A number of upsets rocked the Field events at the Lausanne Diamond League and at the top of the list was the duel between two of the best Triple Jumpers ever, Pedro Pablo Pichardo and Christian Taylor. However it was the Olympic champion who took the day with a Personal Best (PB), Meeting Record (MR) and Diamond League Record (DLR) of 18.06m, handing Pichardo his first defeat of 2015.
Taylor’s record in Lausanne equals the mark set by the Cuban at the Doha Diamond League in May. The meeting was regarded as the greatest in the history of the sport as Pichardo jumped a PB and National Record (NR), inspiring Taylor to also set a PB of 18.04m, making it the first time in the history of the sport that two athletes jumped over 18m at the same meeting.
A few days later, Pichardo, bettered his PB by 2cm, setting a World Lead (WL) of 18.08m. He led the event in Lausanne as he recorded an impressive 17.85m on his first attempt, and then improved to 17.99m, before stopping his third attempt midway while he was fouled on his fourth attempt. Taylor responded with 17.33m, then 17.76m, before going over the 18m mark with an outstanding 18.02m, and then stamping his authority with 18.06m in his final leap of the evening. USA’s Omar Craddock was 3rd with 17.30m.
The performance of the pair has generated a lot of suspense ahead of next month’s World Championships as both athletes are set to continue the battle for supremacy in Beijing. Pichardo won Silver in Moscow two years ago while Taylor narrowly missed out on a medal after finishing 4th.
World, Olympic and European champion in the women’s Discus, Sandra Perkovic also tasted her first Diamond League defeat as she was upstaged by former world junior champion, Cuba’s Yaimí Perez who won the event with a PB of 67.13m, while Perkovic followed with 67.06m as another Cuban, Denia Caballero settled for 3rd with 66.04m.
Renaud Lavillenie suffered his second consecutive Diamond League loss, finishing in 3rd place after needing two attempts to scale over 5.76m. The Frenchman who finished 5th in Paris less than a week ago, was unable to go above that mark, along with reigning world champion, Raphael Holzdeppe who finished 2nd, also with 5.76m. 2011 world champion, Pawel Wojciechowski went on to clear 5.84m as the last man standing.
Winner of the men’s Javelin throw in London 2012, Kershorn Walcott lived up to his status as the first black male athlete to win GOLD in a throwing event in the history of the Olympics, stealing the limelight from world leader, Kenya’s Julius Yego and world champion, Vitezslav Vesely.
The 22-year old from Trinidad and Tobaggo went on to throw a PB and NR of 90.16 ahead of Vesely who had a distance of 87.97m, while Moscow 2013 Silver medallist, Tero Pitkamaki followed with 87.44m. World leader and Commonwealth champion, Yego was relegated to 4th place with 85.50m.
Two-time world champion in the men’s Shot put, David Storl ended the winning streak of world leader, USA’s Joe Kovacs, taking the victory in Lausanne with a Season’s Best (SB) of 22.20m, with the American pair of Kovacs and Reese Hoffa placing 2nd and 3rd respectively with 21.71m and 21.30m.
Anna Chicherova made a grand return to the Diamond League as she set a WL of 2.03m in the women’s High Jump, making her the first woman to go above the 2m mark in 2015. World No.2, Ruth Beitia was unable to rise to the challenge posed by the former world and reigning Olympic champion, ending her campaign with 1.94m. Sweden’s Erika Kinsey was 3rd with 1.94m. Nigeria’s Doreen Amata was 9th with 1.85m.
Tianna Bartoletta was unstoppable in the women’s Long Jump, winning the event with 6.86m. The American recently jumped to a world leading mark of 7.12m and is keen on reclaiming the world title she won exactly 10 years ago in Helsinki. Great Britain’s Shara Proctor was 2nd in 6.79m, while Commonwealth Games medallist, Christabel Nettey settled for 3rd with 6.68m.
Nigeria’s Blessing Okagbare-Ighoteguonor competed in her first Long Jump event of the season where she finished in 4th place with an SB of 6.66m. The Beijing 2008 Olympic Bronze medallist has a PB of 7.00m in the event.
Click here for highlights of the track events at the Lausanne Diamond League.
