Audrey Werro extended her unbeaten run over 800m this season in Lausanne, but only just. Lifted by a passionate home crowd, the Swiss star held off Femke Broeders-Bol to win in 1:55.33 at the 51st edition of Athletissima, a meeting that featured four meeting records, including Rai Benjamin’s 46.67 in the 400m hurdles, as well as three Swiss podium finishes in Diamond League events. All this despite cool temperatures of just 17 to 18 degrees Celsius.
Audrey Werro could feel Broeders-Bol breathing down her neck. The Swiss athlete set off at a blistering pace behind the pacemaker, reaching 400m two seconds faster than Jarmila Kratochvílová did during her world record run in 1983. The second lap proved much tougher. First challenged by Ethiopia’s Saida Tseyahe, who finished third in 1:56.92, the Fribourg native had to dig deep to hold off Broeders-Bol, who crossed the line just eight hundredths behind in 1:55.41. In her first season over the distance, the Dutch athlete broke the national record and came closer than ever before to Werro, who also took Keely Hodgkinson’s meeting record. Can Werro now defend her Diamond League title at the Final in Brussels in early September?
Angelica Moser came within touching distance of delivering a second Swiss victory on a cool evening in Lausanne. The two time European champion was narrowly beaten in the pole vault by American Hana Moll, the world U20 champion, who claimed her first Diamond League victory by clearing 4.84m on her third attempt. Moser failed twice at that height and finished second with 4.74m, securing her fifth Diamond League podium of the season. Katie Moon of the United States finished third with 4.64m.
Long jump king Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece lived up to his reputation, taking victory with 8.24m. Simon Ehammer, who had trailed for most of the competition, produced an outstanding fifth round leap of 8.13m to secure second place.
What a race from Rai Benjamin. The Olympic and world champion over the 400m hurdles was making his first, and only, hurdles appearance of the season after focusing on the flat 400m in recent months. His return was spectacular. Starting in lane six, he had already caught the two athletes ahead of him after just 160 metres. He stopped the clock in 46.67, setting a new meeting record and finishing just 0.19 seconds shy of Alison dos Santos’ world leading mark. “I was incredibly rusty because it was my first 400m hurdles race of the season, but I’m really happy with the result,” he said. This event was not part of the Diamond League programme.
Masai Russell Closes In
Masai Russell stormed to victory in the 100m hurdles in 12.27, lowering Jasmine Camacho-Quinn’s meeting record by seven hundredths of a second. The performance also ranks as the second fastest time in the world this season and earned the American her sixth Diamond League victory. Having already run 12.14 earlier this year, she is now closing in on Tobi Amusan’s world record of 12.12. European champion Nadine Visser of the Netherlands finished second in 12.42, ahead of American Alaysha Johnson in 12.49. World champion Ditaji Kambundji of Switzerland placed sixth in 12.71.
Marco Arop’s bold tactics were not rewarded in the men’s 800m. The Canadian world champion surged to the front behind the pacemaker and built a lead of up to five metres, only to be overtaken in the home straight and finish fourth. Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi claimed victory in 1:42.19, ahead of Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati in 1:42.31 and American Brandon Miller in 1:42.55.
In the women’s 400m hurdles, European champion and breakout star Emma Zapletalova of Slovakia led from start to finish, winning in 52.41 for her fourth Diamond League victory of the season. American Anna Cockrell finished second in 53.15, while Belgium’s Paulien Couckuyt set a new national record of 53.28 in third.
Olympic champion Haruka Kitaguchi returned to winning form in the javelin after a quiet season so far. The Japanese thrower won with 64.90m, ahead of Colombia’s Flor Denis Ruiz Hurtado, who threw 64.29m.
The men’s javelin produced another thrilling contest. World leader Rumesh Pathirage of Sri Lanka emerged victorious with 88.14m, edging India’s Neeraj Chopra, who threw 88.05m, while Grenada’s Anderson Peters finished third with 86.61m.
The men’s 5,000m kept the crowd captivated throughout. Neither the world lead nor the meeting record came under threat, but Pontaise enjoyed a fascinating tactical race. The early pace was driven by the American contingent led by Parker Wolfe and Nico Young before the African runners took over, with Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew proving unstoppable over the closing stages. The world leader won in 12:57.55, ahead of Wolfe and Young. Swiss record holder Dominic Lobalu, the only European in the field, finished eighth in 13:00.73.
Heartbreak for Shericka Jackson
World champion Pedro Pichardo was pushed all the way in the triple jump. The Portuguese star secured a prestigious victory with 17.44m, just one centimetre ahead of Algeria’s Yasser Mohammed Triki. Italy’s Andy Díaz Hernández finished third with 17.20m.
The eagerly anticipated women’s 200m showdown between Shericka Jackson, the second fastest woman in history, and her American rivals came to a dramatic end. Jackson made an excellent start but appeared to injure her thigh coming off the bend. She collapsed on the track before being assisted away by medical staff, a heartbreaking moment for the four time world champion, who had returned to top form this spring after two difficult seasons. American Kayla White seized the opportunity to claim her first Diamond League victory in 22.28, ahead of Great Britain’s four time European champion Amy Hunt and Nigeria’s Favour Ofili, who recorded the same time.
The men’s 200m saw Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana make a winning return in 19.87, while European bronze medallist Timothé Mumenthaler finished sixth in 20.39.
Winfred Yavi of Bahrain thrilled the crowd in the women’s 3,000m steeplechase alongside Kenya’s Faith Cherotich. At halfway, Yavi trailed the Wavelight pace by around ten metres as it guided athletes towards the meeting record. She produced a magnificent finish, crossing the line around twenty metres ahead of the lights in 9:00.04 to shatter the Athletissima meeting record.
Swiss athletes rounded off the evening with three more podium finishes in non Diamond League events. The Swiss I quartet of Géraldine Di Tizio-Frey, Fabienne Hoenke, Léonie Pointet and Salomé Kora won the women’s 4x100m relay in 42.91, ahead of Portugal in 43.40 and Switzerland II in 43.45. Jason Joseph also finished third in the men’s 110m hurdles in 13.29, with American Jamal Britt taking victory in 13.13.
