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Stockholm delivered pure middle-distance history as the Wanda Diamond League witnessed a truly extraordinary women’s 800m—one that will be remembered as one of the fastest races in the event’s modern era.

Switzerland’s rising star Audrey Werro produced the performance of her life, storming to victory in a breathtaking 1:53.98, a world-leading mark and a national record. In doing so, she became the third-fastest woman in history over 800m, coming within just 0.70 seconds of the legendary world record of 1:53.28 set by Jarmila Kratochvílová in 1983.

It was a fearless, perfectly timed run—controlled early, explosive down the back straight, and devastating in the final 200 metres as Werro pulled away in a finish of historic quality.

Right behind her, Keely Hodgkinson from Great Britain once again proved her consistency at the very highest level. The British star delivered a sensational 1:54.33, setting a new British national record and securing her place as the third-fastest woman in history. Despite finishing second, her performance was another statement of world-class dominance in a golden era for women’s 800m running.

Behind the leading duo, the rest of the field produced high-quality performances in a race where almost every athlete was pushed to season’s or personal best levels.

Official Results – Women’s 800m (Stockholm DL)

1. Audrey Werro — Switzerland — 1:53.98 (WL, NR)

2. Keely Hodgkinson — Great Britain — 1:54.33 (NR)

3. Roisin Willis — United States — 1:57.56 (PB)

4. Anaïs Bourgoin — France — 1:57.68

5. Prudence Sekgodiso — South Africa — 1:57.70

6. Anna Wielgosz — Poland — 1:57.92 (PB)

7. Raevyn Rogers — United States — 1:57.94 (SB)

8. Sage Hurta-Klecker — United States — 1:58.26

9. Nigist Getachew — Ethiopia — 1:58.59

10. Pernille Karlsen Antonsen — Norway — 1:58.82 (PB)

11. Gabriela Gajanová — Slovakia — 2:02.88

DNF. Rachel Klopfenstein (Pacer)

From start to finish, the race unfolded at an unforgiving pace, with the front pack shredding expectations and rewriting the limits of women’s 800m running. Multiple athletes dipped under 1:58, highlighting just how exceptional the conditions and competition were.

As the dust settles in Stockholm, one question now rises above the rest: are we witnessing the beginning of a new era where the long-standing world record from 1983 finally comes under serious threat?

If this race is any indication, history may not only be under pressure—it may already be closing in.

Olympic and world champion Winfred Yavi will step out of her renowned steeplechase comfort zone on Thursday evening as she takes on a strong women's 5000m field at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea, the fourth stop of the 2026 Wanda Diamond League in Rome.

The Bahraini star arrives in the Italian capital carrying impressive credentials over the distance. Yavi owns a personal best of 14:41.99 and currently holds Bahrain's national record in the women's 5000m, underlining her versatility beyond the barriers that have brought her global fame.

Rome holds special memories for Yavi. The Stadio Olimpico was the scene of one of the finest performances of her career in 2024 when she produced the second-fastest women's 3000m steeplechase time in history, narrowly missing the world record. Now she returns to the Eternal City with a different challenge ahead as she looks to make her mark in one of the deepest distance races of the evening.

The 27-year-old will face a quality field featuring rising Kenyan talent Caroline Nyaga, Margaret Akidor, Ethiopia's Likina Amebaw and Hirut Meshesha, as well as fellow Kenyan Purity Chepkurui. With several proven performers on the start line, the race promises to be a fierce battle from the opening laps.

Adding further intrigue is the standard set by the event itself. The current world record of 13:58.06 belongs to Kenyan superstar Beatrice Chebet, who became the first woman in history to break the 14-minute barrier for 5000m.

Although Yavi's primary focus remains the steeplechase, her growing strength on the track has made her a genuine threat in longer flat races. Every appearance outside her signature event offers another glimpse into the remarkable range that has transformed her into one of the world's most complete distance runners.

As the lights shine on Rome tonight, all eyes will be on Yavi to see whether she can translate her championship pedigree into another memorable performance. A victory would further cement her reputation as one of the most versatile stars in global athletics and provide a major statement as the Diamond League season gathers momentum.

American middle-distance star Yared Nuguse launched his 2026 outdoor campaign in spectacular fashion, storming to victory and a new meeting record in the men's 1500 metres at the Rabat Diamond League on Sunday.

The Olympic and world medal contender produced a composed and clinical performance, crossing the finish line in 3:30.35 after a fiercely contested race that showcased some of the finest talent in global middle-distance running. Nuguse timed his effort to perfection, holding off a relentless late challenge from reigning World Champion Isaac Nader of Portugal, who closed rapidly but fell just short in 3:30.43.

The race developed into a thrilling showdown over the final 200 metres, with Nuguse maintaining his poise under pressure as Nader unleashed a powerful finishing kick. Despite the Portuguese star's impressive surge, the American had already built enough momentum to secure both the victory and the meeting record in one of the fastest 1500m races of the season.

French athlete Azzedine Habz completed the podium after another strong performance, clocking 3:30.68 to underline the exceptional depth of the field. With all three medalists finishing comfortably under 3:31, Rabat delivered a race worthy of its reputation as one of the premier stops on the Wanda Diamond League circuit.

For Nuguse, the victory sends an early statement to his rivals as the championship season approaches. Opening his year with a meeting record against a field featuring a reigning world champion highlights both his consistency and his growing status among the world's elite milers.

The result also signals that the men's 1500m is once again shaping up to be one of athletics' most competitive events. With Nuguse, Nader, Habz and several other global stars already displaying outstanding form, fans can expect more thrilling battles as the road to the major championships gathers momentum.

In Rabat, however, the spotlight belonged to Nuguse. On a night packed with quality performances, the American delivered exactly the kind of statement run that champions are remembered for—fast, fearless and ultimately record-breaking.

The Wanda Diamond League is raising the stakes again in 2026, offering more athletes the chance to earn top-level prize money while maintaining its record overall purse.

Beginning next season, athletes will be able to earn up to $20,000 per event at series meetings and $60,000 at the Diamond League Final—the highest individual payouts in the 17-year history of the circuit. 

A key change comes with the expansion of Diamond+ Disciplines, the premium events that carry the highest prize money. In 2026, each meeting will feature eight Diamond+ events, doubling from four in 2025. This move significantly broadens access to top earnings across the sport.

“The adjustment reflects the Diamond LP League’s commitment to delivering a competitive, financially sustainable and gender-equal prize money structure that benefits athletes across the full diversity of track and field,” said Petr Stastny.

More Events, More Opportunities

Under the updated format, each meeting must include:

One men’s and one women’s sprint or hurdles event

One men’s and one women’s middle- or long-distance event

One men’s and one women’s field event

Two additional events (one male, one female) from any discipline

This structure ensures both discipline diversity and full gender equality, while allowing more athletes to compete for the top payouts.

Prize Money Holds at Record Level

While the top-tier opportunities are expanding, the overall prize pool remains unchanged after reaching a record $9.24 million in 2025

Standard prize levels will continue at:

Up to $10,000 per event at series meetings

Up to $30,000 at the Final

Diamond+ Disciplines were first introduced in 2025 as part of a major over haul aimed at elevating athlete compensation and visibility across the series.

A Growing Investment in Athletes

Including promotional fees for elite competitors, the Diamond League expects to distribute approximately $18 million to athletes in 2026. Additional investment will support travel, accommodation, medical services, and physiotherapy.

Since its launch in 2010, the series has now invested more than $300 million into the sport—reinforcing its position as track and field’s premier one-day circuit.

Australian middle-distance sensation Claudia Hollingsworth has rewritten the record books, setting a new Oceania 800m record with a time of 1:57.67 at the Silesia Kamila Skolimowska Memorial.

The 19-year-old rising star continues her meteoric rise on the international stage, taking down the long-standing regional mark and further establishing herself among the world’s best half-milers. Her performance not only sets a new benchmark for Oceania but also signals her growing potential ahead of future global championships.

The Silesia Kamila Skolimowska Memorial, part of the Wanda Diamond League circuit, has become known for fast times and world-class competition. Hollingsworth thrived under the spotlight, racing with confidence and tactical precision before powering down the final stretch to secure the record.

With this breakthrough, Hollingsworth joins the conversation as one of the most promising young talents in world athletics. Her progression from junior standout to senior record-holder reflects both her natural talent and relentless dedication to training.

Fans and coaches alike will be watching closely as Hollingsworth builds momentum toward the 2025 World Championships and beyond. If her current trajectory is any indication, the new Oceania record of 1:57.67 may only be the beginning.

Paris, June 20, 2025 – In front of an electric home crowd at the Wanda Diamond League Meeting de Paris, Jimmy Gressier delivered the race of his life. The 28-year-old French distance star shattered his own national record in the 5000m, crossing the line in 12:51.59 to finish fourth in a stacked international field.

This performance not only marked a personal best for Gressier, but also cemented his place among the world’s elite, as one of only a handful of Europeans to run under 12:52 in the event.

“I might not be at 100%, but I didn’t want to miss out on being part of the celebration,” Gressier said before the race. That mindset paid off.

Racing Against the Best in the World

The race was won by Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha, who clocked 12:47.84, followed closely by America’s Graham Blanks in 12:48.16 and Kenya’s Jacob Krop in 12:49.71. Gressier held his own against the top-tier field, surging in the final laps to break his previous French record of 12:54.92 (set indoors in 2024) by more than three seconds.

His fourth-place finish came with style and grit, as he crossed the line visibly elated, later holding up a large sign reading “National Record” to the roaring approval of the French fans at Stade Charléty.

A Milestone on the Road to Tokyo

Gressier’s record-setting run is a timely confidence boost ahead of the upcoming World Championships in Tokyo. A consistent performer on the European road and cross-country circuits, he now proves he can contend with the world’s best on the track as well.

Already the European 5 km road record holder and a multi-time national champion, Gressier is building one of the most versatile résumés in distance running today. His strength across surfaces and distances—from indoor tracks to rolling road courses—positions him as a serious contender for a medal on the global stage.

“Breaking the national record by over three seconds against this level of competition shows I’m on the right path,” Gressier said after the race.

What’s Next for Gressier?

With this new national record under his belt, Gressier’s focus now shifts to Tokyo, where the French star hopes to translate his breakthrough into a podium finish. He remains committed to a robust training block under longtime coach Dinielle Arnaud, with fine-tuning to be done before the biggest race of his life.

The Rise of French Distance Running

Gressier’s performance isn’t just personal—it’s symbolic. For French athletics, his record represents a resurgence in elite distance running. With Paris having hosted the Olympics just a year earlier, the momentum behind the sport in France is real. Gressier’s run serves as inspiration to a new generation of French runners aiming to follow in his fast footsteps.

Jimmy Gressier’s 12:51.59 at the 2025 Paris Diamond League is more than a national record—it’s a bold message to the world. He’s not just running with the best—he’s becoming one of them.

The 2025 Wanda Diamond League kicks off this Saturday, April 26, in Xiamen, China, launching the most prestigious one-day series in global track and field. With 15 elite meets on the calendar, this year’s circuit serves as both a proving ground and a preview for the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo this September.

While Olympic champion Grant Holloway will headline the sprint hurdles, it’s the middle- and long-distance events in Xiamen that promise some of the most compelling matchups of the weekend.

Chebet vs. Tsegay in the Women’s 5000m

Saturday’s most anticipated race may be the women’s 5000m, featuring a classic Kenya vs. Ethiopia showdown.

Beatrice Chebet, the reigning Olympic champion and world record holder in the 10,000m, opens her Diamond League campaign against Gudaf Tsegay, the reigning 5000m world champion and world record holder. With personal bests of 14:05.92 (Chebet) and 14:00.21 (Tsegay), the two are expected to push each other deep into record territory.

They’ll be challenged by rising Ethiopian talents Freweyni Hailu and Birke Haylom, both capable of delivering world-class performances.

Kipyegon Returns in the 1000m

Also making her season debut is Kenyan superstar Faith Kipyegon, who will race the rarely-run 1000m. The two-time Olympic and world champion is the current world record holder in both the 1500m and the mile.

In Xiamen, she’ll face Jamaica’s Natoya Goule-Toppin and Uganda’s Halimah Nakaayi, both of whom are known for their championship pedigree over 800m. The 1000m offers an ideal distance for Kipyegon to sharpen her speed and stamina heading into the summer.

Men’s 3000m Steeplechase: A Deep Field Emerges

The men’s 3000m steeplechase will feature a stacked lineup, with top athletes from Kenya, Ethiopia, and Morocco vying for early-season dominance. With the event’s tradition of upsets and tactical drama, this race will be one to watch for fans of distance racing.

2025 Wanda Diamond League Schedule

Following Xiamen, the Diamond League tour travels to 14 more cities before the two-day final in Zurich. Here’s the full schedule:

• April 26 – Xiamen, China

• May 3 – Shanghai/Suzhou, China

• May 16 – Doha, Qatar

• May 25 – Rabat, Morocco

• June 6 – Rome, Italy

• June 12 – Oslo, Norway

• June 15 – Stockholm, Sweden

• June 20 – Paris, France

• July 5 – Eugene, USA

• July 11 – Monaco

• July 19 – London, UK

• August 16 – Silesia, Poland

• August 20 – Lausanne, Switzerland

• August 22 – Brussels, Belgium

• August 27–28 – Zurich, Switzerland (Diamond League Final)

The series leads directly into the 2025 World Athletics Championships, set for September 13–21 at Japan National Stadium in Tokyo.

World Athletics has officially ratified four remarkable world records set by Beatrice Chebet, Mondo Duplantis, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, and Toshikazu Yamanishi, underscoring a period of exceptional performances in track and field.

Beatrice Chebet: First Woman Under 14 Minutes for 5km

On December 31, 2024, Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet made history at the Cursa dels Nassos in Barcelona by completing the 5km road race in 13:54. This performance shattered the previous world record by 19 seconds, making her the first woman to break the 14-minute barrier for the distance on any surface.

Mondo Duplantis: Elevating the Pole Vault Record

Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis continued his dominance in pole vaulting by clearing 6.26 meters at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Chorzów, Poland. This achievement added another centimeter to his own world record, marking his 11th career world record and solidifying his status as the greatest pole vaulter in history.  

Jakob Ingebrigtsen: Breaking a Long-Standing 3000m Record

Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen set a new world record in the 3000m with a time of 7:17.55 at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Silesia. This performance broke the previous record of 7:20.67 set by Kenya’s Daniel Komen in 1996, ending a 28-year reign.  

Toshikazu Yamanishi: Setting a New Standard in Race Walking

Japan’s Toshikazu Yamanishi established a new world record in the 20km race walk by finishing in 1:16:10 at the Japanese 20km Race Walking Championships in Kobe. This time surpassed the previous record of 1:16:36 set by fellow Japanese athlete Yusuke Suzuki in 2015.  

With the season opener just days away, rivalries from 800m to 10,000m are heating up on the Road to Zurich

The 2025 Wanda Diamond League kicks off on April 26 in Xiamen, China, launching a new season of high-stakes track and field action. For the world’s best middle- and long-distance runners, this marks the beginning of the Road to the Final—a journey that will culminate in Zurich on August 27–28.

And if the early headlines are any indication, the upcoming season will be nothing short of electric.

Ingebrigtsen vs. Kerr: A Rivalry Rekindled

One of the fiercest rivalries in the sport will light up the men’s 1500m once again as Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr go head-to-head at the London Diamond League on July 19.

Their tension has been simmering since Kerr stunned Ingebrigtsen to win the world title in Budapest in 2023. The Norwegian responded with a strong victory in Zurich, but the scoreboard is far from settled.

Ingebrigtsen, now chasing his fifth career Diamond League title, will also line up against Olympic medalists Yared Nuguse and Cole Hocker in the Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene on July 5, setting up another world-class clash.

Doha’s Steeplechase Rematch

The women’s 3000m steeplechase promises a rematch of Olympic proportions in Doha, where Winfred Yavi will face off against fellow medalists Peruth Chemutai and Faith Cherotich.

Yavi, the reigning Olympic champion, came within a whisker of the world record in Rome last season, while Cherotich enters 2025 as the Diamond League titleholder. Their early-season clash in Qatar could set the tone for one of the most compelling storylines in women’s distance running.

Eyes on Rome: A Distance-Lover’s Dream

The Pietro Mennea Golden Gala in Rome on June 6 is already shaping up to be one of the key middle- and long-distance showpieces of the year.

While final entries are still being confirmed, the women’s 800m is expected to feature a powerhouse lineup, potentially including Keely Hodgkinson, Athing Mu, and Mary Moraa. On the men’s side, stars like Emmanuel Wanyonyi, Marco Arop, and Djamel Sedjati are expected to battle for points in a crowded field of Olympic contenders.

Rome, known for producing fast times and historic finishes, could once again deliver career-defining performances.

2025: A Season Built for Distance Drama

The Wanda Diamond League includes 14 series meets across four continents, leading to the two-day Final in Zurich, where only the top point-earners will compete for the Diamond Trophy. With increased prize money—ranging from $30,000 to $50,000 per discipline at series meetings and $60,000 to $100,000 at the Final—and millions watching worldwide, every race matters.  

2025 is already shaping up to be a banner year for middle- and long-distance running. With fierce rivalries, Olympic-level fields, and rising stars chasing career breakthroughs in the 800m, 1500m, mile, steeplechase, 5000m, and 10,000m, the stage is set for one of the most thrilling Diamond League seasons yet.

The middle-distance running world is abuzz as Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Great Britain’s Josh Kerr prepare to face off in the 1500m at the London Athletics Meet on July 19, 2025. This highly anticipated race marks their first encounter on British soil, adding another chapter to their compelling rivalry.

A Rivalry Rekindled

Ingebrigtsen, the Olympic 1500m champion from Tokyo 2021, has an impressive track record, including multiple European titles and world records in various indoor distances. Despite finishing fourth in the 1500m at the Paris 2024 Olympics, he clinched gold in the 5000m shortly after. Kerr, on the other hand, secured the 1500m world title in Budapest 2023 and followed up with a silver medal at the Paris Olympics, setting a British record of 3:27.79. Their on-track battles have been complemented by off-track exchanges, heightening the intrigue surrounding their matchups.

London Showdown

The upcoming race at the London Stadium is more than just a competition; it’s a strategic stepping stone for both athletes as they gear up for the World Championships in Tokyo later this year. Ingebrigtsen emphasized the significance of this meet, stating, “Competing in London is a crucial part of my build-up, and I know the atmosphere will be incredible.” Kerr echoed this sentiment, highlighting his ambition to defend his world title and the importance of the London race in his preparations.

Event Significance

The London Athletics Meet is a premier fixture in the 2025 Wanda Diamond League, renowned for attracting top-tier talent and delivering memorable performances. With over 50,000 tickets already sold, the event underscores the UK’s passion for athletics and promises an electrifying atmosphere for this marquee matchup.

As the date approaches, fans and analysts alike are eager to witness whether Kerr can leverage his home advantage or if Ingebrigtsen will reaffirm his dominance. One thing is certain: the London Athletics Meet will be a pivotal moment in the 2025 athletics calendar.

Stay tuned to My Best Runs for comprehensive coverage of the London Athletics Meet and insights into the evolving landscape of elite middle-distance running.

Two-time 1,500 Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon will be seeking to become the first woman to win three titles in the same individual track event at the Olympics, when she lines up in the semifinals of the race on Thursday at the Stade de France.

The defending champion clocked (4:00.74) to finish fourth in heat two, behind winner Ethiopia’s Diribe Welteji (3:59.73), Britain’s Georgia Bell (4:00.290 and USA’s Nikki Hiltz (4:00.42) yesterday.

