Inclement weather in the Stockholm Diamond League on Sunday (2) evening forced the postponement of the pole vault but the spectators who stayed were treated to a world record attempt from local hero Armand Duplantis.
The rain might have abated towards the end of the programme but what was still an unseasonably cold evening in the Swedish capital, Duplantis vaulted over 6.05m on his first attempt before three attempts at an outright world record of 6.23m.
"I found some rhythm on the runway despite the cold. It was not the weather we wanted of course but I always want to jump well every meet but especially here as this is the most important meet, outside the world champs, for me in the year.
"Mentally I felt I was there and in with a chance of the world record which is why I wanted to go for it as well as for the people that had stayed so long into the evening to see me," said Duplantis.
Duplantis is no stranger to vaulting prodigious heights in these sorts of conditions. It was at the Stockholm Diamond League last year when Duplantis cleared 6.15m - at the time the highest vault ever recorded outdoors.
Kristjan Ceh also seemed largely impervious to the conditions on offer as the giant Slovenian defeated all of his principal rivals in the men’s discus.
Just one week after throwing 69.94m to break the championship record at the European Athletics Team Championships, Ceh almost matched that mark in Stockholm with 69.83m in the second round.
Ceh also produced marks of 69.07m and 68.28m which also would have beaten Daniel Stahl’s best - and only - valid effort of 67.57m although the Swede did have a foul in the crucial sixth round which looked in the region of the 70 metre-line.
"The rain did not bother me because I have a really good discus grip, my technique was also almost perfect and I really had the power today to throw over 70 metres. I got two times over 69 metres so it shows a really good consistency," said Ceh, who has won nine of his ten competitions in 2023.
By contrast, Sandra Perkovic has generally played second fiddle to Olympic champion Valarie Allman in recent seasons but the five-time European champion’s experience shone through as she adapted to the slippery conditions to take her first Diamond League win of 2023 - and her 46th in total.
"This victory means a lot for me because it's my 70th Diamond League and 46th win and 67th on the podium. After 13 years I am still here winning Diamond Leagues. I have all those numbers in mind, of course, because in athletics everything is about numbers," said Perkovic, whose longevity is such that she set the meeting record of 68.77m in 2012.
Perkovic threw 64.49m for victory ahead of Jorinde Van Klinken from the Netherlands with 62.96m. On this occasion, Allman failed to produce a valid throw.
On the track, Karsten Warholm won a 400m hurdles which was unfortunately marred by protesters who forced their way onto the track in 47.57 and Daryll Neita defeated British teammate Dina Asher-Smith in the 200m - 22.50 to 22.58.
Full results here.