Weltklasse Zurich Diamond League Final Results and Preview
One month after the Olympic Games 17 Olympic champions in individual events will line up at the Weltklasse Zurich. Seven events (women’s and men’s 5000 metres, men’s and women’s shot put, men’s and women’s long jump and women’s high jump) took place in the Sechsellautenplatz on the east shore of the Lake Zurich. The innovative city event was held on a temporary athletics arena and a 560m track around the Opernhaus Zurich. The three stands on Sechselautenplatz accomodated 2500 spectators.
The first seven Wanda Diamond League champions were crowned on the first day of the Weltklasse Zurich meeting.
See the live stream and results here.
Women’s high jump:
Mariya Lasitskene cleared a Weltklasse Zurich meeting 2.05m on her second attempt to win an exciting women’s high jump competition. Lasitskene entered the competition at the opening height of 1.84m and cleared 1.87m, 1.90m and 1.93m on her first attempt. She needed three attempts to clear 1.96m before clearing 1.99m at the first time of asking. She passed 2.01 and cleared 2.03m on her first attempt and 2.05m at the second time of asking.
For the first time ever three women have cleared 2.01m in the same competition in Diamond League history. Olympic bronze medallist Yaroslava Mahuchik finished second with a first-time clearance at 2.03m. The Ukrainian jumper failed two attempts at 2.05m and one a 2.07m.
Nicola McDermott had a clean sheet until 2.01m before failing one attempt at 2.03m and two tries at 2.05m.
Lasitskene claimed the fifth Diamond Trophy of her career.
Mariya Lasitskene: “It is an unbelievable feeling. Jumping with spectators is fantastic. Thank you so much for making it possible. I am so happy about the meeting record. I am so lucky here in Switzerland.The venue here is difficult and fantastic at the same time, difficult because of the track and fantastic because of the spectators. For some attempts I asked them to be quiet because I needed to concentrate. This season was a really fantastic one”.
Men’s shot put:
World record holder Ryan Crouser clinched his first Diamond Trophy, setting a meeting record of 22.67m on the third attempt. The double Olympic champion backed up this result with two more puts over the 22 metres barrier. Crouser opened the competition with 21.98m before a foul in the second attempt. Joe Kovacs had led with 22.29 in the second round before Crouser produced his winning mark of 22.67m to take the lead.
After another foul in the fourth round Crouserthrew 22.29m and 22.30m in the fifth and sixth attempts.
Armin Sinancevic threw 21.86m in the fifth round to take third place ahead of Tom Walsh, who finished fourth with 21.61m.
Ryan Crouser: “This meeting record is a big one for me. I am very excited about this Diamond League title. I won two Olympic gold medals and have the world record, but only today I won the Diamond League Trophy. This is the best of my career”.
Women’s shot put:
US Maggie Ewen became just the fourth athlete to win the Diamond Trophy in the women’s shot put after Valerie Adams, Gong Lijao and Christina Schwanitz. Ewen set her seasonal best of 19.41m in the first round, missing her outdoor PB by just six cm. She made two fouls before producing two puts of 18.87m and 18.98m in the fourth and fifth round and ended the competition with 19.11m. Olympic fourth placer Auriol Dongmo from Portugal finished runner-up with 18.86m beating Sweden’s Fanny Roos, who produced a best throw of 18.75m.
Maggie Ewen: “I think I am still in shock. I am super excited. For my first throw I was very nervous, but then everything came together so well. My season had ups and downs but I kept working and kept believing and then you get wonderful moments like this one”.
Women’s 5000 metres:
Two-time 800m world indoor champion Francine Nyonsaba from Burundi took the lead on the final lap to clinch her first Diamond Trophy. Nyonsaba crossed the finish-line in 14:28.98 on the 560-long temporary track to beat two-time world champion Hellen Obiri (14:29.68). Nyonsaba finished fifth in the 10000m at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and won her fourth consecutive race in the Diamond League this year after claiming victories in the 2 miles in Eugene, the 3000m in Paris and the 5000m in Brussels. Ejgayehu Taye, who set the Ethiopian record in the 3000m, finished third in 14:30.30 ahead of Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi (14:31.18) and Eva Cherono (14:36.88).