The heats came barely 12 hours after Kipyegon successfully appealed to overturn her disqualification from the 5,000m after a mid-race altercation with Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay in which both narrowly missed crashing onto the track.

Kipyegon grabbed silver in 14:29.60, finishing ahead of the Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan (14:30.61) as compatriot Beatrice Chebet grabbed gold in (14:28.56).

However, the track queen will have to be mentally fit in Thursday’s semis, to reach Saturday’s finals, following a drama packed Monday night 5,000m race finals.

“I feel fresh and ready for the semis, I am Faith and I participate in a good way and I believe in myself. It was a good race a lot of pushing up and down but all in all, it is finished and I focus on the 1,500m semis,” Kipyegon said.

Kipyegon who didn’t manage to talk to journalists after Monday’s drama didn’t want to dwell much on the matter.

“I just went to the village and took a nap knowing that I had another race the next morning. I was not disappointed but this is another distance altogether, I really thank Kenyans for the support and prayers as we continue pushing in the 1,500m,” Kipyegon said.

Having put Monday’s drama behind her, she goes to the semis not having lost in the 1,500m since 2021, with the historical third Olympic title beckoning.

The world champion must beat three of the five fastest 1,500m runners in history, including her Ethiopian rival Tsegay and Austraila’s Jessica Hull, to reach her dreams.

She will fly the Kenyan flag alongside compatriots Susan Ejore and Nelly Jepchirchir who also qualified for the semis.

The Kenyan star ended her 2023 track campaign with a 1,500m win at the Wanda Diamond League final in Eugene on 26 Aug 2023.

She ran 3:53.98 in the 1,500m and 14:46.28 for 5,000m in Nairobi, during the Kenyan Olympic trials.

Faith warmed up for the Olympics by breaking the world 1,500m record again at the Paris Diamond League meeting on July 7, 2024 after clocking 3:49.04

Poland’s Anita Wlodarczyk is the only woman in the history of the games to ever claim a threepeat, as well as possessing the two fastest performances of all time in the hammer throw.

With a lap and a half to go in the Bowerman Mile at last month’s Prefontaine Classic, Josh Kerr made what he described as a “dumb decision” – on purpose.

The world 1500m champion raced to the front at the Wanda Diamond League meeting, ahead of Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Yared Nuguse, the third- and fourth-fastest milers of all time, a move whose intention was daring them to chase him down. When neither could, Kerr burst through the line with a world-leading British record of 3:45.34 and bragging rights – for now.

Having said at the pre-event press conference that he was racing to win, not settle tension between himself and Ingebrigtsen after months of banter between the overnight rivals, Kerr settled who was best over one mile at least on this day at Hayward Field. As to who will be the best in the long run, that remains to be seen – because each runner left declaring confidence for their presumed rematch at the Paris Olympics.

“I was just excited to go out and race against a world-class field and show that I’m still the best 1500m runner in the world,” Kerr said. “The training I’ve done is not anywhere near my peak. 3:45 right now is good enough but we’ve got to make some progress moving from here.”

“It’s a good fight,” Ingebrigtsen said. “Some of my competitors have clearly taken a step in the right direction but not a big step – not as big of a step that maybe is needed to be the favourite in Paris. But I think if anything, this is going to be an exciting summer. For me, I think it’s very good.”

Kerr entered the race with full health and full confidence. After outkicking Ingebrigtsen, the Olympic champion, to win the world title in Budapest last year, Kerr set a world indoor best over two miles in February, then won the world indoor 3000m title in March in front of fans from his native Scotland.

Ingebrigtsen ended last season by winning the Prefontaine Classic mile in 3:43.73, just ahead of Nuguse, but then battled an achilles tendon injury during the winter. That did not necessarily mean he kept a low profile. Comments in the press by Ingebrigtsen began a back-and-forth.

When asked about his relationship with Ingebrigtsen at the press conference ahead of their recent clash in Eugene, Kerr responded: “I wouldn’t say this is a counselling session.”

No, but the race did prove to be a strategy session. The athletes at the front felt that the time through 800m, 1:53, was not too fast. With 600 metres to go, Kerr made his move.

“I thought it was a dumb decision and I knew if I thought it was a dumb decision then it probably was and that was going to scare myself and everyone else around me,” said Kerr, whose previous personal best of 3:48.87 was set two years ago.

Did such an early move surprise Ingebrigtsen?

“A little bit,” he said. “Because historically people have a tendency to not do what they say they’re going to do so they can feel very confident when they have to hold their mask but when we start racing everybody’s very insecure so I think it says a lot about their preparations. I think it was as expected but maybe still surprised that someone is deciding to all of a sudden start racing so I think that’s very good.”

Considering his delayed start to training, Ingebrigtsen was pleased with the time.

"If you do the conversion [to 1500m] it’s a pretty good start," he said. "I’m not a fan of the mile event by itself because it has nothing to do with my culture, definitely something British and American, which I’m not that familiar with, but I think it’s a very good start. I have lost quite a lot of training this winter."

While commentating inside the stadium for the BBC, Steve Cram watched as Kerr broke his 1985 British record of 3:46.32, then had a word with Kerr following the race.

“He said it was a long time coming and he was very proud of me and the way I raced today,” Kerr said.

Jake Wightman, the 2022 world champion at 1500m who missed nearly all of last season due to injury, was fifth in 3:47.87, just behind another British middle-distance specialist, Neil Gourley. Those fast times and gold medals since 2022 were the background to why Kerr said the sport is “heading into the golden era of 1500m running in the UK and in Europe”.

Ingebrigtsen, the day before, had said that being available to race often against top competition was something he considered part of an athlete’s job. Asked if he needed to reassess how to race Kerr tactically given Kerr’s bold and somewhat surprising early move to the front, Ingebrigtsen pointed to his literal track record.

“The last couple of years obviously I have been the only one racing for many of the races so when someone all of a sudden decides to participate other than just following, it’s something different,” Ingebrigtsen said. “So it’s not surprising but it’s just something different.”

Asked if he was suggesting Kerr – who claimed his first Diamond League victory Saturday – had not raced often enough, Ingebrigtsen asked a reporter about the September 2023 meeting in Eugene, when Nuguse was in the field, but not Kerr.

“What about the last time we were here?” Ingebrigtsen said.

Nuguse was third in Eugene in 3:46.22, and while that was behind his 3:43.97 personal best from September, that race occurred at the season’s very end. To run 3:46 in May, at the start of a long season, left Nuguse smiling afterwards, even as he noted he needs to train to be more capable of closing quicker in the final 100m.

“I definitely feel a lot stronger and more comfortable being closer to the front,” Nuguse said. “In a race with so many great guys I think just to come out with third and still be pulling away from it is really huge. I’m feeling really good compared to last year.”

OSLO, Norway (AP) — Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia ran the second-fastest 5,000 meters of all time in winning at the Diamond League meeting in Oslo on Thursday.

Gebrhiwet ran a final lap of 54.99 to finish in 12 minutes, 36.73 seconds — 1.37 seconds off the world record set by Olympic champion Joshua Cheptegei.

 Gebrhiwet's time is not only the second fastest time ever it was also a new national record for Ethiopia. New personal bests for the top eight finishers and new National records for Guatemala, Switzerland, Sweden, France and South Africa!

Also at the Bislett Games, home favorite Jakob Ingebrigtsen dived for the line to win the men's 1,500 just ahead of Timothy Cheruiyot in a world-leading 3 minutes, 29.74 seconds.

More details: Hagos Gebrhiwet produced the standout performance of the Bislett Games – and one of the biggest surprises of the year so far – when winning the men’s 5000m in 12:36.73 at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Oslo on Thursday (30).

It was one of three meeting records and five world leads set on an enthralling night of athletics action in the Norwegian capital, just two months away from the Paris Olympic Games.

Going into the men’s 5000m, many eyes were on world record-holder and Olympic champion Joshua Cheptegei, two-time world cross-country champion Jacob Kiplimo and last year’s Bislett Games winner Yomif Kejelcha. But Gebrhiwet – who produced the first sub-13-minute run of his career on this track as a teenager back in 2012 – ensured his name won’t be forgotten in the lead-up to the Olympics.

The early pace was strong but not spectacular as the field was paced through the first 1000m in 2:33.13 and 2000m in 5:07.05. Addisu Yihune maintained that tempo through 3000m, reached in 7:41.05, with all the big contenders still in contention.

Kejelcha took control soon after and started to wind up the pace. Gebrhiwet stayed close to his fellow Ethiopian with Ugandan duo Kiplimo and Cheptegei close behind as 4000m was reached in 10:11.86, the previous kilometre being covered in 2:30.

Cheptegei was unable to hold on for much longer and started to drift back. Kejelcha continued to drive the pace but the challenge from Gebrhiwet and Kiplimo wasn’t fading, despite the increase in pace. Gebrhiwet struck as the bell sounded and moved into the lead, kicking past his compatriot and pulling away with each stride.

With a final lap of 54.99, Gebrhiwet charged through the line in 12:36.73 to win by more than two seconds from Kejelcha (12.38.95) – the first time in history that two men have broken 12:40 in the same race.

Gebrhiwet’s winning time is just 1.37 seconds shy of the world record Cheptegei set in 2020 and moves him to second on the world all-time list, one place ahead of Kenenisa Bekele, whose Ethiopian record Gebrhiwet broke.

Kiplimo held on for third, setting a PB of 12:40.96, while Spain’s Thierry Ndikumwenayo (12:48.10) and Yihune (12:49.65) also finished inside 12:50.

It was just the second time in history that 13 men have broken 13 minutes. Along with Gebrhiwet, there were national records for Guatemala’s Luis Grijalva (12:50.58), Switzerland’s Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu (12:50.90), Sweden’s Andreas Almgren (12:50.94), France’s Jimmy Gressier (12:54.97) and South Africa’s Adriaan Wildschutt (12:56.67).

“I’m really happy with my time,” said Gebrhiwet, the world road 5km champion. “I set a PB when I first ran in Oslo, and now it’s even better. The conditions and the crowd were great. It was a very fast race and it wasn’t easy for me, but it went very well. I’ll now try to qualify for the Olympics in the 10,000m too.”

There were notable performances in two other endurance events in Oslo.

Australia’s Georgia Griffith continued her breakthrough to win the 3000m in an Oceanian record of 8:24.20. The field had been paced through 1000m in 2:50.34, then that pace was maintained through 2000m in 5:40.73.

The field became more strung out over the final kilometre as the pace increased. Griffith made a break in the closing stages and Ethiopia’s Likina Amebaw tried to come back, but her challenge was in vain as the Australian won in a meeting record of 8:24.20, 0.09 ahead of Amebaw in a race where the top six women finished inside 8:30.

In the closing event of the night, Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen was made to dive for the line to ensure a home victory for the Norwegian fans.

He controlled the pace in the second half, but still had 2019 world champion Timothy Cheruiyot for company on the final lap. The Kenyan challenged the Norwegian down the home straight and appeared to have timed his kick to perfection, but Ingebrigtsen collapsed over the line to get the verdict in a world-leading 3:29.74, 0.03 ahead of Cheruiyot. The first 11 finishers all set either season’s or personal bests.

Going strictly by time, the Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic on Saturday (25) is one of the fastest races in the meeting’s 49-year history.

Add in the storylines, and it’s one of the most anticipated, too.

Featuring seven men with lifetime bests faster than 3:50, Olympic and world championship gold medallists, world record-holders and rivals whose banter has preceded the matchup for months, the mile caps a Wanda Diamond League meeting at Hayward Field whose potential for world-leading marks extends far beyond its final event.

Consider, for one, the women’s 800m, and the early window it will open into this summer’s Olympics. The field includes six of the eight competitors from last year’s World Championships final in Budapest, including gold medallist Mary Moraa and silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson. Notably absent will be bronze medallist Athing Mu, the Olympic champion, who was initially scheduled to race but has been withdrawn out of precaution because of a sore hamstring.

Raevyn Rogers, the 2019 world silver medallist whose image adorns a tower standing high above Hayward Field, also is entered, along with Jemma Reekie, Nia Akins and Halimah Nakaayi, who is coming off a victory at the USATF Los Angeles Grand Prix.

World champion Sha’Carri Richardson and Elaine Thompson-Herah headline the women’s 100m, along with world indoor 60m champion Julien Alfred and Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith, while world indoor 60m champion Christian Coleman and Ackeem Blake are among the fastest entered in the men's 100m.

Perhaps the most dominant athlete entering the meeting is Grant Holloway, the world 110m hurdles champion who has won all 10 races he has contested this year, including the indoor season and heats. That also includes running a world-leading 13.07 into a headwind to win in Atlanta last weekend.

The three-time world champion's last loss came on the very same Hayward Field track, at last September’s Prefontaine Classic. The only remaining gap on Holloway’s resume is an Olympic gold medal, and Saturday’s race could be an early preview of Paris, as the field includes five who raced in last summer’s World Championships final in Budapest, including silver medallist Hansle Parchment and Daniel Roberts, who earned bronze.

Shot put world record-holder and multiple world and Olympic champion Ryan Crouser will open his outdoor season in his home state and at the stadium where he owns the facility record, while trying to best Leonardo Fabbri’s world-leading mark of 22.95m.

Since 2023, Crouser has lost in just one final – and it was at September’s Prefontaine Classic to Joe Kovacs, who won in Los Angeles last weekend with 22.93m, and is entered again. Payton Otterdahl, who owns the world No.3 mark this year, also is in the field.

Those events offer no shortage of global medallists. Few, however, carry the prospect for as much drama as the mile.

Over the past year, Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr, who outkicked Ingebrigtsen for last year’s world title in Budapest, have carried on a battle of words through the press about who could prevail in Paris.

Commonwealth champion Olli Hoare, who is part of the field following his 1500m win in Los Angeles last week, said the sport was better for the attention drawn by the back-and-forth between Ingebrigtsen and Kerr – but added that other racers wanted to strike the appropriate level of respect for their competitors, such as Yared Nuguse, whose PB of 3:43.97 was set battling Ingebrigtsen (4:43.73) down to the line at September’s Pre Classic.

“This is a big one. This is going to be a big one for a lot of egos,” Hoare said in Los Angeles. “But I think it’s going to be a big one for me because it’ll be the first race where I’ll have an inkling of where I am with the world’s best. There’s a bit of tossing and turning with the banter but you can’t disrespect that field. If you do, you’ll get eaten alive.”

That list of seven men under 3:50, which includes Hoare, notably doesn’t include Jake Wightman, who will be racing Ingebrigtsen for the first time since their duel at the 2022 World Championships in Oregon, when Wightman won gold; Abel Kipsang, who was fourth at the Tokyo Olympics; Geordie Beamish, less than three months after he stormed to the world indoor title; or Lamecha Girma, the steeplechase world record-holder who is making his mile debut.

“Jake Wightman’s back, he’s a world champion,” Hoare said. “Yared Nuguse, 3:43 mile – these guys are keeping quiet and they’re going to wait for their opportunity to strike. And when they do strike, I guarantee they will make a comment.”

They are not the only accomplished names entered in the distances.

Athletics Kenya will determine its men's and women's Olympic 10,000m qualifiers at Hayward Field, with Kenya's two-time world cross-country champion Beatrice Chebet, the world leader at 5000m this season, part of a women's race that will include world champion Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia, eight months after Tsegay set the world 5000m record on the same track.

World record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech will attempt to retain her controlling hold over the steeplechase when she races top challenger Faith Cherotich. The Kenyan duo produced the two fastest times in the world this year at the Diamond League meeting in Xiamen, which Chepkoech won in 8:55.40 to Cherotich’s 9:05.91. Olympic silver medallist Courtney Frerichs will no longer run after injuring the ACL and meniscus in her right knee.

One week after winning in Los Angeles, Diribe Welteji leads the 1500m field that includes 13 women who have run under four minutes. World indoor 3000m champion Elle St Pierre, who won the 5000m in Los Angeles, is running her first 1500m of the season, with Laura Muir, Nikki Hiltz, Jessica Hull, Hirut Meshesha and Cory McGee also entered.

Multiple world and Olympic gold medallist Sifan Hassan, as well as world No.2 Ejgayehu Taye, will feature in the 5000m.

In the field, world and Olympic pole vault champion Katie Moon opens her outdoor season against Sandi Morris, and in the triple jump four of the top five women this season are entered, led by Thea LaFond, whose 15.01m jump to win the world indoor title in Glasgow still stands as the mark to beat.

Olympic discus champion Valarie Allman has not lost in Eugene in two years, a run that includes claiming September’s Diamond League final. That could change on Saturday because of the presence of world leader Yaime Perez, who finished second to Allman in Xiamen last month.

In the men’s 200m, top US sprinters who will duel at the Olympic trials only weeks later will face off. Kenny Bednarek, fresh off a world-leading 19.67 in Doha, is scheduled to race against world No.2 Courtney Lindsey (19.71), with world silver medallist Erriyon Knighton making his season debut. Joe Fahnbulleh and Kyree King, winner of the Los Angeles Grand Prix 100m, are also entered.

Another winner in Los Angeles, Rai Benjamin, headlines the men’s 400m hurdles, and he enters with considerable confidence after running 46.64, the ninth-fastest performance of all time.

“I think I’m the fastest guy in the field, honestly,” Benjamin said of potential Olympic chances.

The women’s 100m hurdles and women’s hammer will not count towards Diamond League points totals, but will be more potential previews for global championships.

Women who account for five of the year’s six fastest times, all of whom are separated by fractions of a second, will face off in the hurdles. Tonea Marshall, fresh off her victory in Los Angeles in 12.42, leads 2019 world champion Nia Ali, Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, two-time world champion Danielle Williams and world indoor champion Devynne Charlton.

Brooke Andersen’s 79.92m throw from earlier this month remains the world-leading hammer mark this season but she will be challenged by world champion Camryn Rogers, 2019 world champion DeAnna Price and world silver medallist Janee’ Kassanavoid, who own the next three farthest throws this season.

In a move to advance women’s track and field, Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian has announced the launch of a groundbreaking women-only track event called the 776 Invitational, set to take place this September. The invitational aims to become the flagship event for women’s track and field by offering the largest-ever purse for a women-only competition.

According to Sportico, the winner of each event will take home USD $60,000, surpassing the prize money for winning a Diamond League race ($10,000) and even Olympic gold in Paris ($50,000). Second and third place will also be rewarded with a $25,000 and $10,000 purse, respectively.

Ohanian isn’t going into this venture alone; he will partner with two-time Olympic medallist, Harvard graduate and American sprinter Gabby Thomas for the launch. “We believe in the power of sports to drive positive change and inspire future generations,” Ohanian said in a statement to Sportico. “By investing in women’s track, we aim to build a best-in-class event that elevates the profile of top women athletes and creates a more equitable sporting landscape.”Thomas echoed Ohanian’s sentiments, stating, “Through this investment, we hope to not only provide athletes with the resources and visibility they need to have enduring careers but also to inspire fans worldwide with a reinvented format to experience the best of our sport.”While an exact date for the 776 Invitational has yet to be revealed, it comes amid a busy year in the track and field calendar, with the Paris Olympics less than 100 days away. The motivation for the 776 Invitational stems from the lack of attention track and field receives outside of the Olympics.

