2018 Memorial Van Damme Recap: The Diamond League Season Comes To An End In Fine Fashion
by LetsRun.com
August 31, 2018
The 2018 Diamond League season ended in style today with some stellar performances at the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels.
None was more shocking than the 12:43 thrown down by Ethiopia’s Selemon Barega in the men’s 5,000 meters — a race so insane that it gets its own article.
The men’s 100 was almost as good, as Christian Coleman became the eighth man ever under 9.80 seconds with a stellar 9.79 clocking, while Beatrice Chepkoech continued her mastery of the women’s steeplechase by running 8:55.10 — the third-fastest time ever and her fourth straight sub-9:00.
Laura Muir halted Shelby Houlihan’s undefeated outdoor season with an impressive win in the women’s 1500, while Emmanuel Korir closed out a near-perfect season of his own with another win in the men’s 800. Salwa Eid Naser also impressed with a 49.33 win in the women’s 400 just one day after running the 4×100 and 4×400 at the Asian Games in Indonesia.
The meet, which served as the second of two DL finals, paid out $50,000 to the winner of each event. Full recap, with analysis, below.
Prize Money 1st – US$50,000 2nd – US$20,000 3rd – US$10,000 4th – US$6000 5th – US$5000 6th – US$4000 7th – US$3000 8th – US$2000 |
Women’s 1500: Laura Muir wins after Shelby Houlihan doesn’t go with the early pace
Shelby Houlihan finally met her match. Entering tonight’s DL final, the 25-year-old American had yet to lose a race outdoors in 2018, her powerful kick carrying her to DL wins in Eugene and Lausanne and an American record in the 5,000 in Heusden. But Great Britain’s Laura Muir took her down, running a tactically sound race to take down Houlihan, who spotted Muir and the leaders 15 meters in the middle of the race. Houlihan did bridge the gap by the bell, but she could not run down Muir, who won in 3:58.49 to Houlihan’s 3:58.94 to earn her second DL title in three years.
Logic says that the best strategy against a big kicker like Houlihan is to force the pace, and that’s likely what Gudaf Tsegay would have done anyway as her preferred style is to run hard from the front. She was right on the rabbit from the get-go and at 400 (61.6 for Tsegay), she had already gapped the field. Sifan Hassan, doubling back from the 5k yesterday in Zurich, recognized the danger early and she and Muir broke away from the rest of the chasers, hitting 400 in 62.7. Houlihan, meanwhile, was almost two seconds further behind (64.5), sitting in ninth place overall.
By 800 (2:06.9), Hassan and Muir had caught Tsegay, while Houlihan had broken from the chase pack but still had A LOT of work to do as she was 15 meters back in 2:09.3. Houlihan had closed the gap by the bell, and with 400 to go, Muir led with Hassan, Tsegay, and Houlihan close behind. But Houlihan (65.2 from 700 to 1100) had worked harder on lap three than the leaders (Muir split 66.6 over the same segment). Would she have enough to kick?
Houlihan looked comfortable on the back straight as Muir began ratcheting up the pace, and she pushed even harder around the final turn, opening up a gap of three meters as she entered the straightaway. Houlihan was in second as Hassan and Tsegay could not hold on, but Houlihan could never close the gap as Muir won it thanks to a 60.79 final lap (30.09 final 200).
Results
1 Muir , Laura GBR 3:58.49 2 Houlihan , Shelby USA 3:58.94 3 Hassan , Sifan NED 3:59.41 4 Tsegay , Gudaf ETH 3:59.68 5 Embaye , Axumawit ETH 4:02.75 6 Chebet , Winny KEN 4:03.37 7 Ennaoui , Sofia POL 4:03.49 8 Arafi , Rababe MAR 4:03.82 9 Weightman , Laura GBR 4:04.36 10 Simpson , Jennifer USA 4:04.57 11 Vanderelst , Elise BEL 4:05.75 12 Jepkosgei , Nelly KEN 4:10.13 13 Alemu , Habitam ETH 4:11.33 Barysevich , Darya BLR DNF |
Quick Take: Laura Muir has made tremendous progress in 2018
Muir has been running fast for several years — she clocked 3:58 back in 2015 and her PR of 3:55 in 2016 — but the knock on the Briton is that she could not judge her pace correctly in the biggest moments. In both the Olympic final in 2016 and the World Championship final in 2017, she responded to hard moves by the leaders and wound up running out of steam late (and running herself out of the medals).
