Brussels Diamond League finals: five stand-out events
Saint Lucia's sprint queen Julien Alfred, her American rival
Sha'Carri Richardson and Olympic men's 200m champion Letsile Tebogo headline a
panoply of stars from the Paris Games at Friday and Saturday's Diamond League
finals in Brussels.
The meet is the 14th and final one on track and field’s elite
circuit and comes just a month after the end of the Olympics.
Citizen Digital looks at five stand-out events of a crowded line-up that
features no less than 82 medal winners from the Paris Games.
Women's
1500m
Faith Kipyegon made history at the Paris Games when she became the
first woman to win three consecutive Olympic 1,500m gold medals, crossing the
line in a new Olympic record of 3min 51.29sec.
The 30-year-old, a three-time world champion and world record
holder, also took silver in the 5,000m.
Her one appearance since her Paris antics was a victory in Rome and it would take a brave person to bet against the Kenyan once again topping the podium in Brussels.
Women's 100m
Sha'Carri Richardson got the better of Julien Alfred in Zurich,
flipping the result of the Olympic final when the American won silver behind
the sprinter from Saint Lucia by just five-hundredths.
Richardson, who was also part of the US gold medal-winning 4x100m
relay team in Paris, produced a complete race in Zurich, overhauling Alfred at
the line.
"I don't want to use the word revenge," Alfred said
Wednesday of her showdown with the American.
"I never run against anyone, I do it for myself and just want
to finish the season in style. For the same reason, I'm not focused on times
either.
"I am looking forward to go to Saint Lucia, just to celebrate
with my country."
Men's pole vault
Conditions were far from perfect for Armand Duplantis at a wet and
cold Letzigrund Stadium in Zurich, combined with the fact he felt
"wrecked" after beating 400m hurdles world champion Karsten Warholm
in an exhibition 100m sprint.
After improving his own world record to 6.26m at Silesia last
month, the question is whether the stars can align for the US-born Swede for a
potential 11th tilt at bettering that mark once more this season.
"I always say, pole vaulters, we need to cherish him. He
pushes the whole sport and gets a lot of attention to it," American Sam
Hendricks, perennial second placer, said of Duplantis.
Men's 200m
Botswana's Letsile Tebogo made light work of the damp conditions
in Switzerland, producing a devastating finish to clock an outstanding 19.55sec
for victory ahead of three strong Americans in Kenny Bednarek, Erriyon Knighton
and Fred Kerley.
Tebogo, still just 21, has had an amazing season by anyone's
count, rebounding from the death of his mother in May to dominate the 200m,
bagging Botswana's first-ever Olympic gold in the discipline whilst also
winning silver behind the absent Noah Lyles in the 100m.
While not content with his curve running in Zurich, Tebogo said it
would be a different approach in Brussels.
Running a total race, like in the Olympics, "is something I
will do at the Diamond League final because there is still more inside
me", he vowed.
"It is all about taking risks. Without risks there is no
rewards, so I am taking all the risks that I have got."
Men's 1500m
Brussels, like Zurich, will throw up a near-repeat of the Paris
Olympics final.
Americans Cole Hocker and Yared Nuguse won in Paris and Zurich
respectively.
Olympic silver medallist and reigning world champion Josh Kerr of
Britain, Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot were all also
present in Zurich.
"I think Brussels will be fun," said Ingebrigtsen after
his second place in Switzerland.
Hocker, Nuguse and Cheruiyot will all be on the start line in
Brussels, along with Britain's new road mile world record holder Elliot Giles,
while Kerr sits it out.
Friday, September 13
Men: 100m, 400m, 1500m, 5,000m, 110m hurdles, pole vault, long
jump, discus throw
Women: 100m, 400m, 800m, 3,000m steeplechase, high jump, triple
jump, discus throw, shot put
Men: 200m, 800m, 3,000m steeplechase, 400m hurdles, high jump,
triple jump, javelin, shot put
Women: 200m, 1500m, 5,000m, 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles, pole vault, long jump, javelin.
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