Thomas recently voiced her dissatisfaction with visibility in the sport stemming from a new media deal between the Wanda Diamond League (track and field’s premier circuit) and American online broadcaster FloSports.The 776 Invitational would offer the highest purse for any single-day track and field event. Winners of each of the 14 Diamond League meets are awarded USD $10,000, while athletes who win the annual Diamond League final are awarded $30,000.Ohanian, husband of tennis legend Serena Williams, has long supported women’s sports. The announcement of the 776 Invitational marks the second significant move by Ohanian in support of women’s sports this week.

On Monday, Ohanian and his foundation announced their investment in a women’s Portland sports bar to aid its national franchise expansion.

Athing Mu, Mary Moraa and Keely Hodgkinson – the three women who’ve claimed the 800m medals at the past two World Championships – will clash at the Prefontaine Classic when the Wanda Diamond League reaches Eugene on 25 May.

Mu won in Eugene last year when Hayward Field hosted the Wanda Diamond League Final. Having finished third at the World Championships three months prior, the Olympic champion gained revenge on home soil and kicked to victory in a US record of 1:54.97.

Hodgkinson – as she had done at the Olympics in 2021, as well as at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships – finished second on that occasion in a British record of 1:55.19.

Moraa wound up fourth in that race, but the Kenyan had won the biggest prize of the year in Budapest, taking the world title in a PB of 1:56.03.

The trio have clashed just three times in the past, with Mu coming out on top in two of those encounters.

It’s the second big middle-distance clash announced by the Prefontaine Classic, following the news last month that Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen will take on world champion Josh Kerr and North American record-holder Yared Nuguse in the Bowerman mile.

Just a few miles away from the site of his world 10,000m record three years prior, Joshua Cheptegei stumbled towards the finish line of the Valencia Marathon.

On the track, the Olympic 5000m gold medallist and three-time world 10,000m champion is renowned for his unbeatable finishing strength. But in what was his debut over the marathon distance, with each foot somehow supporting a tired body on the brink, the Ugandan had to be content with 37th place in the Spanish city, clocking 2:08:59.

Cheptegei wasn’t too disappointed or surprised, though. Supported by race organiser Marc Roig, Cheptegei hobbled to the elite finishers’ tent immediately after the race, beaming from ear to ear.

A few days before, Cheptegei had prophetically warned: "The marathon has no respect for people.”

Not even Olympic champions, it would seem.

Fans have grown used to Cheptegei finding his rhythm in a leading pack, so it was no surprise to see him there at halfway. Going through 13.1 miles in 1:00:36 wasn’t part of the plan – not that there necessarily was one.

When asked in the build-up to the race what he wanted from his debut, Cheptegei simply said: “I want to learn.”

Collapsing over the line with a rueful smile, Cheptegei made it clear that his objective had been achieved.

He knew that his preparation for the event had been far from perfect. It started with pulling out of the Wanda Diamond League final due to a reaction to wearing spikes in defending his world 10,000m crown in Budapest. Once he did return, the weeks that followed saw his usual runs around the rolling hills of Kapchorwa deemed too dangerous due to constant deluges.

Cheptegei never ran more than 160km a week – which, by the standards of most current marathon specialists, was a light schedule.

Yet in Valencia, he still chose to go with the pace. Many would expect little else from a world 5000m and 10,000m record holder consistently pushing the margins of the possible.

For many fans, their first clear memory of Cheptegei at a senior level was his performance at the 2017 World Cross Country Championships on home soil in Kampala.

That day, the 2016 Olympic 10,000m sixth-place finisher ripped the senior race apart, striding away through the middle section and building a huge lead into the final kilometer.

The Ugandan fans chasing him in bursts around the course almost went as far as to hand over the red, yellow and black flag.

As the commentators proclaimed his title, Cheptegei had pushed himself to the limit, a smooth stride rolling to a wayward struggle.

Defending champion Geoffrey Kamworor – a former mentor to Cheptegei during his time in Kenya in 2015 – silenced the crowds, passing the struggling Ugandan in a fleeting second and going on to win. Cheptegei eventually finished 30th.

“Joshua had a great belief and a great determination in running,” Kamworor commented on his Ugandan rival. “Whenever you talk with him, you could see in his mind that he had great aspirations in life.

“He's even becoming one of my mentors.”

Cheptegei won the senior title at his next attempt in Aarhus in 2019, the year of the first of three consecutive world 10,000m titles. An Olympic silver in Tokyo in that event accompanied 5000m gold.

Risks taken, lessons learnt all in a bid to break new ground. It's core to Cheptegei’s philosophy as a runner and ultimately role model to those that follow him around the world but perhaps most importantly back home in Uganda.

It’s also followed him since his first days as a professional.

While training with Kamworor, Eliud Kipchoge and the rest in Kaptagat, barely aged 20, the 2014 world U20 10,000m champion made a difficult but bold decision.

“I told my management that I wanted to go back home and build a running culture, and to inspire the young generation here in Uganda.”

As a young athlete – and although it happened 24 years before Cheptegei was born – Cheptegei was made aware of the fact that John Akii-Bua earned Uganda's first Olympic athletics medal when taking 400m hurdles gold in Munich in 1972.

It’s clear that Cheptegei now feels a sense of responsibility when it comes to developing the sport in his country, in much the same way Akii-Bua did more than 50 years ago.

“It’s a privilege to have had great guys like him open the way for us, especially in a difficult time where the country was unstable,” says Cheptegei.

Akii-Bua was forced to live out a large part of his life outside Uganda, moving to Kenya towards the final days of the Idi Amin dictatorship.

Likewise, Uganda’s next Olympic gold medalist, Stephen Kiprotich, trained for much of his career in their eastern neighbor.

The then 15-year-old Cheptegei admits taking a break from kicking a football around the schoolyard to watch Kiprotich win Olympic marathon gold in 2012, that being the moment he made his own plans for global success.

“I was like, ‘right it’s in my heart. I want to become a champion, a national hero like him’.”

Cheptegei has developed those ambitions. For better or worse, he aims to deliberately show the next generation they need not leave home. No altitude camps elsewhere, high tech facilities or trips to some winter sun.

“I have always trained in Uganda, always and always," he reiterates.

Despite the world records, Olympic gold and world championship titles, Cheptegei still feels that to prove that emphatically, one achievement remains left to tick off.

It's all about the number 10.

“2024, it’ll be 10 years running internationally,” he says. “10 years at a high level.

“I'm still in love with the 10,000m, the special distance. I still want to go to Paris and win.”

Only Kenenisa Bekele and Haile Gebrselassie have won more world 10,000m titles than Cheptegei. Both won two Olympic golds in the event.

Cheptegei will head to the French capital hungry to find his first, motivated in the knowledge that in doing so he'll send a message to that young Ugandan watching, hoping to follow in his path.

There are many things to look forward to in the sport of athletics in the upcoming year.

There’ll be six global championships in 2024, with ever-expanding one-day meeting circuits spread throughout the year. Rivalries will be renewed, and record-breakers will continue to push boundaries in their respective disciplines.

Here are just 10 of the many reasons to be excited by what’s to come over the next 12 months.

1. Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Athletics is the No.1 sport in what will be the biggest event on the planet this year. 100 years after Paris last hosted the Games, the Olympics will return to the French capital where 2000 athletes from about 200 countries will compete for medals in 48 disciplines from August 1-11 . Expect duels, drama and record-breaking performances as athletes compete for the highest honor in the sporting world.

2. World Athletics Indoor Championships Glasgow 24

The first global track and field championships of the year will start in just two months’ time as Glasgow hosts the World Indoor Championships on March  1-3. In Belgrade two years ago, pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis and triple jumper Yulimar Rojas set world records to claim gold; they’ll be looking to add to their medal – and record – tally in Glasgow, as will a host of other top track and field stars.

3. World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24

For the first time since 2017, the World Relays will be held in the Bahamian capital as the global event returns to the venue of the first three editions. From May 4-5, athletes will be vying to secure their place in the 4x100m, 4x400m and mixed 4x400m for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Expectations of a nation rests on their shoulders – and their baton exchanges.

4. World Athletics Cross Country Championships Belgrade 24

Just two years after the Serbian capital hosted the World Indoor Championships, Serbia will this year play host to the world’s best cross-country runners. Recent editions of the event, in both Aarhus and Bathurst, have put athletes to the test on grueling courses, so expect more of the same on 30 March.

5. World Athletics U20 Championships Lima 24

After the latest successful edition of the World U20 Championships in Cali two years ago, the global event will return to South America as Lima becomes the first city in Peru to host a World Athletics Series event. The championships will take place from August 27-31, and will showcase the world’s most promising up-and-coming stars.

6. World Athletics Race Walking Team Championships Antalya 24

Is there room on the calendar for one more global event? Go on, then. For the first time ever in the history of these championships – including all previous iterations – Turkiye will play host to the World Race Walking Team Championships on April 21 . The first 22 teams here will automatically qualify for the marathon race walk mixed relay – the newest Olympic discipline – at the Paris Games.

7. One-day meeting circuits

While championship action is great, the likes of the Wanda Diamond League and World Athletics Continental Tour is where athletes can be seen in action week in, week out throughout the peak of the outdoor track and field season. Before that, there’s also the World Indoor Tour, while other series such as the Cross Country Tour, Combined Events Tour, Race Walking Tour and Label road races will provide competition opportunities throughout the year.

8. Record breakers

Athletes continued to push boundaries throughout the past 12 months on the track, field and roads. Expect more of the same in 2024 as the likes of Faith Kipyegon, Mondo Duplantis, Kelvin Kiptum, Yulimar Rojas and Ryan Crouser look to run, jump and throw better than they ever have done before.

9. Big clashes

Rivalries between the sport’s biggest stars always provide a gripping narrative for any season. For 2024, expect some mouth-watering clashes to come from the likes of Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Femke Bol in the 400m hurdles, Kelvin Kiptum and Eliud Kipchoge in the marathon, Gudaf Tsegay and Sifan Hassan in the 10,000m or Daniel Stahl and Kristjan Ceh in the discus to name but a few.

10. New stars

Every year a new generation of talent emerges. Some of those will be athletes who started to make a bit of a breakthrough towards the end of last year, while others may be athletes who fans have barely heard of. Either way, keep your eyes peeled as the season unfolds to witness the future stars of the sport mixing it with the world’s best athletes.

Even to television spectators, it was obvious that attendance numbers at the 2023 World Athletics Championships were significantly higher than in Eugene in 2022. But now, a recent report in the Budapest Business Journal reveals the numbers for this year’s event were nearly three times last year’s attendance figures.

Budapest 2023 organizers reported that a staggering 404,088 tickets out of an available 420,000 were snapped up and used by spectators, highlighting track and field’s popularity in Europe. This is two and a half times the total attendance of 146,033 fans from Eugene.

This is surprising, considering this year’s world champs took place over nine days, whereas last year’s schedule was 10 days. A total of 267,331 tickets were sold for the evening sessions and 136,757 tickets for the morning sessions.

What’s even more impressive is the diversity of the Budapest audience. Track fans from 120 different countries flocked to the Hungarian capital, creating an atmosphere of global celebration, competition and unity. Approximately 40 per cent of all attendees came from abroad, while 60 per cent were Hungarian citizens.

The Hungarians dominated the attendance figures, showcasing their support for the ongoing events and their athletes. Following closely were visitors from the U.K., Germany and the U.S.A., who also made up a significant percentage of the ticket numbers. Obviously, Hungary was more of a central location for incoming fans, and this time around, it did not require a three-hour drive from the nearest international airport to reach the stadium (i.e., Portland to Eugene).

Budapest’s larger size and population provided better accommodation for attendees, athletes and media, eliminating the need for fans to book hotels hours away from the event, plus the headache of paying thousands of dollars for accommodation.

In an interview with the reigning world and Olympic pole vault champion, Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis, he revealed that Budapest 2023 was one of the best crowds he’s ever seen. “Eugene was an amazing championship in its way, but athletes knew the vibe would be different in a bigger metropolitan area,” said Duplantis. “It was naturally easier for energy to carry over around the city and into the stadium—it felt electric when I was competing.”

Duplantis said he immediately noticed the increased popularity of the event when he arrived in Budapest. “You could tell that the fans showed up in numbers,” said Duplantis. “It’s important for the growth of our sport—you need eyeballs and people there.”

The surge in attendance at the 2023 championships seems to be a testament to the enduring appeal of athletics on the global stage and specifically in Europe, which currently hosts 10 of the 14 stops on the Wanda Diamond League.

As the next World Athletics Championship is set to unfold in the world’s largest city, Tokyo, in two years, the importance of nurturing and expanding the sport of track and field is evident. The opportunity to develop the sport on a grander scale and reach a global audience is now.

The 2023 Prefontaine Classic will feature star sprinters Sha'Carri Richardson and Noah Lyles competing in the 100-meter races.

Two sprinters who have been setting the world of athletics ablaze in 2023, Sha’Carri Richardson and Noah Lyles, are poised to ignite the track in their respective 100m  races at this year's highly anticipated Prefontaine Classic. 

This electrifying event, which doubles as the Wanda Eugene Diamond League Final, will take place on Saturday, September 16, in the iconic city of Eugene, Oregon. 

Sha’Carri Richardson, fresh off her remarkable triumph at the 2023 Toyota USATF Outdoor Championships where she secured the 100m  title, declared confidently, "I’m not back. I’m better." 

Richardson, who has been making waves both on and off the track, continued to showcase her undeniable talent by clinching gold in the 100m  and 4x100m relay, as well as a bronze in the 200m at the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest.

 With two World Championship titles under her belt, Richardson is now poised to extend her reign of success at the upcoming Prefontaine Classic.

On the other side of the sprinting spectrum, Noah Lyles is a force to be reckoned with. Fresh from a sensational performance at the World Athletics Championships, where he clinched gold medals in the 100m , 200m, and 4x100m relay events, Lyles is now setting his sights on a new accolade. 

While he has already amassed four Wanda Diamond League Champion trophies in the 200m category, spanning the years 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2022, Lyles is hungry for his first-ever 100m title at the Diamond League Final.

 His wind-legal personal best of 9.83 seconds this season has earned him the coveted top spot in the global rankings for the event, making him a formidable contender in the world of sprinting.

Fans can expect an evening of high-speed drama, record-breaking potential, and nail-biting competition as Richardson and Lyles go head to head in the 100-meter races.

The Prefontaine Classic is scheduled to kick off at 9:00 PM East Africa time on Saturday September 16.

Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Lamecha Girma both made history earlier this month in Paris, where they set a world two-mile best and a world 3000m steeplechase record, respectively. Now they have the chance to push each other to fast 1500m performances when they return to Wanda Diamond League action in Lausanne on Friday (30).

Norway’s Ingebrigtsen, who broke the world indoor 1500m record by running 3:30.60 in Lievin in February, clocked 7:54.10 in Paris to improve Daniel Komen’s world best for two miles. Despite still having that race in his legs, the 22-year-old improved his own European 1500m record to 3:27.95 in Oslo six days later – a time that places him sixth on the world all-time list.

Although the world record had not been his aim in Oslo, Lausanne’s Athletissima gives Ingebrigtsen another opportunity to take further strides toward Hicham El Guerrouj’s almost 25-year-old world record of 3:26.00.

“I 100% have more left in me,” Ingebrigtsen said after his performance in Oslo. “I just have to keep focused on each race ahead in the build-up to Budapest (World Championships), where it really matters.”

Girma will hope to be up there with him. The Ethiopian 22-year-old stormed to a time of 7:52.11 for his specialism in Paris, taking 1.52 seconds off the world 3000m steeplechase record set by Said Saeed Shaheen in 2004, and then turned his attention to attacking the Ethiopian 1500m record of 3:29.91 at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Ostrava on Tuesday (27). He still looked like he had plenty left in the closing stages but having to run wide down the home straight, he focused on the win, running a PB of 3:33.15 that he will aim to improve again in Lausanne.

It will be the first time that Ingebrigtsen and Girma have clashed in any discipline.

In Oslo, Ingebrigtsen led the first eight men under 3:30 for the first time in history, and this time the line-up includes two other men who have dipped under that barrier so far in their careers: Britain’s Olympic bronze medallist Josh Kerr and Australia’s Stewart McSweyn. They are joined on the entry list by Ethiopia’s Teddese Lemi, New Zealand’s Sam Tanner and Britain’s Neil Gourley.

In the 5000m – the discipline in which Ingebrigtsen won world gold last year after his 1500m silver – Olympic champion Joshua Cheptegei will take on Olympic 10,000m gold medallist Selemon Barega, world 5km record-holder Berihu Aregawi, Telahun Haile Bekele, Birhanu Balew and their fellow sub-13:00 runner Muktar Edris.

In the women’s 3000m steeplechase, world U20 silver medallist Sembo Almayew is back on the track after her world-leading PB performance of 9:00.71 to win in Florence. The 2021 world U20 gold medallist, Jackline Chepkoech, was second on that occasion and is also racing, along with world record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech and world bronze medallist Mekides Abebe.

The world leader also heads the entries in the women’s 800m, where world and Olympic silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson – who improved her British record to 1:55.77 to win in Paris – will look to make another statement as she renews her rivalry with Kenya’s Mary Moraa.

World bronze medallist Moraa, who won Commonwealth Games and Diamond League titles ahead of Hodgkinson last year, has run a best of 1:58.72 so far this season and the strong field also features Habitam Alemu, Noelie Yarigo, Jemma Reekie, Catriona Bisset, Natoya Goule and Switzerland's Audrey Werro, who recently ran a world U20 1000m record of 2:34.89 in Nice.

“With the introduction of the super-fast Mondo track of the National Athletics Center, the stage is set for exhilarating battles and historic performances at the upcoming World Athletics Championships in Budapest,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe after running the first lap on the new track, accompanied by local young athletes.

The build up through the one-day meetings of the Wanda Diamond League and the Continental Tour have seen some thrills and spills already.

And you don’t need to wait long for finals. They have been set throughout the Championships from the first day, Saturday 19 August. All athletes are looking for a loud crowd to keep them focused on medals and records.  But a passionate home crowd is super important to Hungarian athletes and their performances.

On day one, the men’s shot put is the first final in the stadium – defending champion Ryan Crouser (USA) broke the world record recently and will duel with two-time world champion Joe Kovacs (who may be in a USA vest but has family ties much closer to here – his grandfather is from the village of Szentpéterfa in Hungary).

For those who want a weekend of watching the strongest men in athletics, Sunday 20 August features the men’s hammer throw.  

“I don’t need to tell the people of Hungary that there is a huge national tradition in this event. Five of Hungary’s 10 Olympic athletics gold medals are for the hammer. And Hungary’s very own Bence Halász, who won the European Athletics silver medal in Munich last year and bronze at the World Championships in Doha in 2019 will be wanting his home crowd to give him a little extra muscle,” added President Coe.

The National Athletics Center in Budapest, a brand new, purpose-built facility, is emerging as the Central European region's athletics stronghold.

“As Budapest and the whole country prepares to welcome athletes from more than 200 countries; for Central European fans this is a unique opportunity to see the world’s best athletes compete in their own region. My message to all of you is don’t miss out. Book your tickets and your place in history now,” – added the World Athletics President

This historic occasion marks the first time in the 40-year history of the World Athletics Championships that a Central European country has been granted the opportunity to host the world's third-largest sporting event.

"We are organizing the biggest sporting event of the year, and the level of interest we have already witnessed is extraordinary. With tens of thousands of international fans and our very own passionate Hungarian supporters, we have already sold over 190,000 tickets.

The World Championships will be broadcast to an estimated one billion viewers worldwide, bringing immeasurable value and pride to Hungary," stated Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky, Minister of Defence and responsible for Sport and the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 organization.

