Daniel Stahl had to relinquish his world discus title last summer but the Swede proved he is still a force to be reckoned with in the discus circle in Sollentuna on Sunday (11) evening.
On home soil at the Sollentuna GP, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting, Stahl surpassed the 70 metre-line for the first time this season with 70.93m to move to a close second on the 2023 world list behind European champion Mykolas Alekna with 71.00m.
"Seventy metres is always wonderful to do. It's a dream distance and not easy to do every time, so when you do it, it's a wonderful feeling," said Stahl as quoted by SVT.
Stahl also had throws measured at 67.09m, 68.16m and 68.24m, all of which would have sufficed for victory over Austria’s multiple major medallist Lukas Weisshaidinger whose best throw of 65.95m.
On the high standard of the men’s discus globally at the moment, Stahl commented: "It is incredibly good for the discus. Six or seven years ago there were two guys over 68 metres. Now it's like fifth in the world this year is over 70 metres."
After falling on the last lap of the 5000m in Florence where he looked on course to break the 13 minute-barrier, Andreas Almgren rebounded with victory in the 1500m in a lifetime best of 3:36.52 ahead of Emil Danielsson in 3:36.88.
European bronze medallist Thomas Barr from Ireland also won the 400m hurdles in 49.13 from Czech Republic’s Vit Muller in 49.22.
Sprint events command the focus in Geneva
The sprints took centre stage again at the Atletica Geneva, a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting, on Saturday (10).
Olympic finalist Alessandro Sibilio from Italy continued his comeback with victory in the 400m hurdles in a season’s best of 48.23 from Germans Joshua Abuaku (48.67) and Emil Agyekum (48.73) and Belgium’s Hanna Claes won the women’s 400m hurdles in a lifetime best of 54.75.
Other highlights included 21-year-old Raphael Bouju from the Netherlands finishing third in the 100m in a lifetime best of 10.02, Brit Charlie Dobson winning the 200m in 20.19 and Czech Republic’s Lada Vondrova winning the women’s 400m in 51.14 ahead of Austria’s Susanne Gogl-Walli in 51.19.
Switzerland edged out the Netherlands in both 4x100m relays - 38.79 to 38.82 in the men’s 4x100m and 43.22 to 43.32 in the women’s 4x100m.
Elsewhere around Europe…
At the Hungarian Grand Prix Series event in Nyiregyhaza on Sunday (11), a World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze meeting, Viktoria Forster won the 100m hurdles in a Slovakian record of 12.88, improving Stanislava Skvarkova's previous mark of 12.89 which was set earlier in the day in Trnava.
European U18 1500/3000m champion Niels Laros showed his versatility again by dropping down in distance to clock a Dutch U18 800m record of 1:45.80 in Leiden on Saturday (10).
Fellow double European U18 champion Mattia Furlani surpassed the eight metre-barrier in the long jump again with 8.04m at the Italian Clubs Championships in Palermo on Sunday (11).
Leonardo Fabbri also defeated training partner and European indoor champion Zane Weir in the shot put again - 21.46m to 20.97m.
Daisy Osakue highlighted the Italian Clubs Championships meeting in Pietrasanta on Sunday (11), breaking the Italian discus record with 64.47m.
World and European U20 champion Silja Kosonen, who will be one of the prospective stars of the European Athletics U23 Championships in Espoo next month, set a European lead and Finnish U23 hammer record of 73.50m in Tammela on Saturday (10).
Samuli Samuelsson also equalled the Finnish 100m record with 10.16 in Espoo on Sunday (11).
At the NCAA Championships...
Germany's Leo Neugebauer and Ireland's Rhasidat Adeleke produced the two highlights from a European standout at the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas.
Neugebauer won the decathlon title with a massive total of 8836 points to break Jurgen Hingsen's long-standing German record and move to fourth on the European all-time list behind world record-holder Kevin Mayer (9126 points) and former world record-holders Roman Sebrle (9026 points) and Tomas Dvorak (8994 points).
Reigning European U20 100m and 200m champion Adeleke further displayed her brilliance in the 400m with victory in yet another Irish record of 49.20, the fastest time by a European in more than 10 years.
This was Adeleke's third sub-50 second clocking of the season.