Francine Nyonsaba: “I don’t know how I can express myself. I am very happy. I knew it was going to be tough but I tried to give it all I had. I won the first trophy of my life. I am very proud”.
Men’s 5000 metres:
Twenty-year-old Ethiopian rising star Berihu Aregawi claimed a win in the men’s 5000 metres impoving his PB by 10 seconds to 12:58.65. Aregawi beat Birhanu Balew from Barhein, who clocked 13:01.27, and Kenya’s Jacob Krop (13:01.81) and Nicolas Kimeli (13:02.43).
Aregawi won the world under 20 bronze medal in the 10000m in Tampere 2018 and finished fourth in the 10000m at the Olympic Games in the 10000m in Tokyo.
Berihu Aregawi: “The time is excellent. I did not expect such a fast time. This venue in the city is good. It is the first time I have done something like this and it was wonderful, yet the curves were a bit difficult for me”.
Women’s long jump:
Ivana Spanovic claimed her third Diamond Trophy after her wins in 2016 and 2017. Kaddi Sagnia from Sweden took the lead with 6.83m in the opening round. Spanovic opened with 6.80m and 6.81m in the first two rounds and trailed Sagnia until the fifth round, when she moved up to the lead with 6.88m. Spanovic leapt to 6.96m in the final round to take the win. This year’s European silver medallist Maryna Beck Romanchuk took third spot with 6.75m.
Ivana Spanovic: “I have missed this feeling. I am happy that I managed the Diamond Trophy for the third time after all that I have been through in the last two years. Finishing on this level is a good sign for next year”.
Men’s long jump:
Two-time European medallist Thobias Montler won the men’s long jump with 8.17m in his final attempt beating US Steffin McCarter by just three cm in a very close competition. Rushval Samaai from South Africa finished third with 7.99m.
Thobias Montler: “This victory feels amazing. That was the goal for today. The competition was really even. You know that others can always respond to you”.
The remaining 25 finals will be held on Thursday at the famous Letzigrund Stadium.
Recent Olympic gold medals Karsten Warholm, Armand Duplantis, Sifan Hassan, Elaine Thompson Herah, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, André De Grasse, Faith Kipyegon and Gianmarco Tamberi will be in action in front of 20000 enthusiasticspectators in the Letzigrund Stadium.
Athletes will compete for the Diamond Trohy, a 30000 $ prize and a wildcard entry to the 2022 World Athletics Championships in Eugene.
Men’s 100 metres:
André De Grasse is entered in both the 100m and 200 metres. De Grasse won a total of ten medals (six at the Olympic Games and four at the World Championships). The Canadian sprint star won the Olympic gold medal in the 200m and two bronze medals in the 100m and in the 4x100 relay. He improved his PB to 9.89 n the Olympic final and won the 100m at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene in a wind-assisted 9.79.
De Grasse will line up against Olympic 100m silver medallist Fred Kerley, who won the 100m in Brussels last Friday in 9.94 beating Trayvon Bromell, who holds the world seasonal best with 9.77 and also line-up in Zurich.
The line-up will also feature South Africa’s Akani Simbine, who finished fourth in the Olympic final in Tokyo and improved the African record to 9.84 in the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Szekesfehrvar, and US Ronnie Baker, fifth in the Olympic final.
Men’s 200 metres:
De Grasse won the first Olympic gold medal of his career in the 200m improving his PB to 19.62. He and Kerley will double up in the 200m in the Letzigrund Stadium against US sprinters Kenny Bednarek.
Bednarek won the Olympic silver medal improving his PB to 19.68 and became the first 200m sprinter to break the 20 seconds barrier ten times in the same season. After the Olympic Games Bednarek finished second in Eugene in 19.80 and won in Lausanne in a wind-assisted 19.65 ahead of Kerley, who avenged this defeat two days later beating Bednarek in a very close photo-finish in 19.79 in Paris.