The Minister encouraged fellow sports enthusiasts to witness the remarkable performances of Hungarian athletes firsthand, cheering them on throughout the thrilling opening weekend and celebrating their potential podium finishes.

On Saturday, the track that witnessed Sebastian Coe's inaugural lap will be open for everyone to experience, ahead of the world's top athletes competing in August. The National Athletics Centre's family opening day on June 17 invites participants to enjoy the track and engage in races, free of charge. Additionally, participants can seize the opportunity to purchase tickets for the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, from August 19 to 27, at an exclusive 50% discount. Secure your tickets now at tickets.wabudapest23.com.

It will go down in history as one of the greatest nights in athletics.

Between them, Faith Kipyegon, Lamecha Girma and Jakob Ingebrigtsen broke two world records* and one world best at the Meeting de Paris on Friday (9), providing the standout moments at a highly memorable Wanda Diamond League meeting in the French capital.

A week after breaking the 1500m world record in Florence, Kipyegon etched her name into the record books for 5000m, winning in 14:05.20.

Ahead of the race, the world and Olympic champion hadn’t made too much noise about a possible world record attempt in tonight’s 5000m. It was, after all, just her third ever race at the distance, and her first 5000m outing in eight years.

But, as is always the case with Kipyegon, the 29-year-old Kenyan showed no fear as she navigated her way through the race, the early pace – 2:52.31 at 1000m and 5:42.04 at 2000m – seemingly no bother for the two-time world U20 cross-country champion.

Steeplechase world record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech was the third and final pacemaker, leading the field through 3000m in 8:31.91. At this point, world record-holder Letesenbet Gidey led from Kipyegon with Ethiopia’s Ejgayehu Taye, the world 5km record-holder, a few strides behind.

Kipyegon took the lead with about 600 metres to go, but Gidey kept close contact. They were about six seconds outside of world record pace, but Gidey also knew what Kipyegon is capable of. The world 10,000m champion knew that Kipyegon had the finishing speed to break Gidey’s world record.

Kipyegon – now speeding up with each and every stride – hit the bell in 13:04.1, needing a final lap of about 62 seconds to break Gidey’s record. She did exactly that, covering the last 400m in 61.1 seconds to cross the line in 14:05.20 – a 1.42-second improvement on Gidey’s mark.

Gidey, competing for the first time since her unfortunate episode at the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst, finished second in 14:07.94, the third-fastest time in history. Taye was third in 14:13.31, while the next three women – Lilian Kasait Rengerek, Freweyni Hailu and Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi – all finished inside 14:24.

“I didn’t think about the world record, I don’t know how I made it,” said a delighted and surprised Kipyegon. “I just focused on the green light and tried to stay relaxed and enjoy the race. When I saw that it was a world record, I was so surprised – I just wanted to improve on my PB, the world record was not my plan. I just ran after Gidey – she is an amazing lady.

“I do not know what will be next – I’ll have to discuss it with my coach and my management,” she added. “If my body is healthy, anything is possible.”

Girma had requested an ambitious pace for the men’s 3000m steeplechase – one that would result in a finishing time of about 7:52. The world and Olympic silver medallist almost got a bit carried away mid-race, though, and ran well ahead of the wavelights through the middle section of the race.

With two laps to go, the lights almost caught up with the Ethiopian – who by now was well ahead of the rest of the field. But the sound of the bell and the reaction of the crowd seemingly gave him added impetus on the final lap as he moved clear of the lights once more.

He sped around the final lap in about 64 seconds, crossing the line in 7:52.11, taking 1.52 seconds off the world record set 19 years ago by Said Saeed Shaheen.

“I feel so happy,” said Girma, who started his year world a world indoor record over 3000m. “I’m happy and very proud. I felt so fast during the race, so confident. The world record is not a surprise; it was my plan to beat it tonight in Paris. It’s the result of my full determination.”

Two miles not be an official world record distance, but that mattered not to Jakob Ingebrigtsen – or indeed the sell-out crowd at the Stade Charlety – as the Norwegian won the event in a world best of 7:54.10.

The race wasn’t a scoring discipline on this occasion, and as such was held outside of the main broadcast window. But that didn’t deter the world and Olympic champion, who stuck to the pacemakers throughout, passing through 1000m in 2:29.07 and then moving closer to the second pacemaker – and, significantly, ahead of the green wavelights.

Once the pacemakers had done their job, Ingebrigtsen maintained his tempo and breezed through 3000m in an official split of 7:24.00 – a European record and the third-fastest performance of all time for that distance. At this point he had a 13.5-second lead over Ethiopia’s Kuma Girma. Victory was Ingebrigtsen’s; his next target was Daniel Komen’s world best.

He charged through the final 218 metres, roared on by the crowd, and crossed the finish line in 7:54.10, winning by 15 seconds.

“Being able to break this mark feels amazing,” he said. “It is my first world best outdoors. The pace felt very smooth for me, coming out of the 1500m. The public was amazing; without their help, it would have been more difficult. I was a bit surprised by the time in the end.”

World leads for Hodgkinson, Wanyonyi and Holloway

World and Olympic silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson opened her outdoor season in stunning fashion in the women’s 800m, winning by more than two seconds in a world-leading national record of 1:55.77.

The European champion stuck to the pacemaker and covered the first lap in 57.7 seconds, already a stride or two ahead of the rest of the field. With 200 metres to go, there was clear daylight between Hodgkinson and Jamaica’s Natoya Goule, who was being pursued by world indoor champion Ajee Wilson.

But none of them could get near Hodgkinson, who eased down the home straight to cross the line in 1:55.77, taking 0.11 off the British record she set two years ago in Tokyo. Wilson finished second in 1:58.16 and Goule was third in 1:58.23.

While winning a global gold medal might be the pinnacle of the year – if not career – for many athletes, Beatrice Chebet remains motivated for another title to add to her ever-expanding CV.

The world 5000m silver medallist became the world cross country champion in February, winning the senior women’s race and leading the Kenyan squad to the team title at the World Athletics Cross Country Championships Bathurst 23. Now the 23-year-old has turned her attention back to the track as she plots her path to the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 in August.

Chebet started her season on a high note, winning the 5000m at the Kip Keino Classic, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, in Nairobi, Kenya, on 13 May.

Her victory in front of a home crowd at the Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani was a good indication that her training is going well, and on the right course, for her next big goal: to win the world 5000m title in Budapest.

“I will be happy if I place on the podium this year in Budapest, although my main aim – which I know should be the same for all the runners who will be running at the World Championships – is the gold medal,” Chebet says. “However, I will be thankful for any medal I get there.”

On the morning of 23 August, Chebet – who already has a wild card place to run in Budapest after winning the 2022 Wanda Diamond League title, subject to selection by her national federation – will be standing at the start line for the heats of the women’s 5000m at the National Athletics Centre to begin her quest for the world title. But, with all the best runners in the world yearning for gold, she knows it won’t be easy.

From her experiences during past battles on the world stage, Chebet believes that the Ethiopian runners and some of her Kenyan compatriots are likely to be her main rivals. The defending champion, who won the 5000m title in a close race ahead of Chebet in Oregon, for example, is Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay. Another Ethiopian athlete, Letesenbet Gidey, is the world record-holder who had looked on course to beat Chebet to the world cross country title in Bathurst before she fell in the closing stages.

Chebet had similar encounters when winning her world U20 5000m title and world U20 cross country gold in 2019. In the latter, she won in a photo finish ahead of Ethiopia’s Alemitu Tariku and Tsigie Gebreselama as they all clocked 20:50 for the 6km race.

“I talked with Gidey some time after the incident in Bathurst, and she was doing well, health wise, and looking forward to coming back strong,” Chebet says.

Their rivalry is a friendly one. When asked whether she thinks Gidey will be looking forward to revenge in their next competition, Chebet replies: “We didn’t talk about competing against each other. It was to check up on her.”

While the rest of her 2023 racing calendar is yet to be confirmed, Chebet – who has a 5000m PB of 14:34.55 that she ran at the Oslo Diamond League in 2021 – will be hoping to remain a strong presence in the 12-and-a-half lap discipline this year.

“My training is going on well,” she says. “I am working hard and praying to God for good health and that everything else goes well. In my races this year, I will watch and hope to see continuous progress. I know all will go well with good training.”

Chebet currently trains in Kericho, on the undulating and beautiful landscapes of Kenyan tea plantations, under coach Gabriel Kiptanui as part of the Kericho Athletics Club.

Being part of the same training group and working with the same coach that guided her during her great 2022 season seems to be a good forecast of what Chebet’s season could look like this year.

“I hope I have another good year, like last year,” she adds.

So far, her career highlight was when, at the age of 18, she won her first gold medal at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Tampere, Finland. It was a tough battle in the final 400m of the race between Chebet and Ethiopia’s Ejgayehu Taye, who Chebet edged at the finish line by a mere 0.10. Taye’s compatriot, Girmawit Gebrzihair, completed the podium.

“Of all the medals and titles that I have ever won, the one that I cherish the most is the world U20 gold medal that I won at the Ratina Stadium in Tampere in 2018,” Chebet says of the 5000m victory that ended a 10-year winning streak by Ethiopian athletes. “It was my first big victory, so I will not forget it.”

Since then, Chebet has remained a force to be reckoned with in the women’s 5000m event. She won the African U20 title in 2019 and the African senior title last year in Mauritius, before she claimed her silver medal at the World Championships in Oregon and gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Can she emulate her 2022 success this year? It looks good so far, and a world title in Budapest would be the icing on the cake.

Had the World Athletics Cross Country Championships Bathurst 23 gone ahead in 2021 as originally planned, there’s a strong chance that Letesenbet Gidey would already be a world champion at the discipline.

The Ethiopian was in sensational form in 2020 and 2021, setting world records of 14:06.62 for 5000m and 29:01.03 for 10,000m. She had to settle for bronze at the Olympic Games at the longer event, but she prioritized global honors over records in 2022 and was rewarded with her first world title on the track, winning the 10,000m in Oregon in a nail-biting race.

The 24-year-old is now focused on winning her first individual senior world cross-country title. She won back-to-back U20 crowns in 2015 and 2017, joining an elite club of athletes to achieve the feat, alongside Faith Kipyegon and Genzebe Dibaba.

Gidey finished third in the senior women’s race in 2019 and earned gold in the team competition, but this time she heads to Bathurst as one of the big favorites.

If her performance at the Jan Meda Cross Country – Ethiopia’s trial event for the World Cross – is anything to go by, Gidey is certainly in form to challenge for gold in Bathurst. In that race back on 1 January, she bided her time until the last kilometer of the race and then soon opened up a gap of about 20 seconds on a strong domestic field.

It looked as though she was running within herself, too.

As much as individual glory will be Gidey’s biggest goal on Saturday, she will also want to earn gold in the team standings, and Ethiopia will once again be in with a great shout of doing exactly that.

Gete Alemayehu, who has a 1:06:37 half marathon PB, was second in the trial race, just ahead of 30:06.01 10,000m performer Tsigie Gebreselama, bronze medalist in the U20 race in Aarhus in 2019. Fellow Ethiopian Fotyen Tesfaye just missed out on a top-10 placing in Aarhus, so will be keen to improve on that in Bathurst.

But Gidey and her Ethiopian compatriots won’t have an easy ride, as they’ll be up against someone who is undefeated in international cross-country races for more than a year.

Eritrea’s Rahel Daniel has dominated the World Athletics Cross Country Tour and currently tops the season standings thanks to her three victories last month. She won at the prestigious Campaccio meeting in San Giorgio su Legnano, then two days later triumphed in Elgoibar, winning by eight seconds. More recently she won in Hannut, racing in heavy snow, showing she can cope well in any conditions.

Daniel enjoyed a successful 2022 campaign on the track, setting national records for 5000m (14:36.66) and 10,000m (30:12.15), the latter when placing fifth at the World Championships in Oregon.

But the 21-year-old is clearly more at home on cross country, and despite this being her World Cross debut, Daniel will have high hopes for a podium finish.

Beatrice Chebet is just as formidable an opponent, though. The Kenyan took 5000m silver at the World Championships last year and won the U20 women’s title at the 2019 World Cross in Aarhus. She is also the African, Commonwealth and Diamond League 5000m champion, and is a former world U20 champion on the track.

She has raced just twice in cross-country events since the end of the track season, but won both of her races. She won by 13 seconds in Atapuerca in November and by 15 seconds at the Cinque Mulini in January.

In the absence of Chebet at the Kenyan trials, teenager Grace Loibach Nawowuna was a surprising winner of the senior women’s race, beating Olympic semifinalist Edinah Jebitok by four seconds. The Kenyan team also includes two-time world cross-country champion Emily Chebet and Agnes Ngetich.

Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba missed the peak of the 2022 track season through injury, but still managed to win three races on the Wanda Diamond League circuit, and then triumphed at the Venta de Banos Cross Country in December. In her latest appearance, though, she was a distant fifth in Elgoibar, some 47 seconds behind Daniel.

Stella Chesang, the 2018 Commonwealth 10,000m champion, was a dominant winner of the recent Ugandan Cross Country Championships and is keen to improve on her 21st-place finish from the 2019 World Cross. She is joined on the Ugandan team by world U20 5000m bronze medallist Prisca Chesang.

Olympic finalist Nozomi Tanaka, who holds national records for 1000m, 1500m and 3000m, leads the Japanese team. The 2018 world U20 3000m champion placed 39th at the last World Cross when she was still just 19 years of age, so she’ll be hoping for a higher position this time. Ririka Hironaka, who earned U20 team bronze in 2019, will also be flying the Japanese flag in Bathurst.

Ednah Kurgat and Weini Kelati feature on the US team, while Australia’s Rose Davies and Leanne Pompeani will aim to give the home crowd something to cheer for. Other contenders include Canada’s Regan Yee, Mexico’s Laura Galvan, and Britain’s Abbie Donnelly.

The World Athletics Doping Review Board (DRB) has agreed that the applications of six (6) Russian athletes have met the exceptional eligibility criteria to compete in international competition as neutral athletes (ANA) under eligibility rule 3.2 while the Russian national federation (RusAF) remains suspended.

In approving these six applications, the Doping Review Board noted that, according to World Athletics’ decision of 1 March 2022, all athletes, support personnel and officials from Russia were excluded from all World Athletics Series events for the foreseeable future as a consequence of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Furthermore, the Wanda Diamond League subsequently took the decision to exclude Russian athletes from competing in its meetings. In addition, the Doping Review Board understands that individual organisers of the Continental Tour are not inviting Russian athletes to their meetings.

Furthermore, in December 2022, World Athletics advised the Russian Athletics Federation that the 2022 ANA process would continue until such time as the World Athletics Council decides otherwise.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, the DRB considered and approved the following applications under rule 3.2 of the eligibility rules for exceptional eligibility to compete in international competitions until the World Athletics Council Meeting in March 2023 as a Neutral Athlete, to the extent such competitions are open to athletes from Russia.

Furthermore, any athlete who was granted ANA status for the 2022 season may continue to compete until Council’s decision.

The six athletes who have now met the exceptional eligibility criteria are:

Nikita Anishchenkov (high jump)Artem Chermoshanskiy (long jump)Maksim Pianzin (Pyanzin) (race walking)Nikita Kurbanov (high jump)Danil Chechela (long jump)Marina Kovaleva (long distance)

Requirements for ANA athletes

Further to the World Athletics Council decision on 1 December 2021 to approve amendments to the Authorised Neutral Athlete (ANA) programme on the recommendation of the Russian Taskforce, the Doping Review Board (DRB) reviewed and revised the process and the criteria for ANA applications.

Athletes will need to follow the procedures set out in the guidance documents and all applications must be forwarded to World Athletics through RusAF.

Applications must be submitted no later than four weeks before the entry deadline for the international competition for which eligibility is sought and the Doping Review Board may require an applicant to undergo additional testing prior to granting him or her ANA status.

2022 authorised neutral athletes who may compete until the World Athletics Council Meeting in March 2023 (73 athletes)

Announced on 22 January 2022: Dina Aleksandrova (800m, 1500m, 5000m), Svetlana Aplachkina (1500m, 3000m, 5000m), Yelizaveta Bondarenko (pole vault), Aleksandr Buyanovskiy (400m), Vera Chalaya (400m hurdles, 400m), Timofey Chalyy (400m hurdles, 400m), Alexey Fyodorov (triple jump), Ilya Ivanyuk (high jump), Polina Knoroz (pole vault), Mariya Kochanova (high jump), Aleksandr Komarov (decathlon, heptathlon), Kseniya Labygina (60m hurdles), Mariya Lasitskene (high jump), Artyom Makarenko (combined events, 60m hurdles, 110m hurdles), Polina Miller (400m), Vasiliy Mizinov (race walking), Valeriy Pronkin (hammer), Anzhelika Sidorova (pole vault), Oleg Spiridonov (60m hurdles, 110m hurdles), Natalya Spiridonova (long jump, high jump), Yaroslav Tkalich (sprints, 400m or less), Anna Tropina (3000m steeplechase, 1500m, 5000m, cross country).

Announced on 17 February 2022: Veronika Arkhipova (400m or less), Rinas Akhmadeyev (3000m, 5000m, 10,000m, half marathon), Semen Borodayev (shot put, discus), Iurii (Yuri) Chechun (marathon), Elvira Chepareva (Khasanova) (race walk), Aksana Gataullina (pole vault), Darya Golubechkova (race walk), Dmitriy Gramachkov (race walk), Konstantin Kholmogorov (800m), Stepan Kiselev (marathon), Kristina Koroleva (high jump), Mikhail Kulkov (marathon), Aleksandr Lesnoy (shot put), Denis Lukyanov (hammer), Alena Lutkovskaia (pole vault), Alena Lysenko (hammer), Kristina Makarenko, née Sivkova (50m, 100m, 200m), Timur Morgunov (pole vault), Olga Mullina (pole vault), Sofiya Palkina (hammer), Yekaterina Petrova (5000m race walk.

10,000m race walk), Mariya Privalova (triple jump, long jump), Andrey Romanov (hammer), Yelena Sborets (race walk), Nadezhda Sergeeva (race walk), Konstantin Shabanov (60m hurdles, 110m hurdles), Fedor Shutov (marathon, half marathon), Kirill Shutov (race walk), Yelena Sokolova (long jump), Snezhana Trofimets (shot put), Yuliya Turova (race walk), Matvey Tychinkin (high jump), Viktoriya Vaseykina (heptathlon, pentathlon)

Announced on 8 July 2022: Irina Baulina (400m, 400m hurdles), Arseniy Elfimov (combined events), Maksim Fediaev (200m, 400m), Ekaterina Fediaeva (200m, 400m), Dmitrii Kachanov (pole vault), Stepan Kekin (combined events), Evgenii Kunc (1500m, 5000m) , Natalya Leontyeva (5000m,, 10,000m, half marathon, cross country), Liliia Mendaeva (1500m, 3000m, 5000m), Anna Minullina (3000m), Ildar Nadyrov (steeplechase, cross country), Olga Onufrienko (800m, 1500m), Daria Osipova (sprints, hurdles, relays – U20 only), Viktor Pintusov (pole vault), Valeria Putilina (javelin), Iuliia Sokhatskaia (combined events, long jump), Elizaveta Tsareva (hammer), Anna Vikulova (10,000m, half marathon, marathon).

Milkesa Mengesha and Tadu Teshome took top honors at the Copenhagen Half Marathon on Sunday (18). And with 15 men finishing inside an hour at the World Athletics Elite Label road race, the event witnessed record depth.

