100m hurdles and the men’s long jump are on the Athletissima programme on 22 August.

One of the other events scheduled for Lausanne is the 200m. In Doha, this event resulted in a new meeting record: Olympic runner-up Kenny Bednarek (USA) wiped out Noah Lyles’ mark with a time of 19”67. In the javelin, a discipline that is also promising at the Pontaise, Czech Jakub Vadlejch (88m38) dominated the competition ahead of India’s Neeraj Chopra.

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