Photo: Elaine Thompson (Getty Images)
In what was arguably one the most anticipated races of the athletics season, the women’s 200m at the Zurich’s Weltklasse leg of the fourteen IAAF Diamond League meetings, was a scrumptious serving of competitive sprinting. The race featured four previous and present global title holders in the form of recently crowned double sprint Olympic champion Elaine Thompson, Netherlands reigning 200m World Champion Daphne Schippers, former World and Olympic 200m champion USA’s Allyson Felix and Jamaica’s two time 200m Olympic champion Veronica Campbell Brown.
Thompson motored her way from behind to pip Schippers on the line in a new IAAF Diamond League record of 21.85. The Dutch woman was timed at 21.86 seconds with Felix grabbing third in a season’s best effort 22.02 seconds. It was a case of turning the tables for Thompson as she had to chase down Schippers who came off the turn with a sizable lead. But the Olympic champion showed good composure to hold her form and catch the World Champion on the line.
Campbell Brown was sixth in 22.51 seconds, with another Jamaican Simone Facey copping fifth in a season best effort of 22.50 seconds.
Asafa Powell sped to his 98th sub ten clocking securing the men’s 100m in 9.94 seconds, to secure an early ticket to next year’s World Championship to be held in London, England.
Entering the penultimate IAAF Diamond League meeting in fourth position behind Ivory Coast’s Ben Youssef Meit, the former World record holder jumped from fourth to first in the overall Diamond Race standings in the 100m.
Meite was third after he was pipped on the line by South Africa’s Akani Simbine, with both athletes registering 9.99 seconds. Olympic 110m champion Omar McLeod was sixth in 10.12 seconds.
Olympic Sprint relay silver medalist Christania Williams won the Pre-program women’s 100m in 11.04 (-0.1m/s) defeating USA’s world indoor 60m champion Barbara Pierre, 11.20 and Ukraine’s Natalia Pohrebniak 11.23 seconds.
The other Jamaican in action Ayesha Praught was ninth best in the women’s 3000m steeplechase in 9:33.10 seconds. The event went to the infamous Bahrainian Ruth Jebet who won in a new meeting record of 9.07.00 seconds.
The quartet of Williams, Facey, Campbell-Brown and Thompson bounced back from their Rio defeat to win the women’s 4×100 relay in 41.65 seconds
In other top events on the day, reigning Olympic bronze medallist LaShawn Merritt had to dig deep to stave off the challenge from Grenada’s Bralon Taplin to win the 400m in 44.64 and in the process wrapped up yet another Diamond Trophy. Taplin was timed in 44.70 seconds and Costa Rican Nery Brenes third in 45.18 seconds.
The women’s 100m hurdles world record-holder Kendra Harrison continued her good season trumping up her sixth IAAF Diamond League victory of 2016 and her first Diamond League crown, winning in 12.63. Britain’s Cindy Ofili finished second in 12.70 with USA’s Dawn Harper Nelson taking third in 12.73.
The dominant South African Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya won that event in 1:56.44, ahead of Rio’s silver medalist Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi in 1:56.76 seconds and Kenya’s Margret Wambui in 1:57.04 seconds.
Olympic 400m hurdles champion Kerron Clement fought hard to pull off victory in his event and secure the Diamond trophy. He won in 48.72 seconds ahead of Puerto Rico Javier Culson taking second in 48.79 and South Africa’s LJ van Zyl finishing third in 48.80 seconds, surging in the last few meters to win on the line.
The IAAF Diamond League season will culminate in Brussels, Belgium on September 9, 2016.
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