Mengesha, the 2019 world U20 cross-country champion, beat a quality field to notch up his second half marathon victory of the year, winning in a PB of 58:58. Teshome, meanwhile, smashed her PB to lead an Ethiopian 1-2-3, winning in 1:06:13.

After a steady opening 5km of 14:02, the pace dropped slightly in the following few kilometers of the men’s race as the large lead pack reached 10km in 28:10. The leading contenders – which included Mengesha and his compatriots Amedework Walelegn and Chala Regasa, Kenya’s Felix Kipkoech, Vincent Kipkemoi and Edmund Kipngetich, and South Sudan’s Dominic Lobalu – then started to increase the pace.

By the time of the 15km checkpoint, reached in 42:06, the lead pack was down to 12. They remained bunched together for a few more kilometers before Mengesha started to ease away, carving out a small lead before going on to win in 58:58. Compatriot Walelegn followed him home in 59:05, two seconds ahead of Kipkoech.

Lobalu, winner of the 3000m at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Stockholm earlier this year, was fifth in a national record of 59:12. Further back, Switzerland’s 40-year-old Tadesse Abraham became the oldest man in history to finish inside 60 minutes for a half marathon, clocking 59:53.

In contrast to the men’s race, which increased in pace as it went on, the women’s race started off remarkably quick but soon became a war of attrition as athletes tried to hold on as best they could.

When the first 5km was covered in a swift 15:19, most of the lead pack decided to ease off the pace, but Teshome and Tsigie Gebreselama maintained that tempo for another 5km, reaching 10km in 30:40 – inside both of their PBs for 10km.

Gebreselama then broke away from Teshome and opened up a gap of 30 seconds by 15km, reached in 46:39, but it didn’t last. Teshome came back over the next few kilometers and caught her compatriot with about two kilometers to go.

Once she was in the lead, Teshome continued to pull away and she went on to win in 1:06:13, 22 seconds ahead of Gebreselama, who was making her half marathon debut. Ethiopia’s Tiruye Mesfin almost caught Gebreselama, eventually finishing third in 1:06:42.

Leading results

Women

1 Tadu Teshome (ETH) 1:06:13

2 Tsigie Gebreselama (ETH) 1:06:35

3 Tiruye Mesfin (ETH) 1:06:42

4 Magdalena Shauri (TAN) 1:06:52

5 Eunice Chumba (BRN) 1:07:34

6 Sintayehu Tilahun (ETH) 1:07:41

7 Janet Ruguru (KEN) 1:07:51

8 Anchalem Haymanot (ETH) 1:08:09

9 Vicoty Chepngeno (KEN) 1:08:22

10 Betelihem Afenigus (ETH) 1:08:35

Men

1 Milkesa Mengesha (ETH) 58:58

2 Amedework Walelegn (ETH) 59:05

3 Felix Kipkoech (KEN) 59:07

4 Vincent Kipkemoi (KEN) 59:09

5 Dominic Lobalu (SSD) 59:12

6 Chala Regasa (ETH) 59:13

7 Edmund Kipngetich (KEN) 59:25

8 Matthew Kimeli (KEN) 59:39

9 Titus Kimutai (KEN) 59:44

10 Ronald Kirui (KEN) 59:51

Laulauga Tausaga-Collins led a gold medal sweep for the USA as five records fell on the opening day of the North and Central American & Caribbean (NACAC) Championships at the Grand Bahama Sports Complex in Freeport, The Bahamas, on Friday (19).

A World Championships finalist, Tausaga-Collins broke the discus championship record twice in her first two throws (62.21m and 63.18m) to claim one of the eight titles for the USA.

Three other women surpassed the 60-metre mark, all in the final round, but it was not enough to catch the US thrower, who was pleased with her win before heading to the Wanda Diamond League final.

Cuba’s 2015 world champion and 2016 Olympic bronze medallist Denia Caballero returned to competition after a full pause following the 2021 season and moved from fourth to silver with 61.86m in the sixth round, finishing ahead of USA’s Rachel Dincoff (61.56m) and Cuba’s Silinda Morales (60.73m).

Despite the hot and humid weather conditions, US distance runners rewrote three records: Gabrielle Jennings in the women’s 3000m steeplechase (9:34.36), Natosha Rogers in the 5000m (15:11.68) and Sean McGorty in the 10,000m (29:23.77) with the latter erasing one of the two remaining men’s championship records from the inaugural edition in El Salvador in 2007.

Not only did Jennings and Rogers break the championship records, they also led medal sweeps for the USA. Katie Rainsberger and Carmen Graves took silver and bronze in the steeplechase, while Fiona O’Keefe and Eleanor Fulton secured the other podium places in the 5000m.

USA’s 2016 world indoor champion Vashti Cunningham found some redemption after failing to reach the World Championships final on home soil. The three-time global medallist and Olympic finalist cleared 1.92m on her first attempt in the women’s high jump final, breaking St Lucia’s three-time winner Lavern Spencer’s 1.91m record set in Toronto in 2018.

One of the biggest surprises of the first day came in the women’s hammer, where USA’s world bronze medallist Janee’ Kassanavoid got the better of world champion Brooke Andersen. Kassanavoid won with 71.51m as Andersen managed 68.66m, recording just her second defeat of what has otherwise been a highly successful breakthrough season.

Oop The other winners on the opening day were Chris Bernard in the men’s triple jump (16.40m) and Roger Steen in the shot put (20.78m).

In other action outside the finals, world and Olympic champion Shaune Miller-Uibo delighted the home crowd with an easy semifinal win in the women’s 400m in 50.84, only 0.02 off the championship record. Jamaica’s Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper led the semifinals in the 100m hurdles (12.62) while her compatriot Andrew Hudson (20.25) and USA’s Brittany Brown (22.59) led the 200m semifinals.

A total of 17 finals will be contested on Saturday, including the men’s and women's 100m and 400m, featuring two other individual world champions from Eugene: Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson (200m champion running 100m) and Miller-Uibo.

The fourth edition of the championships, held for the first time to the Caribbean, was opened by the Prime Minister of The Bahamas, Philip Davis, and is dedicated to the late Anita Doherty, an educator of many generations of Bahamians, who competed for the island nation in the pentathlon at the 1970 Commonwealth Games.

Some 1900 athletes have qualified to compete at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 from July 15-24.

The qualification period for individual track and field disciplines closed on June 26, following a busy weekend of national championships action, while the invitation process for relays ended on June 28.

About 63 percent of athletes have qualified by entry standard, 33 percent by world ranking position and four percent by designated finishes in qualifying competitions (such as area championships). 75 countries are expected to enter athletes through universality places.

The Road to Oregon tool on the World Athletics website shows which athletes – subject to being officially selected by their member federation – have qualified to compete at the World Championships, either by entry standard or world ranking position within a discipline’s quota.

The tool identifies the first three qualifiers per nation (in bold) but any athlete who has qualified can be selected within the limit of three per nation. As this is a qualification monitoring tool, not an entry monitoring tool, it won't highlight which athletes have been officially selected by their member federation, but team announcements of many of the leading nations will be published on the World Athletics website in the weeks leading up to the championships.

Member federations have until the entry deadline of July 4 to submit their final selections.

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said: “The end of the qualifying period is an important milestone on the way to our World Championships and the final qualified list is a good indicator of the unparalleled strength of our sport around the world. I’m delighted to see that almost 200 countries have qualified athletes for the pinnacle event in our sport. As we begin the final countdown to the start of the World Championships in just 16 days, I wish every qualified athlete the best of fortune and I hope to see you all at your best in Oregon.”  

Wild card entries are offered to all individual winners from the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, along with the winners of the 2021 Wanda Diamond League and Combined Events Challenge. The acceptance of those wild card entries, however, rests with member federations. Only one wildcard can be used by a member federation in each discipline.

Several places in relay disciplines, meanwhile, were claimed at the World Athletics Relays Silesia 21.

At 35, Jamaica’s two-time Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce has done it all. But she still hasn’t finished, and her appearance at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Paris on Saturday (18) will represent another significant step in her campaign to defend her world 100m title in Oregon next month.

Fraser-Pryce established her name early on this season’s world list when she ran in the rarified air of Nairobi and won in 10.67 - only seven-hundredths off the personal best she ran last year to put herself third on the all-time list.

Her Jamaican compatriot and twice successor as Olympic 100m champion, Elaine Thompson-Herah, has since made a good start to her pursuit of a first individual world title with a best of 10.79 on the Eugene track that will stage the World Athletics Championships Oregon22.

But now Fraser-Pryce is back to make another impression in top-level competition at the Meeting de Paris on the ultra-fast blue track at Stade Charlety, which was renovated in 2019.

She will be taking on some talented sprinters including Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji, the surprise – and surprised – winner of the world indoor 60m title in Belgrade earlier this year in a personal best of 6.96. Kambundji, who turns 30 on the day before the race, will be targeting her personal best of 10.94. 

Also in the mix will be Michelle-Lee Ahye of Trinidad and Tobago, who has run 10.94 this season and has a personal best of 10.82, and Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast, who missed a 100m medal by one place in Tokyo as she ran 10.91.

Two-time Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo, who has raced well but not exceptionally at 200m this season, will get down to serious business at her specialist event.

The 28-year-old Bahamian, who lowered her own continental record to 48.36 in Tokyo last summer, is third in this year’s top list with her time of 49.91, but that was set in April and the Olympic champion will want to check in on her current form having run over 200m recently.

She faces a strong Polish trio of Natalia Kaczmarek, who ran a huge personal best of 50.16 in Ostrava and stands sixth in this year’s world list, European champion Justyna Swiety-Ersetic and Anna Kielbasinska.

The Bahamas will be providing both Olympic 400m champions in Paris, with Steven Gardiner hoping to further fine-tune his world title defence in Oregon with a rare Diamond League appearance.

The leggy 26-year-old, who is 1.93m tall and has run 43.48, making him the sixth best performer of all time, did not compete in any Diamond League race last year and only raced once in Europe, at Szekesfehervar in Hungary.

His last appearance on the sport’s top circuit was at Monaco in 2019, when he won. Gardiner is already in good shape, having run 44.22 at Baton Rouge in Louisiana on 23 April - the fastest time recorded so far this year.

Meanwhile, European champion Matthew Hudson-Smith, who recently took one hundredth of a second off the British record of 43.36, set by Iwan Thomas in 1997, could be in position to better a record of even longer standing, this time the European one of 44.33 set by East Germany’s Thomas Schoenlebe in 1987. 

Devon Allen of the United States, whose 12.84 clocking in last Saturday’s New York Grand Prix – the third-fastest ever run – earned him a handsome victory ahead of world champion and compatriot Grant Holloway, maintained winning momentum over 110m hurdles in Oslo, although this victory was earned in 13.22 into a headwind of -1.2 m/s.

Allen, who will take up a professional American football career at the end of this season as a wide receiver with National Football League side Philadelphia Eagles, is due to run in Paris against a field that includes home hurdler Wilhem Belocian.

Canada’s Olympic 200m champion Andre De Grasse has been running 100m recently to sharpen up, but after clocking 10.24 at the Birmingham Diamond League on 21 May he dropped out of the Fanny Blankers-Koen Games on 5 June. On Thursday in Oslo, however, he returned to form in the 100m – in which he won Rio 2016 bronze – as he earned victory in 10.05 from Britain’s Reece Prescod, who clocked 10.06.

On Saturday, like Miller-Uibo, he will get down to business in his main event against a field that includes Prescod, who produced a big personal best over 100m of 9.93 in blustery conditions at the Ostrava Golden Spike meeting on 31 May. Meanwhile, Alexander Ogando of the Dominican Republic will be seeking to build on what has been a good start to the season, in which he has run 20.07.

Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega, who won the Ethiopian World Championships trials race in Hengelo and then finished fourth in the 5000m in Rome, is expected to race over the shorter distance in Paris.

A Wanda Diamond League record from Jakob Ingebrigtsen (first photo) in the mile, along with meeting records from Mondo Duplantis in the pole vault and Femke Bol in the 400m hurdles brightened a rainy evening at the Bislett Games in Oslo on Thursday (16).

Ingebrigtsen has won almost all there is to win in middle-distance events, but a senior Dream Mile victory in Oslo was one thing missing from the 21-year-old’s resume. In fact, before today no Norwegian man had ever won the prestigious discipline at the Bislett Games.

But, racing in the final individual track event of the night, Ingebrigtsen ensured the 15,000 fans at the Bislett Stadion went home happy as he won the mile in a Norwegian record of 3:46.46, breaking the Wanda Diamond League record in the process.

Paced through the first two laps in 56.01 and 1:53.30, Ingebrigtsen was tracked closely by Australia’s Oliver Hoare and Britain’s Jake Wightman for most of the race. The Olympic 1500m champion never appeared to be under too much strain, though – even when Hoare was attempting to close in on the leader with half a lap left.

Ingebrigtsen – roared on by the home crowd, many of whom were on their feet – kicked down the home straight and crossed the line in 3:46.46, taking almost a second off his own Norwegian record and moving up to sixth on the world all-time list, just 0.14 shy of Steve Cram’s European record.

Hoare finished second in 3:47.48 to break the Oceanian record and move to 13th on the world all-time list. Wightman was third in a PB of 3:50.30 from fellow Brit Neil Gourley (3:52.91). There was also a national record for Charles Grethen of Luxembourg in fifth (3:53.20).

“I was ready to run fast and was happy to do that and to win,” said the world indoor silver medallist. “Some work needs to be done before the World Championships, but I will work hard to be in better shape there.

“Last year I was sick and couldn't race here, so it was even more special here tonight, as being the first Norwegian to win the Dream Mile. Doing things nobody else has done before is really great.”

Seyaum and Bekele lead Ethiopian 5000m sweeps

Dawit Seyaum may be new to the 5000m, but the former 1500m specialist looked anything but inexperienced as she outkicked her fellow Ethiopians to win a high-quality race.

The opening pace was steady, the first 1000m covered in 2:53.83 and 2000m reached in 5:52.33. Versatile Norwegian runner Karoline Bjerkeli Grovdal then took up the pace in the second half and passed through 3000m in 8:48.65, leading a large lead pack. Grovdal held on to that lead for another 1500 metres, but then Seyaum and compatriots Letesenbet Gidey, Gudaf Tsegay and Almaz Ayana started battling for the lead with one lap to go.

Ayana’s challenge soon faded, leaving Seyaum, Tsegay and Gidey out in front. Seyaum’s kick down the home straight was enough to break free from Tsegay and she won in 14:25.84. Tsegay, the Olympic bronze medallist at this distance, was second in 14:26.69 while world record-holder Gidey was third in 14:26.92. Grovdal held on to fourth place in a Norwegian record of 14:31.07 and USA’s Alicia Monson was fifth in a big PB of 14:31.11.

(Second photo)Dawit Seyaum celebrates her 5000m win at the Wanda Diamond League in Oslo 

For just the second time in history, seven women finished inside 14:35 and eight women finished inside 14:40.

There was another Ethiopian 1-2-3 in the men’s 5000m, though this time the 1500m standout was beaten by the 5000m specialist.

The pace was steady though never blazing quick, meaning most of the field was still in contention at the business end of the race. Two-time world indoor champion Samuel Tefera led at 3000m, passing in 7:54.39, but then sat back in the pack to save his legs for a potential fast finish.

He made his way back to the front of the pack in the closing stages, but could not get on level terms with Bekele, who kicked ahead and won in 13:03.51. Tefera held on for second in 13:04.35, just ahead of compatriot Getnet Wale (13:04.48).

Keely Hodgkinson won the battle of the Brits over 800m, getting the better of fellow Olympic silver medallist Laura Muir.

The 20-year-old ran a controlled and assured race and kept her cool in the closing stages to win comfortably in 1:57.71. Muir was second in 1:58.09, ahead of France’s Renelle Lamote (1:58.50) and world champion Halimah Nakaayi of Uganda (1:58.68).

USA’s Michael Norman produced the standout performance at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Eugene on Saturday (28), the 24-year-old setting a Diamond League 400m record of 43.60 to beat Grenada's Kirani James (44.02) and Matthew Hudson-Smith, who broke the British record with 44.35. 

On a cool, blustery afternoon at Hayward Field, with many outbreaks of heavy rain, Norman was one of many athletes who defied the conditions to make it another memorable edition of the Prefontaine Classic.

“I had zero expectation of what I could run today,” said Norman, who revealed he and coach Quincy Watts had gone “back to the basics” during their winter training. “Hard work and consistency with diet and training,” he said. “My motto this year has been that if it’s comfortable, it’s too easy – on the weight room or the track. Based on how I felt, there are a few areas I can improve on.”

Looking to next month’s US Championships and the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 on the same track in July, Norman said: “I’m going to train like I want to do something special, and when the time comes, the time comes.”

Kenya's Faith Kipyegon was equally peerless when taking the women’s 1500m in commanding fashion, the Olympic champion tracking chief rival Gudaf Tsegay until the final turn, at which point she blew by and came home a clear winner in a world lead and meeting record of 3:52.59. Tsegay got second in 3:54.21 with Canada’s Gabriela Debues-Stafford third in 3:58.62. “The race today gave me great morale that everything I’m doing is correct towards the World Championships – that’s my biggest fish and I hope for the best, for the gold medal,” said Kipyegon, who is “going to think about” a world record attempt at 1500m later in the summer. “I was not expecting (to run 3:52) when I saw the rain this morning, but I felt comfortable. It was good.”

USA's Ryan Crouser produced by far the standout performance in the field events, the Olympic shot put champion looking utterly peerless when launching a world-leading 23.02m effort in the second round. That left him well clear of long-time rivals Joe Kovacs (22.49m) and Tom Walsh (21.96m).

What made it more impressive is that Crouser did not use his full technique, but threw off a “static” starting position, which prior to today had never produced a 23-metre effort. Crouser said he usually throws 40-60cm farther when utilising his full technique. 

“I thought 23 was possible but I thought I’d have to get into my full (technique) to do it,” said Crouser. “My best static ever was in the 22.90s. To throw a static PR, under a heavy load, without a taper, is a really good indicator of where I can be seven or eight weeks from now.” Berihu Aregawi turned in a superb solo performance to take the men’s 5000m in a meeting record and world lead of 12:50.05, coming home well clear of fellow Ethiopians Samuel Tefera (13:06.86) and Selemon Barega (13:07.30). Aregawi swept to the front in the third kilometre after the pacers stepped aside and the Ethiopian broke clear of the field, powering through to the final laps to a rapturous reception from the crowd, which historically loves displays of fearless distance running. 

In the men’s 400m hurdles, Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos achieved another dominant performance, clocking a world-leading 47.23 to come home a distant winner ahead of USA’s Khalifah Rosser and Quincy Hall, who both clocked personal bests of 48.10. 

“I’m happy with this, but I want more, I want to go faster,” said Dos Santos. “Me and (Rai) Benjamin never win against (Karsten) Warholm, and nobody wants to lose, but it’ll be hard for us to come up against him at the World Championships and win. He is the boss, the guy to beat, and for winning the final you need to run 45 (seconds) – everyone is so strong.”

Sprint queen Elaine Thompson-Herah once again asserted her supremacy with a comfortable win in the 100m, clocking 10.79 (0.7m/s) to beat Sha’Carri Richardson, who bounced back to form with a 10.92 clocking to edge Shericka Jackson, who was third in 10.92. Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith was fourth with 10.98. 