In 2018, it’s been a different story. She ran strong tactical races to earn medals in the 1500 and 3000 at World Indoors, and once again measured her race perfectly tonight. Muir responded when Tsegay moved early, but made sure she saved something for the final 200 this time around. As a result, she closed almost as quickly as noted kicker Houlihan over the final 200 (30.09 vs. 29.94) and came away with the win.
The 1500 will be even more competitive in 2019 with the return of Olympic/world champ Faith Kipyegon, but Muir is firmly in the medal discussion. And if she keeps getting her tactics right, that medal could well be gold.
Quick Take: Houlihan was not quite as good as she was at Pre or Lausanne
It’s easy to criticize Houlihan for allowing herself to get gapped early in the race. But that’s not why she lost.
Houlihan made her big move to catch the leaders on the third lap, but as the numbers show, she didn’t run crazy fast to do it. In fact, her third lap split was slower than in her two previous DL wins in Eugene and Lausanne.
Split | Eugene | Lausanne | Brussels |
300 | 48.3 | 47 | 48.1 |
300-700 | 66 | 64.4 | 65 |
700-1100 | 64.9 | 64.5 | 65.2 |
1100-1500 | 59.9 (28.9 final 200) | 61.4 (29.6 final 200) | 60.6 (29.9 final 200) |
Running a 65.2 solo is a bit harder than running the same pace in a pack, but the real reason for Houlihan’s downfall today was that her kick was just not as strong as in Eugene or Lausanne. Though she closed almost as fast today as she did in Lausanne over the final 200, that stat requires context.
First, she ran a faster time overall — 3:57.34 in Lausanne vs. 3:58.94 today. Second, she didn’t shift to top gear until 100 to go, at which point she blew away the field in Lausanne. Today, she was going hard from 200 out in an effort to hang with Muir and she couldn’t do it.
Perhaps it’s rustiness from not racing for six weeks, but Houlihan was not as good as earlier in the season while Muir improved. Still, 3:58 and second place in the DL final? If we offered that to Houlihan at the start of the year, she would have taken it.
Quick Take: A rough night for Jenny Simpson
Simpson was 10th in 4:04.57, her worst showing in a DL race since she was 12th in the 3k in Lausanne in August 2012 and her worst in a 1500 since September 2011 (also in Brussels).
Simpson, who turned 32 last week, acknowledged the poor race but is optimistic looking forward. She’ll have a chance to rebound as she goes for her sixth straight title at the 5th Avenue Mile next week.
What I’m most proud of in my career has been my consistency. For those of you who root for me because I’m a good bet, I let you down. I’m so sorry. In sports, bad days are inevitable and today was a bad day for me. Tomorrow will be bright again. #BrusselsDL
— Jenny Simpson (@trackjenny) August 31, 2018
Men’s 800: Emmanuel Korir shows he’s the best in the world
In case you didn’t know it, Emmanuel Korir won the Diamond League final in 1:44.72 to show he’s the best 800m runner in the world.
Tonight’s race went out slow in 51.10 and when the rabbit dropped out at 500 (the other main development at this point was Jonathan Kitilit falling just past the 400m mark), Korir was in an unusual position: third, behind Wycliffe Kinyamal and Marcin Lewandowski. Korir struck before the 200m mark and got the lead from Lewandowski and would never give it up, powering home with his exaggerated form to the victory by .49 over Lewandowski.
