Dina Asher-Smith’s narrow win over a first-class 100m field was one of the highlights of a rain-affected first Diamond League meeting of the season in Gateshead on Sunday (23) evening, one of nine European victories across the programme.
The three-time European champion seized the moment on home soil, holding off American rising star Sha'Carri Richardson, Marie-Josée Ta Lou and reigning world champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce. Her winning time of 11.35 was pegged back by a biting 3.1 m/s headwind on an evening when the temperatures slumped below 10C.
Eye-catching victories also came the way of Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Laura Muir, and Mohamed Katir while world record-holder Armand Duplantis and three-time world champion Mariya Lasitskene suffered rare defeats in the pole vault and high jump respectively.
After a victory made better by the return of fans due to the easing of coronavirus restrictions, Asher-Smith said: "Conditions were far from ideal today, but when you come to the Diamond League, the most important thing is to run a good race and keep a cool head.
“The only way you can get race-fit is to race,” she added, emphasising that going against high-quality international fields is “essential” for developing form in an Olympic year.
It was business as usual for Ingebrigtsen, the Norwegian succeeding in a tense and tactical 1500m battle to beat a strong Australian contingent including Oliver Hoare and Stewart McSweyn with a time of 3:36.27.
Still only 20, Ingebrigtsen, who started the year brilliantly with double gold at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in Torun, said he hopes to reach a new level in 2021.
"Getting first in every race, that is my main goal this year, to win as much as possible,” said Ingebrigtsen who just missed out on the medals in both the 1500m and 5000m at the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha.
Laura Muir looked equally comfortable in the women’s 1500m as no one could live with her trademark finishing kick. After hearing the bell with 3:01 on the clock, the European champion charged away from early rival Eilish McColgan and never looked back. The 28-year-old won in 4:03.73 by exactly four seconds from Morocco’s Rababe Arafi.
“I felt really strong on that last lap so I’m really happy,” said Muir who takes her early season tally to two wins from two 1500m races.
In his first 5000m in three years, the ever-improving Katir took 42 seconds off his personal best, but the Spaniard was made to work hard for his excellent win. After surging to break up the leading group with four laps to go, the man who has also taken a chunk off his 1500m best this year, was pushed all the way by Nicholas Kimeli of Kenya.
With gritted teeth, Katir powered around the final circuit in under 56 seconds to win in an Olympic qualifying time in 13:08.52, arms aloft as he crossed the finish line, ahead of Kimeli (13:10.11) with his Kenyan teammate Michael Kibet a distant third in 13:20.52.
The rain made it particularly tricky in some of the field events. In a typical show of camaraderie, Mondo Duplantis and Sam Kendricks were seen holding umbrellas for one another.
Kendricks came away with a highest clearance of 5.74m compared to Duplantis’ 5.55m, well below their usual high standards. Both attempted to clear 5.80m but the Swede had passed at earlier heights.
“I just wasn’t able to adjust quickly enough,” admitted Duplantis after suffering his first defeat indoors or outdoors since the 2019 World Athletics Championships in Doha. “I would have loved to get over that last bar. I felt I was really close to it and I thought it was going to stay up.”
On helping out with umbrellas, he said: “We were just trying to make sure that our poles don’t get wet. It can be really dangerous if you have a little water on your grip and you don’t want to slip, especially when that pole is bending and you are high in the air.”
Elsewhere, Kamila Licwinko was a surprise winner in a high jump competition that saw the seemingly unbeatable Mariya Lasitskene, who memorably shared the world indoor title with Licwinko in 2014, finish fourth. The Polish athlete had a clean card until three failures at 1.94m.
Emily Borthwick also cleared 1.91m, but at the final attempt, meaning she equalled her personal best set in Torun in March, while Lasitskene did no better than 1.88m.
Another who made the best of the conditions to top the standings was Filippo Randazzo in the long jump. The Italian, whose best jump measured 8.11m albeit with an illegal tailwind, just one centimetre off his furthest ever, was delighted afterwards. “I can’t believe it, for me it is a dream,” he said. “I saw this competition when I was young, now I’m here and I’ve won it. I have no words!”
He hopes to attempt the Olympic Games qualifying standard of 8.22m at this weekend’s European Athletics Team Championships in Silesia, Poland.
There were three other European winners of Diamond League disciplines on the night.
Auriol Dongmo and Marcin Krukowski managed season’s bests of 19.08m in the shot put and 82.61m in the javelin respectively. Meanwhile, Cindy Sember continued her impressive start to the year with a 13.28 victory in the 100m hurdles into a 3.9 m/s headwind.
Full results are available here.