“I’m happy to cross the line healthy and with the win,” said Thompson-Herah, who explained prior to the event that she’d been managing a niggle in training. “It got me ready for my championship in Jamaica next month.”USA’s Trayvon Bromell laid down a big marker ahead of next month’s US Championships by defeating his chief rivals in the 100m, pulling clear to take a comfortable win in 9.93 (-0.2m/s). Fred Kerley was next best with 9.98, while Christian Coleman faded from first at halfway to third at the finish, clocking 10.04 just ahead of Noah Lyles (10.05). 

"I really just wanted to come out with the win as I knew the wind was iffy today," said Bromell. "There were some technical things I wanted to do better with but I just have to go back to the drawing board and try to fix it."

Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn came from behind to score an impressive win in the 100m hurdles, a non-Diamond League event, the Puerto Rican clocking 12.45 into a slight headwind (-0.7m/s) with Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan second in 12.58 and USA’s Tonea Marshall third in 12.66. 

“It was a little sloppy,” said Camacho-Quinn. “I hit my trail leg a couple of times and that slowed me up, but I’ll take it. I went 12.4 in these conditions.”

Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was a clear winner of the women’s 200m in 22.41 (0.8m/s), with USA’s Brittany Brown second in 22.74 and Anthonique Strachan of Bahamas third in 22.76. 

Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen re-asserted his supremacy in the Bowerman Mile, the Olympic champion breaking clear with a lap to run and coming home a comfortable winner in a world lead of 3:49.76, with Australia’s Ollie Hoare second in a PB of 3:50.65 and world champion Timothy Cheruiyot third in 3:50.77. 

“It was a great race – I’m where I’m supposed to be,” said Ingebrigtsen, who will “for sure” double over 1500m and 5000m at the World Athletics Championships Oregon22. Looking towards the European Championships in Munich, he said he’d “love to do 800m, 1500m, steeplechase, 5km, 10km and marathon, but I don’t think that’s possible with the schedule.”

He will next race over 800m before competing at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Oslo on 16 June.  Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson utilised her typical sit-and-kick tactics to great effect to take the women’s 800m, the Olympic silver medallist powering clear of race leader Natoya Goule entering the home straight and holding off the late surge of world indoor champion Ajee Wilson to win in a world lead of 1:57.72, with Wilson second in 1:58.06 and Raevyn Rogers third in 1:58.44. 

Olympic champion Athing Mu was a late withdrawal after contracting Covid-19, but Hodgkinson is looking forward to renewing their rivalry in July. 

“It would have been good if she was here, but she’s going to be there at the World Champs and I’m sure we’ll have a good duel then –  I look forward to racing her,” said Hodgkinson. “I felt really good, it was a bit windy out there but there was good competition, it was a good run. I can’t complain.”

Sweden’s Khaddi Sagnia unleashed a PB of 6.95m (1.0m/s) to take victory in the women’s long jump, with Nigeria’s Ese Brume second with 6.82m and USA’s Tara Davis third with 6.73m. 

Norah Jeruto, the Kenyan-born athlete who now represents Kazakhstan, produced an impressive display to win the women’s 3000m steeplechase in 8:57.97, a world lead. Bahrain’s Winfred Mutile Yavi was close behind in second, clocking a PB of 8:58.71, while Ethiopia’s Mekides Abebe was third in 9:03.26. In the men’s 1500m, a non-Diamond League event, New Zealand’s Samuel Tanner took victory in a PB of 3:34.37 in front of Britain’s Neil Gourley, who clocked a PB of 3:34.85.

Italy’s Martina Caironi set a world record of 14.02 in the T63 women’s 100m, while in the men’s T62 400m, Germany’s Johannes Floors took the win in 48.13.  

It is a measure of Eugene’s Prefontaine Classic meeting - which tomorrow forms the third stop on the Wanda Diamond League tour - that it can lose four Olympic gold medalists at late notice and still remain packed with compelling competition and world record attempts.

The arrangement of all that athletics action was altered today following forecasts of rain and high winds - likely to be blowing into the faces of the sprinters - on Saturday.

Accordingly the men's pole vault, featuring Olympic gold and silver medalists Mondo Duplantis of Sweden and Chris Nilsen of the United States, the women's discus, featuring the US Olympic champion Valarie Allman, and the women's high jump, involving Ukraine's world indoor champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh, have been moved to Friday night's programme, where world record attempts are being made over two miles and 5,000 meters.

The news that the United States' Olympic women’s 800 meters champion Athing Mu will not now race against Britain’s Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson, and that Italy’s men’s 100m champion Marcell Jacobs will not be in a field including the man he beat to gold in Japan, home sprinter Fred Kerley, was disappointing.

Also missing from the planned line-up at the new-look Hayward Field, which will stage this year’s World Athletics Championships, are home talents Matthew Centrowitz, the Rio 2016 1500m gold medalist, Tokyo 2020 and world 400m hurdles silver medalist Rai Benjamin and double world pole vault champion Sam Kendricks.

And South Africa’s double Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya, who had planned a first top-level race since 2019, has also withdrawn.

All this means the limelight will shine all the more intensely on stellar performers such as Jamaica’s double Olympic women’s 100 and 200m champion Elaine Thompson-Herah, who runs over the shorter sprint against a field including the American who missed last year’s Olympics because of a three-month suspension after testing positive for cannabis, Sha’Carri Richardson.

Britain’s world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith, who last Saturday won the Birmingham Diamond League 100m from which Thompson-Herah had made a late withdrawal, is also in the mix, as is Switzerland’s world indoor 60m champion Mujinga Kambundji and Jamaica’s Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Shericka Jackson.

Thompson-Herah chose to make a low-key start to her outdoor season, choosing to compete in Kingston, where she clocked 10.94sec despite a strong headwind of -1.8 meters per second.

It was on this track last year that she ran 10.54, putting her second on the all-time list.

The men’s 100m is also loaded given the presence of Kerley and his fellow Americans Trayvon Bromell, who will be keen to restore normal working after his early exit in Birmingham because of a false start, world champion Christian Coleman, world 200m champion Noah Lyles and Canada’s Olympic 200m champion Andre De Grasse.

And 18-year-old Erriyon Knighton, who last year became the youngest male athlete to represent the United States since middle distance runner Jim Ryun in 1964 and missed a 200m medal by one place, will seek to break 10sec for the first time.

Knighton already tops this year’s 200m world list with his startling 19.49sec in Baton Rouge last month, which put him fourth on the all-time list.

The women’s 200m will see double Olympic 400m champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo taking on Jamaica’s 35-year-old Beijing 2008 and London 2012 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, who won world gold at this distance in 2013 and took silver at the London 2012 Olympics.

The men’s 400m will see Kirani James of Grenada, the London 2012 champion and Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist, take on home athletes including Michael Cherry, Michael Norman – a major talent currently seeking a performance to do himself justice - Vernon Norwood and Kahmari Montgomery.

The absence of Benjamin from the 400m hurdles will offer Brazil’s Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Alison Dos Santos - who beat Benjamin in the opening Diamond League meeting of the season in Doha – a perfect chance to shine,

In the women’s 100m hurdles, Puerto Rico’s Olympic champion takes on the American who took silver behind her in Tokyo, world record holder Kendra Harrison.

The traditional Friday evening distance racing in Eugene will include a women’s two miles and a women’s and men’s 5000m race.

At the latter, which will be followed by an official Diamond League 5,000m on Saturday, Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei is billed to make an attempt at breaking his own world record of 12min 35.36sec, which he ran in Monaco in August 2020.

On Saturday afternoon the majority of the rivals Cheptegei beat to win Olympic 5,000m gold in Tokyo last year will line up for the Diamond League 5.000m, where Olympic 10,000m champion Selemon Barega of Ethiopia, Olympic 10,000m bronze medalist Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda, Olympic 5,000m silver Mohammed Ahmed of Canada and two-time Olympic 5,000m medalist Paul Chelimo of the United States are the main contenders.

Friday night will also see Ethiopia’s 24-year-old Letesenbet Gidey aiming to lower the women’s 5000m world record of 14:06.62 that she set in Valencia in October 2020.

Gidey has since lowered the women’s 10,000m world record to 29min 01.03sec and the world half marathon record to 1hr 2min 52sec.

Elsewhere on Friday, the women’s two miles will see Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, the Olympic 5,000 and 10,000m champion, facing Diamond League 5,000m champion Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi.

The latter, who was disqualified at the Tokyo 2020 Games, beat Kenya’s double Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon over 3,000m in Doha earlier this month.

The world best of 8:58.58, set by Ethiopia’s Meseret Defar in 2007, is sure to be under threat.

Saturday’s middle-distance action will be highlighted by the clash of Olympic 1500m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen and world champion Timothy Cheruiyot, who renew their rivalry in the Bowerman Mile. 

Ingebrigtsen beat Cheruiyot for the first time in the Olympic final in Tokyo last year but the Kenyan beat his Norwegian rival a few weeks later to win over 1500m at the Diamond League final in Zurich.

Both men will need to be primed, however, to beat Kenya’s Abel Kipsang, who out-kicked Cheruiyot to win in Doha recently and who backed it up with 1500m victory in Birmingham last Sunday.

Kipyegon meanwhile will take on Britain’s Tokyo 2020 silver medalist Laura Muir and Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia in the women’s 1500m.

Hodgkinson faces an 800m field that includes home runner Ajee Wilson, who took the world indoor title earlier this year.

The men’s shot put will involve the respective Tokyo 2020 gold, silver and bronze medalists Ryan Crouser and Joe Kovacs of the United States and New Zealand’s Tom Walsh.

Every year the Prefontaine Classic is an incredible meet. Not only is it the lone Wanda Diamond League meeting in the US, but Nike pretty much mandates that its top athletes compete unless injured.

This year’s meet was shaping up to be totally spectacular as it comes less than two months before Worlds are held on the very same track. However, while the meet is going to be amazing, it’s going to be less than amazing than it was looking like a few days ago as a bunch of big-name stars have been taken off the start lists in recent days.

Reigning Olympic 800 champ Athing Mu is no longer listed in the women’s 800. The same is true for Marcell Jacobs in the men’s 100, which this year is supplanting the Bowerman Mile as the last event on the schedule. However, he has been replaced by Trayvon Bromell –the fastest man in the world in 2021. 2016 Olympic 1500 champ Matthew Centrowitz also is off the start lists, meaning he still hasn’t raced at all in 2022.

“Matthew has a knee injury and is unable to race this weekend. Hopefully, he will be back in action soon,” texted Ricky Simms, the agent for Centrowitz, when asked for comment by LetsRun.com.

The Italian federation said that Jacobs picked up a muscle injury during his race in Savona last week and has been told to take 10 days off. No reasons have been given for Mu’s withdrawal and Wes Felix, her agent, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Friday night, the US 10,000 meter champs will be held plus there will be world record attempts in the women’s 2 mile with Francine Niyonsaba and Sifan Hassan as well as 5000s with Letesenbet Gidey and Joshua Cheptegei. Then on Saturday, the normal meet will be held.

The blue track of Savona’s Fontanassa Sports Center was the venue for Marcell Jacobs’ first 100m since his Olympic triumph in Tokyo last year. The Italian sprint star made a victorious return at the World Athletics Continental Tour Challenger meeting on Wednesday (18), winning the final in 10.04 (0.4m/s) after a wind-assisted 9.99 (2.3m/s) in the heats.

It was just shy of the 9.95 he ran on the same track last year when making his season debut, but was a solid return to action after an intestinal problem forced him to withdraw from the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Nairobi earlier this year.

“I struggled a bit,” said Jacobs, whose last race was his world indoor 60m victory in Belgrade in March. “I wanted to run faster in the final than I did in the heat. I thought that I could run better technically, especially in the second half of the race. I need some more work in training, but it’s just my first outdoor race of the season.

“I have time to reach my best form for the World Championships,” added Jacobs, who had originally been slated to contest the 200m in Savona. “But my next race, at the Prefontaine Classic, could be more difficult than at the World Championships, as I’ll face seven US sprinters.”

Arthur Cisse from Ivory Coast finished second in 10.10, beating former European record-holder Jimmy Vicaut (10.12). Sri Lanka’s YupunAbeykoon took fourth place in 10.16 ahead of Italy’s Chituru Ali, who improved his PB to 10.18.

Olympic 400m silver medallistMarileidyPaulino from Dominican Republic stepped down in distance to win the women’s 200m in a national record of 22.59 (2.0m/s). Paulino, who beat Olympic champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo over 400m at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Doha last Friday, missed Dina Asher-Smith’s meeting record by 0.03.

Paulino’s compatriot FiordalizaCofil achieved another victory for Dominican Republic by winning the 400m in 51.36.

Britain’s Olympic 4x100m bronze medallist Darryl Neita was fastest in the women’s 100m heats with 11.12, but she skipped the final to focus on the 200m, where she finished to Paulino in an equal PB of 22.81. Italy’s European U23 champion DaliaKhaddari was third in 22.83.

Two-time Italian 100m champion ZaynabDosso won the women’s 100m final in 11.21 after improving her PB to 11.19 in the heats, missing Manuela Levorato’s national record by 0.05.

“I am not completely happy with my performance,” said Dosso. “It was a good day at the office, but it is not the right time of the year for a super-fast time. It’s the start of the season. My goal is to come close to breaking the 11 seconds barrier and reach my best form for the World Championships in Eugene and the European Championships in Munich.”

World indoor finalist Nick Ponzio won the men’s shot put with 21.12m. Ponzio competed for the third time in just five days after throwing 20.53m in Ponce and 21.73m in Rovereto last Sunday. Olympic fifth-place finisher Zane Weir made it an Italian 1-2 with a best throw of 21.05m.

Dominica’s Thea Lafond, who finished fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade, continued her good form by winning the women’s triple jump with 14.53m. Ana Lucia Jose Tima from Dominican Republic finished runner-up with 14.46m.

Elsewhere, Brazil’s Rafael Pereira won the men’s 110m hurdles in 13.36, missing the meeting record by 0.06, and double World University Games champion Ayomide Folorunso won the women’s 400m hurdles in a meeting record of 55.29.

The Wanda Diamond League Final will be held alternately in Zurich and Brussels between 2024 and 2027, following a decision by the Diamond League Association’s General Assembly in March.

Hosting rights for the two-day season finale – at which all 32 Diamond League champions are crowned – have been awarded to the Allianz Memorial van Damme meeting in Brussels for 2024 and 2026, and to Weltklasse Zurich for 2025 and 2027.

The General Assembly made the decision on the recommendation of the Quality Commission, which reviews applications to host the final.

The host city is now confirmed for each of the next five Wanda Diamond League seasons, ensuring all stakeholders are able to plan beyond the short-term.

The final will be held in Zurich on September 7-8, this season, before moving out of Europe, for the first time in the series’ history, to the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene in 2023. Zurich was also the host in 2021, becoming the first city to hold the final as a two-day event featuring all 32 Diamond Disciplines.

As in 2021, future finals held in Zurich will be split between city and stadium. Day one will see selected Diamond League champions crowned at the iconic Sechselautenplatz in Zurich city center, while the remaining disciplines will be held as part of a bumper programme at the Letzigrund Stadium on day two.

In both Eugene and Brussels, both decisive days will take place at the stadium, the former at the newly renovated Hayward Field, and the latter at the Belgian capital’s King Baudouin II Stadium.

Memorial Van Damme will celebrate its 50th anniversary when it hosts the final in 2026.

The Wanda Diamond League Final is the showpiece event of track and field’s premier international one-day circuit and features the biggest stars of the sport.

Athletes compete for points at Wanda Diamond League meetings throughout the season, with the most successful qualifying for a place in the final and a shot at the iconic Diamond Trophy, the most prestigious title in athletics beyond the major championships.

Both the Brussels and the Zurich meetings have a wealth of experience in hosting the showcase event, having been joint hosts between 2010 and 2019, when the final was split between two separate meetings.

Both have also played host to some of the most memorable moments in Diamond League history.

Reigning Wanda Diamond League champion Timothy Cheruiyot and Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen will resume their rivalry in the men's 1500m when they go head to head in the prestigious Bowerman Mile at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene on May 28th. 

Cheruiyot claimed his fourth career Diamond Trophy when he edged out Ingebrigtsen in the final in Zurich last year, just weeks after the Norwegian had beaten him to the gold medal in Tokyo.

Ingebrigtsen, 21, already has a rich history of success in the Bowerman Mile. At the 2017 Pre Classic Ingebrigtsen became the youngest to ever break the four minute barrier, running 3:58.07 at the age of 16. One year later he would lower his time to 3:52.28 and come back again in 2019 with a 3:51.30. In last year’s race, Ingebrigtsen captured his first Bowerman Mile victory, running the fastest time ever on U.S. soil, 3:47.24. After breaking the Olympic record in Tokyo last summer and taking down the indoor 1500 meter world record earlier this year, it’s clear the Norwegian is ready to cement himself further in the record books.

The budding rivalry between Ingebrigtsen and Cheruiyot will add another chapter at the Pre Classic in 2022. After winning the Bowerman Mile and claiming gold at the World Championships in 2019, Cheruiyot took silver at the Olympic games last year. He would ultimately bounce back to beat the Norwegian in Zurich.

The third Wanda Diamond League meeting of the season will also feature a strong field in the men's 5000m, with Canada's Olympic silver medallist Mo Ahmed taking on home hero Paul Chelimo and 2018 Diamond League champion Selemon Barega of Ethiopia. 

In the women's discus, meanwhile, 2021 Diamond League champion Valarie Allman will be looking to use home advantage to get valuable points on the board in her bid to defend her title, going up against the likes of Olympic silver medallist Kristin Prudenz and six-time Diamond League champion Sandra Perkovic.

The medalists from the men’s Olympic 100m and 200m finals in Tokyo, plus the men’s world indoor 60m final in Belgrade, will all clash in a stacked 100m field announced for the Prefontaine Classic, part of the Wanda Diamond League series, in Eugene on May 28.

Reigning Olympic champions Marcell Jacobs and Andre De Grasse will go up against Fred Kerley, Kenny Bednarek, Noah Lyles, Marvin Bracy and Christian Coleman, as well as Olympic 100m fifth-place finisher Ronnie Baker, at Eugene’s Hayward Field.

They will all be looking to make their mark ahead of the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 taking place in the same stadium in July.

“I am honored and excited to be part of this year’s Prefontaine Classic at the University of Oregon in Eugene,” said Italy’s Olympic 100m champion Jacobs, who also claimed the world indoor 60m title in Belgrade last month.

“It’s going to be my first race in the US since the Tokyo Olympics and the adrenaline is already pumping. I can’t wait to feel the track beneath my feet.”

De Grasse won the 100m at last year’s Prefontaine Classic, a few weeks after becoming a three-time Olympic medalist in Tokyo. The Canadian claimed 4x100m silver and 100m bronze in Japan along with his 200m title.

Kerley secured 100m silver between Jacobs and De Grasse in Tokyo, while Bednarek gained silver and Lyles bronze behind De Grasse in the 200m. At the World Athletics Championships Belgrade 22, Jacobs was joined on the podium by silver medalist Coleman and bronze medalist Bracy.

The men's 100m is the latest in a number of strong fields announced for the Eugene meeting. All three Tokyo Olympic medallists – Athing Mu, Keely Hodgkinson and Raevyn Rogers – will race in the 800m, while champion Mondo Duplantis will take on his fellow Tokyo Olympic medalists Chris Nilsen and Thiago Braz in the pole vault.

