Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse just stopped short of making history at the Stockholm Diamond League after blowing the men’s 100m field away with a stunning wind-aided time of 9.69s!
However, excessive winds of +4.8m/s put a halt to what would have been a Personal Best (PB), National Record (NR), Meeting Record (MR) and World Lead (WL) for the 22-year old, as well as the third fastest time in history!
Cote d’Ivoire’s Ben Youssef Meite posed a great threat mid-way into the race, but the Olympic multiple medallist levelled up, before sailing past the rest of the lineup to secure a third consecutive Diamond League victory.
Meite clocked 9.84s in 2nd place, while Jamaica’s Ryan Shields followed in 9.89s. Cuba’s Yunier Perez and Julian Reus of Germany placed 4th and 5th respectively in 9.92s and 9.99s respectively.
It was a close 200m women’s race but Murielle Ahoure prevailed by just a hundredth of a second, posting a Season’s Best (SB) of 22.68s. Canadian Crystal Emmanuel set a PB of 22.69s in 2nd place, as Rebekka Haase finished 3rd in 22.76s. Former European Champion Ivet Lalova-Collio was 4th in 22.82s.
It was a two-horse race between Steven Gardiner and Botswana’s Baboloki Thebe in the men’s 400m, but the Bahamian took the day with a time of 44.58s. The African Champion who won the event in Oslo last week, placed 2nd after returning a time of 44.99s. Kevin Borlee was 3rd in an SB of 45.47s.
Reigning Olympic Champion in the women’s 800m, Caster Semenya sat out the Stockholm Diamond League. Nevertheless, fellow African Francine Niyonsaba did justice to the event and powered to victory ahead of home girl Lovisa Lindh (1:59.41) in 1:59.11.
Kenya’s Timothy Cheruiyot was the only athlete to set a WL at the Stockholm Diamond League. The middle distance runner dominated the 1500m and stormed down the home straight in an impressive time of 3:30.77. Bahrain’s Alsadik Mikhou followed in 3:31.49, while Aman Wote placed 3rd in 3:31.63.
Reigning World Champion Asbel Kiprop showed some improvement by finishing 4th in an SB of 3:33.17. It remains to be seen if the 27-year will be in a position to retain his title when the World Championships get underway in London in August.
The men’s 110 Hurdles was full of drama as two athletes were shown red for beating the gun. Great Britain’s Andrew Pozzi was the first athlete to be disqualified after a false start, leading to a tense atmosphere. African Champion Antonio Alkana then fell victim to the same offence, leading to just five participants in the race.
Reigning World Champion Sergey Shubenkov took the lead when the gun went off, but the ever resilient Orlando Ortega beat him at the line to get the verdict in an SB of 13.09s. Shubenkov was 2nd in 13.10s, and Shane Brathwaite 3rd in 13.25s.
Norwegian hurdler Karsten Warholm extended his winning streak from Oslo to take the victory in 48.82s, finishing ahead of Rasmus Magi (49.16s) and Yasmani Copello (49.18s). Former World Champion Bershawn Jackson was 5th with 50.28s.
Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali dominated the 3000m Steeplechase in the absence of Olympic Champion Conseslus Kipruto. He returned a time of 8:15.01 to take the title.
A number of upsets were recorded in the field events at the Stockholm Diamond League. Following her impressive performance in Oslo less than a week ago, many expected reigning World Champion Yarisley Silva to continue her winning streak in the women’s Pole vault.
However, it was Nicole Bücher emerged the surprise winner of the event, making a rebound from clearing no height in Oslo, to winning the title in Stockholm in an SB of 4.65m. Silva finished a distant 5th with 4.55m. Sweden’s Angelica Bengtsson and Robeilys Peinado placed 2nd and 3rd respectively with 4.65m.
Two-time Olympic Champion Sandra Perkovic succumbed to her first Diamond League defeat in two years after finishing behind Cuba’s Yaimi Perez who stole the show in the women’s Discus with an SB of 67.92m. The Croatian was 2nd with 67.75m, while Nadine Muller settled for 3rd with 65.74m.
Another upset was recorded in the men’s event as World Leader, Jamaica’s Fedrick Dacres defeated meeting favourite Daniel Stahl on home oil. The 23-year old secured a superior mark of 68.36m, with the Swedish thrower following with 68.13m.
World Leader in the men’s Long Jump Luvo Manyonga tried hard to secure the MR of 6.59m, but it was not to be. The African Record holder did not enjoy a smooth landing at his final attempt, and ended up with an injury. However, his opening distance of 8.36m gave him the victory. Teammate Rushwal Samaai followed with 8.29m, as Radek Juska settled for 3rd place with 8.09m.
Mariya Lasitkene remained unbeaten in the women’s High Jump and was the last woman standing at 2.00m. Kamila Licwinko was 2nd with her SB of 1.97m, while Sofie Skoog who received the backing of the home crowd, was more than delighted with her PB of 1.94m.
