Olympic and European gold medallists Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Armand Duplantis and Yaroslava Mahuchikh all delivered characteristic victories at the Diamond League Final in Brussels on Friday (13), whilst there were landmark victories for emerging talents Sasha Zhoya and Charlie Dobson.
Ingebrigtsen in full control
Ingebrigtsen produced a masterclass to win a stacked men’s 1500m, with only Great Britain’s Olympic silver medallist Josh Kerr the only notable absentee.
The Norwegian went to the front with 500 metres to go and although Kenya’s former world champion Timothy Cheruiyot threatened briefly with 250 metres left, Ingebrigtsen would not yield, and he pulled away to win in 3:30.37.
Cheruiyot was second in 3:30.93, just 0.01 ahead of Olympic champion Cole Hocker of USA.
Mahuchikh stays unbeaten outdoors
Mahuchikh rounded off an unbeaten outdoor season that has garnered her Olympic and European gold, plus a new world record, by winning the women’s high jump. A flawless card of first time clearances through 1.97m gave her the initiative over Australia’s world indoor champion Nicola Olyslagers, as the bar was raised to 2.01m.
Both athletes failed at the new height with the Ukrainian going closest with her third attempt. So, Mahuchikh took the win on countback, banking her fifth Diamond League win to go alongside earlier successes in Stockholm, Paris, Lausanne, and Zurich.
Mondo settles for meeting record
Cool conditions dampened any world record expectations on Mondo Duplantis and on this occasion, the Swedish superstar was content to simply pick off another meeting record, winning the men’s pole vault with a first time clearance at 6.11m.
Greece’s Olympic bronze medallist Emmanouil Karalis was second on countback with 5.82m from joint third place Sam Kendricks of USA and Belgium’s Ben Broeders, pleasing the home crowd.
"My legs felt terrible tonight and I'm just really tired," admitted Mondo "It's been a crazy couple of weeks: the race against Karsten and then I had to jump the day after. That took a lot more from my body than I expected.
"With 6.11m I got a good result, but the world record wasn't meant to be tonight. It's not easy to do better each time. Everything needs to come together. I had some good jumps tonight and I'm really happy about that. Now it's time to celebrate my beautiful season: I will drink some good Belgian beers tonight for sure."
Zhoya and Dobson land landmark wins
European U23 champion Zhoya made it a hat-trick of Diamond League wins in the men’s 110m hurdles, adding Brussels to victories gleaned in Paris and Rome earlier this summer.
The French athlete was not really in contention over the opening flights, but he came marauding through the field to win in 13.16 (+0.4m/s). As he drew level with European champion Lorenzo Simonelli, the Italian clattered the final barrier and had to settle for second best in 13.22.
In the men’s 400m, Olympic silver medallist and European record holder Matthew Hudson-Smith pulled up barely 100 metres into the race. But there was still a British victor. European silver medallist Dobson grabbed one of the victories of his career, the 24 year old chasing down former Olympic and world champion Kirani James to win by 0.14 in 44.49.
Asher-Smith keeps up end of season momentum
European champion Dina Asher-Smith continued her fine post-Olympic form, giving Paris 2024 champion Julien Alfred a run for her money in the women’s 100m. Alfred prevailed with 10.88 (+0.2m/s) with Asher-Smith just 0.04 behind.
In the men’s long jump, Olympic and European gold medallist Miltiadis Tentoglou tasted a rare defeat, placing third with 8.15m (+0.2m/s), 13 centimetres behind winner Tajay Gayle of Jamaica, with European bronze medallist Simon Ehammer second with 8.16m (+0.4m/s).
In the women’s 800m, Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Georgia Bell briefly threatened world champion Mary Moraa, edging ahead with 200m to go. But Moraa responded to win in 1:56.56, Bell settling for second place in 1:57.50.
World record holder Mykolas Alekna was second in the men’s discus with a fifth round 68.86m in a competition won by Australia’s Matthew Denny with a meeting record 69.96m. Austria’s European silver medallist Lukas Weisshaidinger was third with 66.52m.
Olympic women’s shot champion Yemisi Ogunleye of Germany was third with a best of 19.72 in a competition won by Canada’s world indoor champion Sarah Mitton with 20.25m.
Chris Broadbent for European Athletics