Kerley became the first sprinter to win 100m, 200m and 400m races in the Diamond League and claimed the Diamond Trophy in the 400m in Zurich in 2018.
The line-up will also feature Olympic 4x100 bronze medallist Aaron Brown from Canada, Olympic 4x400 bronze medallist Isaac Makwala and Josephus Lyles, who improved his PB to 20.03 this year.
Women’s 100 metres:
Elaine Thompson Herah won three Olympic gold medals in the 100m, 200m and the 4x100 relay. The Jamaican sprinter became the first sprinter in history to win the 100m and the 200m in two consecutive editions of the Olympic Games setting the second fastest times in history with 10.61 and 21.53. Thompson Herah improved her 100m PB to 10.54 missing Florence Griffith Joyner’s world record by 0.05 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene. She also finished second to Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce in Lausanne in 10.64 and won in Paris in 10.72.
Thompson Herah will line up against Marie Josée Ta Lou, who finished fourth in the Olympic 100m final after equalling the African record with 10.78, world 200m champion Dina Asher Smith and Olympic seventh placer Darryl Neita from Great Britain, Swiss sprint stars Ajla Del Ponte and Mujinga Kambundji, who finished fifth and sixth in the Olympic final, and 4x100 relay Olympic silver medallist javianne Oliver.
Women’s 200 metres:
Namibian teenager Christine Mboma leads the 200m line-up with her world under 20 record of 21.81 set at the Olympic Games in Tokyo, where she won the silver medal behind Elaine Thompson Herah. Mboma went on to win the world under 20 title in Nairobi and her first Diamond League race in Brussels clocking the same time of 21.84. Mboma ran 0.01 faster than Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson, who clocked 21.82 at the Jamaican Trials. Jackson won the Olympic bronze medal in the 100m in 10.76 and the 4x400 relay and the gold medal in the 4x100 relay.
Asher Smith, Kambundji and Ta Lou will double up in the 200m 75 minutes after the 100 metres. Asher Smith was not able to run the 200m at the Olympic Games due to a harmstring injury but she bounced back by finishing third in two Diamond League 200m races in Eugene in 22.19 and in Brussels in her seasonal best of 22.04. The British sprinter won the Diamond Trophy in the 100m in Brussels in 2019.
Kambundji finished seventh in the 200m Olympic final in 22.30 and won her first Damond League race in Eugene in a wind-assisted 22.06. Ta Lou finished fifth in the 200m Olympic in 22.27.
The line-up also features Mboma’s compatriot Beatrice Masilingi, who two world under 20 gold medals in the 100m and 200m in Nairobi, US Dezera Bryant and British sprinter Beth Dobbin.
Men’s pole vault
Armand “Mondo” Duplantis will be aiming to win the first Diamond Trophy of his career. The 21-year-old Swedish pole vaut star won the Olympic gold medal with 6.02m and made a very close attempt at the world record height of 6.19m. He finished fourth in Lausanne on a windy evening but he retuned to winning ways two days later in Paris, where he set a meeting record of 6.02m. One week later Duplantis set another meeting record at the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels with 6.05m. He made the attempt to clear the world record height of 6.19m at 10 competitions this season.
Duplantis will clash against Christopher Nilsen, who won the Olympic silver medal in Tokyo with 5.97m and his first Diamond League competition in Lausanne with 5.82m, two-time world champion Sam Kendricks, who won two Diamond Trophies in 2017 and 2019, KC Lightfoot, fourth at the Olympic Games, and Ernest John Obiena from the Philippines, who improved the national record to 5.91m in Paris.