Michael Norman, Michael Cherry and Kirani James will race the 400m, while Rai Benjamin and Alison Dos Santos will go head-to-head in the 400m hurdles and the 100m hurdles will pit Keni Harrison against Jasmine Camacho-Quinn. Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Nicola McDermott will renew their rivalry in the high jump.

World Athletics is deeply saddened to hear that Trinidad and Tobago’s Olympic and world 4x400m medalist Deon Lendore has died at the age of 29 in a car accident.

The three-time Olympian, who anchored his nation to relay bronze at the 2012 Games in London, also claimed two world indoor 400m bronze medals and a 4x400m medal of the same color.

Born in Mt Hope on October 28, 1992, the sprinter started out at local club Abilene Wildcats before moving to the United States to take up a scholarship at Texas A&M University.

He made his global debut at the 2009 World U18 Championships in Bressanone and competed at the World U20 Championships in Moncton in 2010. The following year he ran at his first senior World Athletics Championships in Daegu and less than 12 months later, at the age of 19, he made his Olympic debut in London.  

After racing in the 400m heats in the UK capital, Lendore helped the Trinidad and Tobago team to two national 4x400m records, as they first won their heat and then improved again to claim the bronze medal behind the Bahamas and USA, with Lendore holding off Great Britain’s Martyn Rooney on the anchor leg.

He dipped under 45 seconds for 400m for the first time in 2013, running 44.94 to claim NCAA silver, and improved to his PB of 44.36 the following year. Lendore was unbeaten in individual events in 2014, counting the NCAA 400m titles among his victories, and he later received The Bowerman award. The 45.03 PB he ran indoors that year remains the national record.

Lendore claimed his first world medal in 2015, when he formed part of Trinidad and Tobago’s silver medal-winning squad in Beijing, and he secured two world indoor medals the following year, gaining bronze in both the 400m and 4x400m in Portland. He repeated his 400m feat indoors in Birmingham two years later and in 2019 he ran the opening leg as part of Trinidad and Tobago's winning 4x400m performance at the World Athletics Relays in Yokohama.

After his second Olympic appearance in Rio in 2016, Lendore competed at his third Games in Tokyo in 2021, helping his team to eighth place in the 4x400m final and reaching the 400m semifinals. He went on to finish third in the Wanda Diamond League 400m final in Zurich last September.

"Words cannot adequately express our sadness at the devastating and untimely loss of three-time Olympian and Olympic and World Championships bronze medalist Deon Lendore, who has been an inspiration and motivation to us all both on and off the track," read a tribute from the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic Committee.

"Deon has flown the Trinidad and Tobago flag with pride, honor, patriotism and an indomitable will throughout his career while helping and inspiring many. We express our deepest and heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, teammates, coaches, Abilene Club, Community of Arima and all who he would have touched.

"It is a sad day for the Trinidad and Tobago Olympic and Commonwealth Sport Movement."

The past two winners of the women's Millrose Games Wanamaker Mile – Elle Purrier St Pierre and Konstanze Klosterhalfen – will race for further success when the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting returns in New York on 29 January.

World 5000m bronze medallist Klosterhalfen is the 2019 Wanamaker Mile champion and the multiple German record-holder went on to chase Purrier St Pierre all the way to the line in the 2020 race, setting her personal best of 4:17.26. Last year she placed eighth in the Olympic 10,000m final, going close to her national record with 31:01.97.

Purrier St Pierre, meanwhile, set her US indoor mile record of 4:16.85 at that 2020 Millrose Games meeting, a time which places her second on the world indoor all-time list. Since that breakout performance, she has set a North American indoor record of 9:10.28 for two miles, taking her to third on the world indoor all-time list, and then won at the US Trials in a meeting record of 3:58.05. She went on to place 10th in a high-quality Olympic final in Tokyo.

"I am really looking forward to racing the Wanamaker Mile this year," Purrier St Pierre said.

"This race has always been a special one for me and I certainly missed it last year. It's one of the most prestigious and historic races, it's always fun and always competitive, just the way I like it."

Joining them in the WHOOP Women’s Wanamaker Mile field are two other athletes who represented the USA in the Tokyo Olympic Games 1500m.

Cory McGee and Heather MacLean placed second and third respectively in last year’s Olympic Trials behind Purrier St Pierre, with McGee going on to finish 12th in the Olympic final and MacLean reaching the semifinals.

Josette Norris also joins the mix after a season in which she broke four minutes in the 1500m and placed third in the Zurich Wanda Diamond League final. 

Other major threats will be Jessica Hull, the Australian record-holder and four-time NCAA champion, along with world finalist Nikki Hiltz, British Olympian Katie Snowden and Spanish Olympian Esther Guerrero.

Rounding out the field is Olympic Trials fourth-place finisher Shannon Osika and both the 2021 NCAA mile and 1500m champions in Sage Hurta and Anna Camp Bennett, respectively.

Other athletes so far announced for the Millrose Games include world 100m hurdles record-holder Kendra Harrison, 2016 world indoor 60m champion Trayvon Bromell, Olympic shot put champion Ryan Crouser, world shot put champion Joe Kovacs, Olympic 800m champion Athing Mu, Olympic pole vault champion Katie Nageotte and world indoor pole vault champion Sandi Morris.

Organizers of the Millrose Games have announced that Olympic champion Athing Mu will take on world bronze medalist Ajee Wilson in the 800m at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold.

Aged just 19, Mu has this year established herself as the best 800m runner in the world and was undefeated at the distance indoors and outdoors. She won Olympic gold in Tokyo, breaking Wilson’s US 800m record, and then earned a second gold medal in the 4x400m. She went on to lower the US 800m record to 1:55.04 when winning at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Eugene.

“Millrose is the ideal place to begin my season,” said Mu, who last week was named by World Athletics as the 2021 Female Rising Star. “The audience brings great energy and I always look forward to the atmosphere and competing at The Armory – It's iconic.”

Wilson, a six-time Millrose Games champion, has not lost at this meeting since 2013. Wilson broke her own US indoor record at the 2020 Millrose Games, clocking 1:58.29.

“It's been a while,” Wilson said, referring to last season’s cancelled Millrose Games due to the pandemic. “I'm super excited to return to The Armory for the Millrose Games.”

World and Olympic finalist Natoya Goule-Toppin, the Jamaican record-holder indoors and outdoors, will join Mu and Wilson in the 800m at the Millrose Games.

These 800m stars are the latest big names to be announced for the Millrose Games, following the recent confirmations of Olympic shot put champion Ryan Crouser, world shot put champion Joe Kovacs and US 1500m champions Elle Purrier St Pierre and Cole Hocker.

Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica and Karsten Warholm of Norway have been named the World Athletes of the Year at the World Athletics Awards 2021, a ceremony held virtually on Wednesday (1).

Thompson-Herah produced one of the finest sprint seasons in history this year, retaining her Olympic 100m and 200m titles in Tokyo and adding a third gold medal in the 4x100m relay. On top of her Olympic triple, she also clocked world-leading times of 10.54 and 21.53 over 100m and 200m respectively, moving to second on the world all-time lists and coming within touching distance of the long-standing world records.

“I just take it year by year,” said Thompson-Herah. “I went very close to the world record so you know, anything is possible. No spikes hanging up any time soon!

“The World Championships in Oregon is most definitely my next big target,” she added. “It is close to home, I hope friends and family can come out and watch. I hope I get some crowd as well. That couldn’t happen in Tokyo but hopefully in Eugene I can get my friends and family to come and cheer me on.”

Warholm uncorked one of the most remarkable performances in athletics history when he stormed to gold in the 400m hurdles at the Tokyo Olympics. Having already broken the world record with 46.70 in Oslo in the lead-up to the Games, Warholm exceeded all expectations in the Japanese capital to claim gold in a stunning world record of 45.94. In a race of incredible depth, the top three athletes finished inside the pre-2021 world record.

“I’m so happy for this,” said Warholm. “First when I saw the time (in Tokyo), I was like, ‘This must be a mistake!’ Because I didn’t see that one coming. And I didn’t see the victory coming before crossing the finish line.

“It was a very intense race, I knew the American and the Brazilian and all the other guys were really chasing me. I always go out hard and I never know what is going on behind me. I was just fighting all the way to the finish line. When I realised 45.94 was the reality, I was thinking: ‘This is not too bad. I’ll take it!’"

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe congratulated all of tonight’s winners and finalists on their extraordinary achievements this year.

"We have this year celebrated some jaw-dropping performances in Tokyo, at the World Athletics U20 Championships in Nairobi and through our one-day meeting circuits – the Wanda Diamond League and the Continental Tour. So we’re delighted to recognise some of our stars at tonight’s awards.

"As a sport, we are in an incredibly strong position. 2021 has been an excellent year. We cemented our position as the number 1 Olympic sport coming out of Tokyo, we have the most God given talented athletes on the planet and our sport is the most accessible of all sports. Thank you to all our athletes around the world. I am looking forward to watching what you can all do in 2022."

The other award winners were:

Female Rising Star

Athing Mu

The US teenager was undefeated at 800m all year, winning Olympic gold at the distance following a long but successful collegiate season. She broke the senior US 800m record with her triumph in Tokyo and then improved it to 1:55.04 just a few weeks later. She also excelled at 400m, clocking a North American U20 record of 49.57 for the distance.

“It means the world to know that my support goes beyond friends and families and extends worldwide,” said Mu. “This award shows all young girls that your dreams can, indeed, come true."

Male Rising Star

Erriyon Knighton

Throughout 2021 the 17-year-old took down several marks that had belonged to sprint legend Usain Bolt. Knighton first set world U18 bests of 20.11 and 20.04 over 200m, but his rapid rise continued and he broke Bolt’s world U20 record for the distance with 19.88 and 19.84. He went on to finish fourth in the Olympic final with 19.93.

“I’m really thankful for this award,” said Knighton. “One of my most memorable moments of this year was making it to the Olympic final in Tokyo and finishing fourth at the age of 17.”

Member Federations Award

Federacion Costarricense de Atletismo (Costa Rica)

In recognition for their outstanding training, competition and development programme roll-out over the past 12 months, for their consultative work on the World Athletics Kids’ Athletics programme, and for successfully staging a host of international events over the past year.

Inspiration Award

Mutaz Barshim and Gianmarco Tamberi

The shared high jump victory between Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi became one of the biggest talking points of the Olympic Games – not only for everything it represented in their own individual careers, having both battled serious injuries since the last Games, but mainly for the act of respect and sportsmanship between two friends.

“It is just crazy if I think about this story,” said Tamberi. “Thank you very much for this trophy.

“I now call Mutaz like five times a week because I need to speak with him. I feel that now we are not just friends, we are really like blood brothers.”

Barshim added: “I hope to inspire more people to love our sport and maybe share a gold one day!”

President’s Award

Peter Diamond, Executive Vice President of NBC Olympic programming

“Athletics owes Peter a massive debt of gratitude,” said World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. “Peter has worked alongside us for effectively 40 years and has been a constant source of great advice and wise counsel, and occasional humour that has softened the edges of any particular situation. And he has made athletics a lot better.”

Coaching Achievement Award

Bobby Kersee

The US coach has guided the careers of many legendary athletes over the years, but this year two of his charges made history. Allyson Felix became the most decorated female track and field Olympian in history after winning her 10th and 11th Olympic gold medals in Tokyo, while training partner Sydney McLaughlin broke two world records in the 400m hurdles and claimed Olympic gold in the discipline.

Woman of the Year Award

Anju Bobby George

The former international long jump star from India is still actively involved in the sport. In 2016 she opened a training academy for young girls, which has already helped to produce a world U20 medallist. A constant voice for gender equality in her role as Senior Vice President of the Indian Athletics Federation, Bobby George also mentors schoolgirls for future leadership positions within the sport.

Jean-Pierre Durand World Athletics Photograph of the Year

Ryan Pierse’s photograph of the women’s high jump qualifying at the Tokyo Olympic Games

This year’s award is dedicated to the memory of Jean-Pierre Durand, one of the sport’s most prolific photographers and photo chief for a number of World Athletics Series events, who died in October.

“This winning image was taken on one of the morning sessions in Tokyo and it was a hot one,” said Pierse, who is from Australia. “I wanted to illustrate the heat and how it was affecting the athletes. It is a picture that I worked on for a while, and it all came together. I am really happy with it.

“I think it’s incredibly fitting that this award is named in memory of Jean-Pierre Durand,” added Pierse. “I had the pleasure of working alongside him, most recently at the Tokyo Olympics.”

Athletes from at least 28 countries are expected to compete when the final meeting of this year’s Continental Tour Gold series is held at the Kasarani Stadium, a World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting, in Nairobi, Kenya, on September 18, which recently hosted the World Athletics U20 Championships.

After winning her second Olympic 1500m title and then claiming the series crown at the Wanda Diamond League final in Zurich, Kenya’s Kipyegon will make her Kip Keino Classic debut. Uganda’s Olympic 3000m steeplechase champion Chemutai, meanwhile, returns to the event after her sixth-place finish in the inaugural edition of the meeting last year.

Both Olympic steeplechase champions will be competing, with Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco having already been announced for the men’s race. He is set to be joined on the start line by Kenya's world U20 champion Amos Serem.

Like Kipyegon, USA’s Fred Kerley claimed a Diamond Trophy in Zurich, becoming the first athlete to ever win top series honours in both the 100m and 400m. Three years after his 400m success, Kerley won the 100m in 9.87 in Zurich and the Olympic 100m silver medallist is now set to race in Nairobi.

In men's 100m action will be the USA’s world leader Trayvon Bromell, Kenyan record-holder Ferdinand Omanyala and the USA’s Justin Gatlin, while Botswana’s Isaac Makwala has been announced for the 400m.

Namibia's Christine Mboma improved her world U20 record and African record to 21.78 to win the 200m Diamond Trophy in Zurich and the Olympic silver medallist returns to Nairobi, where the 18-year-old won the world U20 title last month.

The men’s hammer competition will also feature an Olympic champion, with Poland's Wojciech Nowicki among those who will be seeking more success when they compete in Kenya.

Ukraine’s world finalist Iryna Klymets will compete in the women’s event.

From the moment that Olympic 5000m and 10,000m champion Sifan Hassan declared that she would race fellow Tokyo gold medallist Faith Kipyegon in the 1500m at the Wanda Diamond League final in Zurich, the race had the makings of an all-time classic.

And so it was.

Their first meeting this year was in Florence in June, where world champion Hassan had Kipyegon’s measure. But Kipyegon took back the initiative in Monaco in July and claimed a dominant victory at the Tokyo Olympics in August, as Hassan fought through the fatigue of her extraordinarily ambitious race schedule to secure the bronze medal.

But with two such exceptional talents – Hassan led their head-to-head record 9-8 before tonight’s race – each battle must be fought anew.

From the first lap, each only had eyes on the other. The pacemaker was forgotten as they both waited and watched for the inevitable showdown.

Kipyegon moved into the lead just after the bell, with Hassan shadowing her every step. The Kenyan surged down the back straight and then stepped up the pace around the final bend, but Hassan would not concede.

The Dutchwoman moved out of the Kenyan’s slipstream as they entered the straight and drew level. For a moment with 50m to go it appeared that Kipyegon might buckle under the pressure but her strength held and it was Hassan who faded slightly in the final metres.

Kipyegon stopped the clock in 3:58.33, just a metre ahead of Hassan in 3:58.55. The USA's Josette Norris came through for third in 4:00.41.

“I knew it would be a tactical race today," Kipyegon said. “I was confident that in the last lap I could do better and it worked.”

Hassan declared Kipyegon was “really one of the greatest athletes” but vowed to keep challenging her.

“Today was my last race (of the season) and I wanted to give everything, and I did that and I am happy about it," Hassan said before warning: “Next year, I will train my speed and I will be amazing.”

Close finishes were the order of the evening as the men’s 1500m followed an eerily similar script.

This time the protagonists were the world champion Timothy Cheruiyot and the Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

Until the Tokyo Olympic Games, the young Norwegian had lost 12 straight races to Cheruiyot but he finally turned the tables on the biggest stage of them all. However, Cheruiyot gained a measure of revenge in Zurich.

Cheruiyot employed the same tactics as his compatriot Kipyegon, forcing Ingebrigtsen to chase him from the bell. He tightened the screws gradually until he entered the home straight and lit out for home.

Like Hassan, Ingebrigtsen had the strength to challenge in the straight but not to draw ahead. Cheruiyot hung tough and took the glory (and his fourth Diamond League trophy) by 0.08 – 3:31.37 to 3:31.45. Australia’s Stewart McSweyn (3:32.14) completed the podium, one place ahead of his compatriot Ollie Hoare (3:32.66).

At tonight's talent-packed Wanda Diamond League Final at the Letzigrund in Zürich, Kenya's Timothy Cheruiyot evened the score with Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen by defeating the reigning Olympic 1500m champion by just 8/100ths of a second, reversing their finish places from Tokyo. With his victory tonight, Cheruiyot retained the Diamond League title he had earned in Brussels in 2019 and sent a signal that he'll be tough to beat at next summer's World Athletics Championships in Eugene where he will come in as reigning champion.

"That was good but a very tight race," Cheruiyot said. "I knew the standard was strong here, and I am happy."

In last month's Olympic final, Ingebrigtsen cleverly shadowed Cheruiyot throughout the race before overwhelming the Kenyan in the final sprint. Tonight, Cheruiyot took the lead from Australia's Stewart McSweyn at the bell, and held his lead through the final bend where Ingebrigtsen was still close behind. In the last 100 meters, Cheruiyot kept his signature forward-leaning form as he accelerated to the finish line in 3:31.37. Ingebrigtsen tied up in the final meters and had to settle for second in 3:31.45. McSweyn held on for third in 3:32.14 just ahead of his compatriot Oliver Hoare who ran a personal best 3:32.66.

"It is what it is," lamented Ingebrigtsen. "I am really happy with what I did in Tokyo. It is tough to go into races afterwards. So I am just happy to be done with this season and looking forward to the World Championships next year."

Cheruiyot, who nearly missed out on Olympic team selection after he only finished fourth at the Kenyan Olympic Trials, is also looking forward to 2022.

"I was having many challenges in Tokyo, so now I am getting better," he said referring to a pesky hamstring injury. "My hamstring is getting better and I am prepared for next season. My goal is that I know I need to defend my world title at next year's championships. That is my target now, but I need to work out (hard) because I know Jakob Ingebrigtsen is going to continue to get better."

In another epic rematch from Tokyo, Kenyan Faith Kipyegon out-sprinted Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan to win the women's 1500m in 3:58.33. Like in the men's race, Kipyegon was able to hold her form and run smoothly through the tape, while an exhausted-looking Hassan thrashed her way to second in 3:58.55. Hassan had defeated Kipyegon in the 2019 World Athletics Championships, but Kipyegon beat Hassan to third place in last month's Olympics. Their rivalry is sure to continue into next year.

"I was confident that in the last lap I could do better and it worked," Kipyegon said. "This is my second Diamond League trophy and my first as a mother. My family is watching tonight from home. I started my season well and I finished it well, I won almost all my competitions, especially the Olympic final. I am so grateful."

Kenyan men also won the 800m and 3000m steeplechase. In the two-lap event, reigning Olympic gold and silver medalists, Emmanuel Korir and Ferguson Rotich, finished in the same order again tonight. Rotich tried to win with a long drive from 250 meters out, but Korir --who was sprinting furiously-- passed him in the homestretch to win 1:44.56 to 1:44.96. American Clayton Murphy got third (1:45.21).

"I think it was tough today," said Korir. "But I managed to follow my strategy, tried to push it in the end and now I have this Trophy and I am very glad."