800 Metres - Men - Diamond Discipline 1 Korir , Emmanuel Kipkurui KEN 1:44.72 2 Lewandowski , Marcin POL 1:45.21 3 Rotich , Ferguson Cheruiyot KEN 1:45.28 4 Wightman , Jake GBR 1:45.96 5 Murphy , Clayton USA 1:45.97 6 Kinyamal , Wyclife KEN 1:46.02 7 Crestan , Eliott BEL 1:47.59 8 Gakeme , Antoine BDI 1:50.74 Kitilit , Jonathan KEN DNF Tuwei , Cornelius KEN DNF |
QT: Korir’s season was almost perfect
Emmanuel Korir did not lose an 800m race in 2017 that he finished healthy (he got injured at the World Championships). The record books will show he lost one 800m race in 2018 and it was a big one, the African Championships. But in that race, the starter shot the gun off before the runners were set and Korir and a few others got a late start on the field. That was enough for Nijel Amos to beat Korir, but with everyone running on equal terms, Korir was unbeatable in 2018.
QT: Clayton Murphy’s 2018 was a step in right direction
Clayton Murphy (6th in 1:45.97) ran much better today than he did in Birmingham two weeks ago (1:47.80 for 10th), but his best running came before the break for the European championships when he ran 1:43.12 to finish 2nd behind Korir in London. Murphy showed under Alberto Salazar he can be the same type of runner who won the Olympic bronze in 2016.
Women’s Steeplechase: Beatrice Chepkoech wins as the Americans fail to break 9:00
World record holder Beatrice Chepkoech of Kenya started out the women’s steeple boldly on world record pace as she ran her first km in 2:53.1 (8:39 pace) but in the end she had to settle for simply the DL title and yet another sub-9:00 clocking as she won in 8:55.10, her fourth straight sub-9:00 performance. Behind her, Norah Jeruto of Kenya, 22, became the fifth woman to break the 9:00 barrier as she ran a big pb of 8:59.62 (previous pb of 9:03.70). 2015 world champ Hyvin Kiyeng of Kenya was third in 9:01.60 while 2017 world champ Emma Coburn was fourth in 9:06.51, just ahead of American record holder Courtney Frerichs (sixth, 9:07.07). Coburn’s training partner, Aisha Praught, an American citizen who competes for Jamaica, was 8th in a Jamaican national record of 9:14.09 (previous record and pb of 9:19.29).
The Race
After the quick first km, Chepkoech slowed down significantly as she hit 2km in just 5:56.30. At that point, she led by a little more than a second but she soon started to re-extend her lead and her win was never in jeopardy. Behind Chepkoech, the Americans were running together but 9:00 was never really threatened as after running the first km in 3:01, they slowed on the second km as they hit 2k in 6:07.
Quick Take: Beatrice Chepkoech has put together the greatest season ever by a female steepler
If we ignore the 4 sub-9s achieved by doper Ruth Jebet, the 9:00 barrier has been broken a total of 8 times in history by 4 women. Beatrice Chepkoech is the only woman to have done it more than once and she’s done it in 5 times total, including her last 4 races.
1 08:44.32 Beatrice Chepkoech KEN Monaco 2018
2 08:52.78 Ruth Jebet BRN Saint-Denis 2016
2 08:55.10 Beatrice Chepkoech KEN Brussels 2018
4 08:55.29 Ruth Jebet BRN Zürich 2017
3 08:58.78 Celphine Chespol KEN Eugene 2017
4 08:58.81 Gulnara Galkina RUS Beijing 2008
5 08:59.36 Beatrice Chepkoech KEN Paris 2018
6 08:59.6 Norah Jeruto KEN Brussels 2018
9 08:59.75 Ruth Jebet BRN Rio de Janeiro 2016
7 08:59.84 Beatrice Chepkoech KEN Zürich 2017
8 08:59.88 Beatrice Chepkoech KEN Asaba 2018
12 08:59.97 Ruth Jebet BRN Eugene 2016
Perspective on how quickly the women's steeplechase has progressed: in 2015, only one woman broke 9:10 all year.
Tonight in Brussels, six women did it in one race. pic.twitter.com/QYHYcNYMKy
— Jonathan Gault (@jgault13) August 31, 2018
Quick Take: Coburn’s finishing ahead of Frerichs should earn her the #1 US ranking
It was a bit disappointing for US fans to see the two American women seemingly focused on each other instead of the 9:00 barrier. That being said, Coburn beating Frerichs wasn’t insignificant as it means that Coburn should be the #1 ranked US steepler this year.