Men’s 400m hurdles:
Olympic champion Karsten Warholm returns to the Letzigrund track, where he won the Diamond League title in 2019 in 46.92 beating Raj Benjamin by 0.06. Warholm improved Kevin Young’s historic world record to 46.70 at the Bislett Games in Oslo on his home track last July and won the Olympic final with a sensational 45.94 in Tokyo. The Norwegian star will run his first 400m hurdles race since the Olympic final. Warholm will face Brazil’s 21-year-old Alison Dos Santos, who won the Olympic bronze medal with 46.72 setting the third fastest time in history, two-time Diamond League winner and Olympic fourth placer Kyron McMaster from the British Virgin Islands, and two more Olympic finalists Yasmani Copello from Turkey and Rasmus Magi from Estonia.
Women’s 400m hurdles:
Femke Bol from the Netherlands will go up against Shamier Little in the women’s 400m hurdles. Bol won the Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo improving the European record to 52.03. Bol won five Diamond League races this year in Florence (53.44), Oslo (53.33), Stockolm (52.37), Gateshead (53.24) and Lausanne (53.05). Little improved her PB to 52.39 in Stockolm making up for the disappointment of missing the Olympic Games after finishing fourth at the Olympic Trials in Eugene.
Women’s triple jump:
Yulimar Rojas won her first Olympic title in Tokyo with 15.67m breaking Inessa Kravetz’s world outdoor record. The Venezuelan triple jumper set a meeting record with 15.52m in Lausanne and is now aiming to win her first Diamond Trophy. The two-time world champion will face world silver Shanieka Ricketts from Jamaica, who won the Diamond League final in Zurich in 2019 beating Rojas and showed good form by winning in Padua with 14.74m last Sunday. The line-up will also feature Patricia Mamona from Portugal, who won the olympic silver medal in Tokyo with the national record of 15.01m, Kimberly Williams from Jamaica, and Thea Lafond from Dominica, who improved her national record to 14.60m and finished second to Ricketts with 14.57m in Padua.
Men’s high jump:
Olympic champion Gianmarco Tamberi is aiming to become the first Italian athlete to win the Diamond Trophy. Tamberi shared the Olympic gold medal with his friend Mutaz Barshim at 2.37m in Tokyo and could make this season more special if he wins in Zurich. After the memorable Olympic final the Italian star finished fifth in Lausanne with 2.24m and second in Rovereto with 2.25m but he returned to winning ways in Chorzow with 2.30m in Chorzow. Tamberi will clash against Maksim Nedasekau, who cleared the same height of 2.37m in Tokyo and claimed the Olympic bronze medal on countback, Ilya Ivanyuk, who cleared 2.37m this year and won two Diamond League competitions this year in Doha and Florence, Canada’s Django Lovett, Ukraine’s Andiy Protsenkowho claimed the Diamond League title in Zurich with 2.32m in 2019, and 2007 world champion Donald Thomas from the Bahamas.
Women’s 1500 metres:
Two-time Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon will go up against Sifan Hassan, who won two gold medals in the 5000m and 10000m and the bronze in the 1500m at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Hassan leads 9-8 in her head-to-head clashes against Kipyegon.
Kipyegon improved her Kenyan record to 3:51.07 in Monaco last July before winning her second consecutive gold medal in Tokyo in 3:53.11. The 27-year-old Kenyan won at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene setting a meeting record of 3:53.23. Kipyegon won the Diamond Trophy in the 1500m in 2017.
Hassan won the 5000m in Eugene with 14:27.89 and the mile in Brussels in a meeting record of 4:14.74 in Brussels. The Dutch star won two Diamond Trophies in the 1500m in 2015 and 2019.
Men’s 1500 metres:
Olympic gold medallist Jakob Ingebrigtsen will take on world champion Timothy Cheruiyot. Ingebrigtsen improved the European record to 3:28.32 in the Tokyo Olympic final beating Cheruiyot.
Cheruiyot won the Monaco Diamond League race with the world seasonal best of 3:28.28 beating Jakob Ingebrigtsen. The kenyan middle-distance star won three consecutive Diamond Trophies in 2017, 2018 and 2019.
The line-up also features Australian middle distance runners Stewart McSweyn and Chris Hoare, who finished first and second in Brussels. Mohamed Katir from Spain , who improved three national records to 3:28.76 in the 1500m in Monaco, 7:27.64 in the 3000m in Gateshead and 12:50.79 in Florence.