Benjamin Kigen upset Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco in the steeplechase by running away from the field on the backstretch of the final lap, hurdling the final water jump, then holding on in the homestretch before El Bakkali could catch him. Kigen clocked 8:17.45 to El Bakkali's 8:17.70.

"It was my wish to win today," said Kigen. "I am very happy now. Today was not a matter of time, but it was a matter of winning."

A Kenyan also won the women's steeplechase. Norah Jeruto, who did not compete in Tokyo despite being the fastest steeplechaser of the year (8:53.65), won a two-way battle over compatriot Hyvin Kiyeng on the final lap. The two women were even going into the last water jump, but Kiyeng landed flat-footed, lost her momentum, and Jeruto scampered away. Jeruto was clocked in 9:07.33 to Kiyeng's 9:08.55. Olympic silver medalist Courtney Frerichs finished third in 9:08.74; her strong sprint got her past Ethiopia's Mekides Abebe and Kenya's Celliphine Chespol.

British teen Keely Hodgkinson, the Olympic 800m silver medalist, added "Diamond League Champion" to her résumé tonight when she pulled away from Jamaica's Natoya Goule in the homestretch to win in 1:57.98. Gould looked safe for second, but a charging Kate Grace just edged her at the line (both women were timed in 1:58.34). Jemma Reekie, Hodgkinson's Olympic teammate, finished fourth in 1:58.61, the same position as the Tokyo Olympics.

All the event winners tonight earned provisional starting starting spots at next summer's World Athletics Championships (conditions apply) and earned USD 30,000.

Meeting records are hard to come by in the Wanda Diamond League, given it’s the premier one-day meeting circuit in the world, but three such marks fell at the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels on Friday (3), thanks to Mondo Duplantis, Sifan Hassan and Michael Cherry.

When the men’s pole vault got underway, some 40 minutes before the first track event, the King Baudouin Stadium was still filling up. By the time the contest reached its climax three hours later, with all other disciplines having long finished, Duplantis commanded the attention of every single person inside the venue.

Though the world record once again evaded Duplantis tonight, the 28,000 spectators – the largest gathering for an athletics meeting since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic – were treated to a vaulting masterclass from a legend of the sport.

The Olympic champion opened at 5.50m, skipped 5.65m and then got over 5.75m and 5.85m on his first tries. Four other men were left in the competition at this point, but only two of them got over 5.85m; Olympic silver medallist Christopher Nilsen did it on his first try, while US compatriot KC Lightfoot scraped over on his third attempt.

The US duo couldn’t quite manage 5.91m tonight, though, but Duplantis once again went clear at the first time of asking to confirm his victory. The 21-year-old Swede then raised the bar to 6.05m in a bid to add some height to his own 6.00m meeting record from last year. He brought the bar down with his first two tries, but got over it on his third attempt.

The bar was then raised to the would-be world record height of 6.19m. Following a short wait while the technical officials ensured all was set for a record attempt, Duplantis took to the runway but wasn’t particularly close to clearing the bar on his first attempt. His second try was significantly closer, and his third attempt was also decent, but a world record wasn’t to be tonight.

Nevertheless, Duplantis wasn’t disappointed with his winning height of 6.05m. Only he, Sergey Bubka and two-time world champion Sam Kendricks have ever vaulted higher outdoors.

"I was really close to the world record," said Duplantis. "Everything was perfect, it was just up to me. I haven't had such an amazing atmosphere during a competition in a really long time."

Almost a month has passed since Sifan Hassan’s final race at the Olympic Games, where she won two gold medals and one bronze. Having raced just once during that time, the Dutch distance star arrived in Brussels well rested and ready to take on the mile.

She was the only athlete capable of sticking with the pacemakers as they led through the first 400m in 1:02.03. By the time the second pacemaker reached the 800m point in 2:04.97, with Hassan still in close attendance, the rest of the field was about 30 metres adrift.

With a lap to go, it was clear from the wavelight technology that an improvement on Hassan’s 4:12.33 world record was not on the cards in Brussels, though it never really seemed as though that was her ambition for the race anyway. By this stage, her lead had grown to 50 metres and she kicked for the final lap, going on to win by more than six seconds.

Her winning time of 4:14.74, the fifth-fastest performance in history, smashed Faith Kipyegon’s meeting record by two seconds. Ethiopia’s Axumawit Embaye was second in 4:21.08, closely followed by Australia’s Linden Hall, who broke her own Oceanian record with 4:21.38.

“Since the start of the pandemic, we haven’t had such a big crowd and I’m so happy to see them,” said Hassan. “We haven’t experienced it for nearly two years; it makes you feel special. It’s amazing, I really love it.”

In Tokyo last month, Michael Cherry was beaten to the 400m bronze medal by just 0.02 as Kirani James pipped the US sprinter at the line. Today’s race in Brussels was the first clash between the pair since the Olympic final, and Cherry ran like a man with a point to prove.

He went out hard, as did James, and by half way the duo had started to open up a clear gap on the likes of Isaac Makwala and Liemarvin Bonevacia.

James almost drew level with Cherry on the final bend, but Cherry had another gear left and forged ahead down the home straight, crossing the line in a lifetime best of 44.03 to take 0.03 off Michael Johnson’s meeting record from 1998.

James finished second in 44.51 with Makwala taking third place in 44.83.

The meeting record may have remained intact in the women’s high jump, but it proved to be one of the most enthralling contests of the night.

Olympic champion Mariya Lasitskene breezed through the first few heights and hadn’t recorded any failures up to and including 1.98m. World silver medallist Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who needed three attempts to clear 1.95m, also got over 1.98m on her first try, while Olympic silver medallist Nicola McDermott needed two jumps to clear it.

But McDermott was then the first to go clear at 2.00m, getting over on her first try, then Lasitskene did likewise. Mahuchikh succeeded on her second attempt at 2.00m, but then nailed 2.02m on her first attempt, taking the lead at a critical point of the competition.

Lasitskene missed once and then passed to 2.04m, while McDermott had two misses at 2.02m before registering a third failure at 2.04m. Neither of the trio managed to get over 2.04m, leaving Mahuchikh as the winner. It was just the second time in Diamond League history that three women have cleared 2.00m in the same competition.

With Lasitskene having won in Lausanne and McDermott winning in Paris, Mahuchikh’s triumph in Brussels means all three Olympic medallists have achieved Diamond League wins since the Tokyo Games.

Kerley makes Diamond League history

Olympic 100m silver medallist Fred Kerley won the short sprint, becoming the first man to win over 100m, 200m and 400m in the Wanda Diamond League.

World leader Trayvon Bromell blasted into an early lead and held his form well, but Kerley rallied and held off the additional challenge from Michael Norman in lane seven, dipping well on the line to take the victory in 9.94.

Bromell held on to take second place in 9.97, just 0.01 ahead of Michael Norman (9.98), completing a US sweep of the top three places.

Christine Mboma, also an Olympic silver medallist, won the women’s 200m. The Namibian teenager came through strongly in the closing stages to edge in front of Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson and world champion Dina Asher-Smith.

Mboma stopped the clock at 21.84 while Jackson took second place in 21.95. Asher-Smith recorded a season’s best of 22.04 in third, and US 100m champion Sha’Carri Richardson was a few strides adrift in fourth place (22.45).

Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba produced a similarly well-timed finish to win the 5000m.

Once the last of the pacemakers dropped out at 2000m, Niyonsaba took up the running at the front of the pack with two-time world champion Hellen Obiri close behind. The Kenyan led for a brief stint too, passing through 3000m in a swift 8:42.57.

Niyonsaba, who finished fifth over 10,000m at the Tokyo Olympics, led again for most of the final kilometre, but Obiri kicked into the lead when the bell sounded for the final lap. She appeared to be on her way to victory, but Ethiopia’s Ejgayehu Taye came back strongly and briefly led with about 90 metres to go, then a rejuvenated Niyonsaba came back to take the lead in the closing stages, crossing the line in a national record of 14:25.34.

Taye took second place in 14:25.63 with Obiri claiming third in 14:26.23. World silver medallist Margaret Chelimo Kipkemboi set a PB of 14:27.12 in fourth as the top seven women finished inside 14:32 – unprecedented depth for a 5000m race.

Goule, Rotich and McSweyn take middle distances

Exactly one month since her eighth-place finish at the Tokyo Olympics, Jamaica’s Natoya Goule rebounded with a satisfying win over 800m, beating several women who finished ahead of her at the Games.

With the pacemaker passing through the first lap in 56.99, the field was still relatively tightly bunched with 300 metres to go. Goule held the lead, but Olympic silver medallist Keely Hodgkinson moved on to the Jamaican’s shoulder on the final bend and looked poised to strike.

Goule had saved something for the finish, though, and she held off the challenge from the British teenager, winning in 1:58.09. Hodgkinson was second in 1:58.16 from compatriot Jemma Reekie (1:58.77).

Stewart McSweyn led an Australian 1-2 in the men’s 1500m. The Oceanian record-holder overtook a fading Mohamed Katir on the home straight to win in 3:33.20 with compatriot Oliver Hoare taking second place (3:33.79). Poland’s Michal Rozmys was third in 3:33.96.

Olympic silver medallist Ferguson Cheruiyot Rotich was a comfortable winner of the non-scoring men’s 800m, crossing the line in 1:43.81 to win by more than a second from Belgium’s Eliott Crestan (1:45.24).

Hurdles victories for Dos Santos and Visser

Racing for the first time since taking Olympic bronze and moving to third on the world all-time list, Brazil’s Alison dos Santos won the men’s 400m hurdles with his trademark strong finish.

Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands led for most of the race, making up the stagger on Dos Santos, drawn one lane outside him, by the half-way point. Dos Santos stuck with McMaster around the final bend and drew level with Jamaica’s Jaheel Hyde. McMaster hit the penultimate hurdle, throwing off his rhythm slightly as he went into the final barrier. Dos Santos, meanwhile, came off the 10th hurdle much better and went on to win in 48.23.

McMaster finished second in 48.31 and Yasmani Copello took third place in 48.45.

The closest finish of the day came in the women’s 100m hurdles, in which Nadine Visser won by just eight thousandths of a second from Tobi Amusan, both timed at 12.69 (0.7m/s). Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper was third in 12.77.

Elsewhere, Steffin McCarter saved his best for last to win the men’s long jump. His sixth-round leap of 7.99m was not only the best in the ‘final three’ contest; it was also the top mark of the entire competition. Ruswahl Samaai was second thanks to his last-round leap of 7.89m, having jumped 7.95m earlier in the competition.

A willing but weary Sifan Hassan fell short of the women’s world 5000m record she was targeting at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon, on Friday (20) as she finished well clear of a stellar field in 14:27.89.

On the traditional Distance Night preface to the Prefontaine Classic that now forms the Wanda Diamond League meeting, the 28-year-old Dutch runner was clearly tired after an epic season, having won the Olympic 5000m and 10,000m titles in Tokyo earlier this month and added a 1500m bronze.

She had announced her intention of eclipsing the mark of 14:06.62 set by her Ethiopian rival Letesenbet Gidey in Valencia last year, but eventually finished outside her own European record of 14:22.12 set in London two years ago.

Had Hassan’s ambitions come to pass in a recently rebuilt stadium that had the welcome atmosphere of a live home crowd it would have been another blow to her rival Gidey, who in June this year ran 29:01.03 at Hengelo to better the world 10,000m record of 29:06.82 Hassan had set on the same track just two days earlier.

Hassan’s response in Tokyo was impressive as she beat the Ethiopian to the Olympic 10,000m title with an unanswerable sprint around the final bend.

But depriving her rival of one of her world records proved an aspiration too far on this occasion for a woman who already held world marks in the 5km road event, mile and one-hour race.

Within the first 1500m the race had become a time trial as Hassan was the only athlete left tracking the two pacemakers who were keeping pace with the blue guide lights on the infield.

By five minutes in there was only one runner ahead of her. And by the halfway point she was running alone with only the green lights of the world record pace for company.

At the 3000m mark, however, she was slipping behind that snake of flashing green, although she kept working.

With less than a mile to go, the snake was gliding ever further away from her, despite the efforts of the spectators sprinkled throughout the stands of an arena that will host the postponed World Athletics Championships next year.

A lap in 70.1 was followed by 71.83 and with three laps remaining she could see her latest ambition moving away from her, although she had already moved well clear of a stellar field at the end of a long and exhausting season.

As the bell rang it was clear how hard the Dutch athlete was having to work, and she grimaced as she set off for one final lap.

Hassan was followed home by two Ethiopian runners, as Senbere Teferi clocked 14:42.25 and Fantu Worku finished in 14:42.85.

The next four runners clocked personal bests as Kenya’s Loice Chemnung finished in 14:43.65, home runners Alicia Monson and Abbey Cooper recorded 14:48.49 and 14:52.37 respectively and Kenya’s Sheila Chelangat was seventh in 14:52.66.

Gidey had finished second in the previous event, the women’s two miles, clocking 9:06.74 behind Burundi’s Rio 2016 silver medallist Francine Niyonsaba, who finished in a meeting record and 2021 fastest time of 9:06.74.

Kenya’s double world champion Hellen Obiri was third in 9:14.55, ahead of Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen in 9:18.16.

(The 46th Prefontaine Classic, member of the Wanda Diamond League of international track & field meets, will be held August 20-21 at Hayward Field.)

Double Olympic gold medalist Sifan Hassan will bring her unmatched distance skills back to the Prefontaine Classic with an attempt at the world record in the 5000 meters on the first of the meet’s two days.

Hassan’s race will conclude a distance-special session on Friday evening as the Pre Classic returns to the re-imagined Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus. Festivities are set to begin at 8:00 p.m. Pacific time.

This will be the first race for Hassan since her historic Tokyo Olympics, where she became the first woman or man to earn medals in the 5000, 1500 and 10,000 in the same Olympic Games. Her medal haul in Tokyo equaled the most individually by any track & field athlete with a pair of gold medals in the 5k and 10k that sandwiched a bronze in the 1500.

Hassan even avoided potential disaster, getting up from a fall on the final lap of her heat in the 1500 to not only catch the qualifiers but pass them all in finishing first.

The 28-year-old Hassan also made history at 2019 World Championships in Doha, becoming the first woman or man to sweep gold medals in the 1500 and 10k.

Hassan owns two world records on the track – in the uncanny combination of the mile (4:12.33) and the longest distance achieved in the one hour run (18,930 meters, just over 11¾ miles).

She added a third WR on June 6 in her homeland of the Netherlands, lowering the 10k best by more than 10 seconds at 29:06.82. At the time she matched American Mary Slaney as the only person to hold both the mile and 10k WRs simultaneously. Alas, Hassan’s 10k WR lasted but two days and she now sits at No. 2 all-time.

Hassan also owns the Wanda Diamond League record in the 3000 meters, achieved at the 2019 Pre Classic in 8:18.49 when it was held at Stanford. Just four days after her 10k WR she set the 1500 DLR at 3:53.63, but that was broken in July. Her PR in the 1500 is 3:51.95, a European record that makes her No. 7 all-time.

Curiously, the weakest of Hassan’s PRs is right in the middle of her fantastic range, as her 5k best is “only” 14:22.12, which puts her No. 12 all-time. The world record that she is aiming for 14:06.62.

This will be Hassan’s fifth Pre Classic, and she has PRed in three of her previous four appearances.

Fresh from her triple Olympic triumph in Tokyo, Jamaican superstar Elaine Thompson-Herah will take on Olympic silver medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Lausanne on  August 26.

In a mouth-watering clash of the titans, the top six finishers from the Olympic 100m final will be in action at Lausanne’s Athletissima meeting as Thompson-Herah and Fraser-Pryce line up against fellow Jamaican Shericka Jackson, the bronze medalist in Tokyo, as well as Ivorian star Marie-Josée Ta Lou and Swiss duo Ajla Del Ponte and Mujinga Kambundji.

Thompson-Herah and Jackson will also clash over 100m at the Meeting de Paris on August 28 when they’ll also take on world 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith.

They are three of several Olympic medalists who’ll be in action at the Charlety Stadium later this month.

All three podium finishers in the women’s high jump will reunite in the French capital as Maria Lasitskene takes on Australia’s Nicola McDermott and Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh.

Olympic pole vault champion Mondo Duplantis takes on USA’s Chris Nilsen, the silver medalist in Tokyo, as well as two-time world champion Sam Kendricks – who was unable to compete in Tokyo – and former world record-holder Renaud Lavillenie.

Olympic steeplechase champion Soufiane El Bakkali and world champion Conseslus Kipruto – another duo that was unable to clash in Tokyo – will be in action in Paris, as will Olympic bronze medalist Benjamin Kigen.

Puerto Rican sprint hurdler Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, Indian javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, Jamaican sprint hurdler Hansle Parchment and US discus thrower Valerie Allman are four more Olympic champions who’ll be heading to the French capital later this month. Allman will face two-time Olympic champion Sandra Perkovic and French veteran Melina Robert-Michon, while Parchment will be up against Olympic finalists Pascal Martinot-Lagarde and Aurel Manga.

Laura Muir and Kalkidan Gezahegne, who earned Olympic silver over 1500m and 10,000m respectively, will meet in the middle over 3000m in Paris. Meanwhile, Olympic 100m bronze medalist Fred Kerley and Olympic 200m bronze medalist Kenny Bednarek will square off over the half-lap distance.

Dozens of medal winners from the recent Tokyo Olympic Games will be back in action at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Eugene when Hayward Field hosts the Prefontaine Classic on August 21.

Based on the announcements made so far by the meeting organizers, five events will feature a full set of Olympic medalists from Tokyo.

Double Olympic champion Sifan Hassan headlines the women’s 5000m field and she’ll take on two-time world champion Hellen Obiri and world indoor 1500m record-holder Gudaf Tsegay, the silver and bronze medalists in Tokyo over 5000m.

All three medalists from the men’s 5000m will also be in action as Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei, Canada’s Moh Ahmed and USA’s Paul Chelimo clash over two miles.

Teenage stars Athing Mu and Keely Hodgkinson, the top two finishers in the 800m in Tokyo, will be back in action over two laps, along with world and Olympic bronze medallist Raevyn Rogers, world champion Halimah Nakaayi, Britain’s Jemma Reekie, Jamaica’s Natoya Goule and USA’s Ajee Wilson and Kate Grace.

World record-holder and two-time Olympic champion Ryan Crouser will look to maintain his winning streak in the shot put when he takes on world champion Joe Kovacs and 2017 world champion Tom Walsh. Brazil’s Darlan Romani and US duo Darrell Hill and Payton Otterdahl are also in the line-up.

Jamaican sprint stars Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson – who filled the 100m podium in Tokyo – will face USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson and Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast.

The men’s 100m, meanwhile, features Olympic silver and bronze medalists Andre De Grasse and Fred kerley, along with world indoor bronze medallist Ronnie Baker, 400m specialist Michael Norman and African record-holder Akani Simbine.

Two-time Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon will once again line up against Olympic silver medallist Laura Muir and Canadian record-holder Gabriela DeBues-Stafford, while world champion Timothy Cheruiyot will clash with Olympic champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the men’s Bowerman mile.

In the women’s steeplechase, world champion Beatrice Chepkoech takes on world leader Norah Jeruto Tanui, Olympic silver medalist Courtney Frerichs and 2017 world champion Emma Coburn.

Other global stars confirmed so far include world 400m hurdles champion Dalilah Muhammad, Olympic triple jump champion Pedro Pablo Pichardo and world indoor triple jump record-holder Hugues Fabrice Zango.