BREAKING: Olympic champions continue winning runs as Zhoya and Dobson win in Brussels with a sceptical records individually…
At Friday’s (13), Diamond League Final in Brussels, gold medallists from the Olympics and Europe, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Armand Duplantis, and Yaroslav Mahuchikh, all produced memorable wins; also, rising prospects Sasha Zhoya and Charlie Dobson achieved historic victory. Ingebrigtsen in complete command The other significant absence was Great Britain’s Olympic silver medallist Josh Kerr, who lost to Ingebrigtsen in a packed men’s 1500m final.
The Norwegian went to the front with 500m to go and although Kenya’s former world champion Timothy Cheruiyot threatened briefly with 250m 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 50 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 Militiadis Toentoglou tasted a rare defeat, placing third with 8.15m (+0.2m/s), 13cm behind winner Tajay Gayle of Jamaica, with European bronze medallist Simon Ehammer second with 8.16m (+0.4m/s).
Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Georgia Bell edged ahead of world champion Mary Moraa in the women’s 800m, closing the gap with 200m remaining. Nevertheless, Moraa came back to win in 1:56.56, with Bell settling for second in 1:57.50. In the men’s discus, where Australia’s Matthew Denny won with a meeting record 69.96 meters, world record holder Mykola Alekna finished second with a fifth round throw of 68.86 meters. Lukas Weibhaidinger of Austria, the silver medallist in Europe, finished third with 66.52 meters. World indoor champion Sarah Mitton of Canada won the tournament with a distance of 20.25 meters, with Olympic women’s shot champion Yemisi Ogunleye of Germany finishing third with a best of 19.72.