Men’s 110 hurdles:
Olympic gold medallist Hansle Parchment from Jamaica will face his compatriot Ronald Levy, who won the bronze medal in Tokyo. Parchment clocked 13.04 in Tokyo and improved his seasonal best to 13.03 in Paris. He also won the Continental Tour Gold race in Chorzow in 13.26. Levy won two back-to-back Italian races in Rovereto and Padua. Devon Allen finished fourth in Tokyo and won the Lausanne Diamond League race in 13.07 beating Jason Joseph, who is in good shape and recently set the Swiss record with 13.12 in La Chaux de Fonds.
Women’s 100m hurdles:
Megan Tapper won the Olympic bronze medal and is the top entry in Zurich with her seasonal best of 12.53. The Jamaican hurdler will face Nadine Visser, who set the Dutch record with 12.57 in Paris and won in Brussels in 12.69 beating Tobi Amusan by eight thousandths of a second. The line up also features Olympic fourth placer Tobi Amusan, Diamond League defending champion Danielle Williams, who won in Paris in 12.50, European Indoor silver medallist Cindy Sember and Olympic finalist Gabrielle Cunningham and European Under 20 champion Ditaji Kambundji.
Men’s Javelin throw:
Johannes Vetter set the second best performance in history with 97.76m in Chorzow last year and set the world seasonal best with 96.29m in the same Polish venue at the European Team Championships last May. Vetter finished ninth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo after facing problems with the run-up, but he bounced back with solid wins in Lausanne (88.54m) and Chorzow (89.60m). Vetter will be aiming to win the first Diamond Trophy of his career. The German will square off against reigning world champion Anderson Peters from Grenada, Olympic silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch and the other German Julian Weber.
Women’s discus throw:
Two-time Ollympic champion Sandra Perkovic could equal the record of seven Diamond League trophies currently held by Renaud Lavillenie and Christian Taylor, if she wins the Zurich final. Perkovic holds the record number of Diamond League meeting wins with 44 victories.
Perkovic will be aiming to avenge her fourth place at the Olympic Games in Tokyo against this year’s Olympic champion Valarie Allman, Kristin Pudenz and Yaime Perez, who finished second and third in Tokyo. Allman leads the world seasonal list with 70.01m ahead of Perez (68.89m) and Perkovic (68.31m).
Men’s discus throw:
The men’s discus throw features all three medallists from the Olympic Games in Tokyo. The entry list is led by Daniel Stahl, who won the Olympic gold medal with 68.90m beating his compatriot Simon Petterson and Austria’s Lukas Weisshaidinger. Stahl set the world seasonal best with 71.40m. Kristjan Ceh improved his own European Under 23 record to 70.35m breaking the 70m barrier fo the first time in his career and finished fifth at the Olympic Games. The line-up also features Jamaica’s Fedrick Dacres, who won the Diamond Trophy in 2018 and the world silver in 2019, and 2017 world champion Andrius Gudzius from Lithuania.
Men’s 400 metres:
Kirani James claimed his third Olympic medal with his bronze in the men’s 400m completing the full set of medals after winning the gold in London 2012 and silver in Rio de Janeiro 2016. James is aiming to win his third Diamond Trophy. The Grenadan athlete clocked his seasonal best of 43.88 in the semifinal of the Olympic Games before finishing third in the final in 44.19 beating US Michael Cherry, who won the 400m in Brussels ahead of James breaking Michael Johnson’s meeting record with 44.03. The line-up will also feature Olympic 4x400 bronze medallist Isaac Makwala, Liemarvin Bonevacia, who just missed Thomas Schoenlebe’s European record with 44.48 in Berne, and Ricky Petrucciani, who won the European Under 23 gold medal in 45.02 in Tallin missing Matthais Rusterholz’s Swiss record by just 0.03.
Women’s 400 metres:
Marileidy Paulino from Dominican Republic will aim at her third consecutive Diamond League race win after claiming back-to-back victories in Lausanne and Paris. Paulino won the Olympic silver medal in 49.20 in Tokyo. She will face Sada Williams from Barbados, who finished runner-up in Lausanne and Paris, Olympic fourth placer Stephanie Ann McPherson, Olympic finalists Candice McLeod from Jamaica and Jodie Williams from Great Britain.
Men’s 800 metres:
Olympic champion Emmanuel Korir leads the entry list with his seasonal best of 1:43.04 set in Monaco. Korir will face olympic silver medallist Ferguson Rotich in a re-match of the Olympic final. Rotich clocked a seasonal best of 1:43.57 in Monaco and won in Stockolm in 1:43.84. Marco Arop did not get through to the Olympic final but he bounced back by winning two back-to-back Diamond League races in Eugene and Lausanne. The other finalists are Wycliffe Kinyamal (winner in Paris), US Trials champion Clayton Murphy and world silver medallist Amel Tuka.
Women’s 800 metres:
British teenager Keely Hodgkinson won the Olympic silver medal breaking Kelly Holmes’ British record with 1:55.81. Hodgkinson will take on Natoya Goule from Jamaica, who won her first Diamond League race in 1:58.09 in Brussels, Jemma Reekie, fourth in Tokyo in her PB of 1:56.90, Kate Grace, winner in Osloin 1:57.60 and Ethiopia’s Habitam Alemu, sixth in the Tokyo Olympic final.
Women’s pole vault:
Katie Nageotte was the most consistent pole vaulter of the season. The US athlete won the Olympic Trials in Eugene with 4.95m, the Olympic gold medal with 4.90m and three Diamond League competitions in Doha (4.84m), Monaco (4.90m) and Eugene (4.82m). She will face Oympic silver and bronze medallist Anzhelika Sidorova and Holly Bradshaw, 2016 olympic champion Katerina Sidorova, and national record holders Iryna Zhuk from Belarus and Tina Sutej from Slovenia, who share the same PB of 4.74m.
Men’s triple jump:
Pedro Pablo Pichardo is aiming to win his second Diamond Trophy three years after his first title in the circuit. Pichardo won his first Olympic gold medal with17.98m in Tokyo and two Diamond League competitions in Gateshead with 17.50m and Eugene with 17.63m. The Portuguese jumper will go up against Fabrice Zango, who won the first Olympic medal in history for Burkina Faso and set his outdoor PB of 17.82m in Szekesfehervar, and Mohamed Triki, who finished fifth in Tokyo with his PB of 17.43m.
Women’s javelin throw:
Polish javelin thrower Maria Andrejczyk leads the world seasonal list with 71.40m and won the Olympic silver medal in Tokyo. She will take on Olympic bronze medallist and world champion Kelsey Lee Barber, European gold medallist Christin Hussong and five-time Diamond League champion Barbora Spotakova and Nikola Ogrodnikova.
Men’s 3000 steeplechase:
Soufiane El Bakkali became the first athlete from his country to win the Olympic gold medal for 17 years. The moroccan athlete collided wih the first barrier and will make his competitive return in Zurich. He will face Ethiopian runners Getnet Wale (reigning Diamond League champion) and Lemecha Girma (world and Olympic silver medallist), Benjamin Kigen, world seasonal leader with 8:07.12 in Paris and Olympic bronze medallist, Leonard Bett from Kenya and Italy’s Ahmed Abdelhawed, who set his PB of 8:12.04 at the Golden Gala in Florence.
Women’s 3000 metres steeplechase:
Norah Jeruto will return to the track for the first time since her Diamond League win in Eugene, where she set the third fastest time in history with 8:53.65. Jeruto will face the three Olympic medallists Peruth Chemutai from Uganda, Courtney Frerichs and Hyvin Kyeng. Frerichs followed her Olympic silver medal with a Northern American record of 8:57.77 in Eugene. The other top names in the line-up are Mekides Abebe from Ethiopia (fourth placer in Tokyo), world under 20 record holder Chelliphine Chepsool and Purity Kirui.