Yes, Frerichs set the American record in Monaco but how can anyone say she deserves the #1 ranking in the US ahead of Coburn when Coburn won 3 of their 4 head to heads this year, including wins at USAs and the DL final? If Frerichs had beaten Coburn here, and their head to head this year was 2-2, we’d give Courtney the nod but not when it’s 1-3.
Women’s 800: Lynsey Sharp breaks 2:00
Brit Lynsey Sharp was the only woman to dip under 2:00 in this non-Diamond League race, clocking 1:59.93 to win handily over Swede Hanna Hermansson.
800 Metres - Women - Promotional Event 1 Sharp , Lynsey GBR 1:59.93 2 Hermansson , Hanna SWE 2:00.96 3 Yarigo , Noélie BEN 2:01.35 4 Eykens , Renée BEL 2:01.91 5 Hynne , Hedda NOR 2:02.29 6 Lyakhova , Olha UKR 2:02.51 7 McGowan , Brittany AUS 2:07.42 Velvere , Liga LAT DNF
Sprints
Men’s 100: Christian Coleman breaks 9.80
World indoor 60m record holder Christian Coleman got a fantastic start and then ran a fantastic race as he destroyed the field and won in 9.79. Coleman, who came in with a 9.82 pb, is now the 8th man in history under 9.80 and is tied with Maurice Greene at #3 all-time in the US. Behind Coleman, Ronnie Baker, who didn’t get off to his normal great start, rallied to finish second in 9.93, just ahead of Yohan Blake, who ran a seasonal best of 9.94.
Making the times all the more impressive is the fact that they were run into a -.3 m/s head wind.
If you adjust for wind and altitude, Coleman’s 9.79 today (run into a -.3 m/s wind) converts to a 9.77 whereas Tyson Gay’s 9.69 American record run from 2009 with a 2.0 m/s wind in Shanghai converts to a 9.78, as does Justin Gatlin’s 9.74 from Doha in 2015 (.9 m/s).
The actual best 100-meter performance in US history — when one adjusts for the wind and altitude — appears to be the 9.71 that Tyson Gay ran for 2nd at Worlds in 2009 in Berlin (+.9 m/s), which converts to a 9.75.
Christian Coleman wins Brussels 100m in 9.79 seconds (into a headwind), fastest time in the world in three years. pic.twitter.com/v4T8DpMYN7
— Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) August 31, 2018
100 Metres - Men - Diamond Discipline Wind: -0.3 m/s 1 Coleman , Christian USA 9.79 2 Baker , Ronnie USA 9.93 3 Blake , Yohan JAM 9.94 4 Prescod , Reece GBR 9.99 5 Simbine , Akani RSA 10.03 6 Rodgers , Michael USA 10.16 7 Ujah , Chijindu GBR 10.17 8 Young , Isiah USA 10.26
MB: Christian MF Coleman! 9.79! I never doubted you, bro. Never!
QT: Don’t forget about Ronnie Baker
Baker is a tremendous indoor runner, but he got an absolutely terrible start today. One of the worst we’ve ever seen. His reaction time of .251 was .085 worse than Coleman’s. Take .09 off Baker’s time and he’s at a very quick 9.84. If Baker had the fastest reaction time in the race (.121 by Akani Simbine), he could have won this race.
More: Wind Conversions
Men’s 110 m Hurdles: Sergey Shubenkov’s domination continues
Shubenkov was the only athlete under 13 seconds this year in the field, having done it three times, and he added a fourth in Brussels as he ran 12.98 to get the win over Orlando Ortega‘s 13.10. Hansle Parchment was a distant third in 13.35.
110 Metres Hurdles - Men - Diamond Discipline Wind: -0.1 m/s 1 Shubenkov , Sergey ANA 12.97 2 Ortega , Orlando ESP 13.10 3 Parchment , Hansle JAM 13.35 4 Martinot-Lagarde , Pascal FRA 13.36 5 Crittenden , Freddie USA 13.39 6 Allen , Devon USA 13.41 7 Levy , Ronald JAM 13.47 8 Baji , Balázs HUN 13.63
Women’s 100 Hurdles: Brianna McNeal wins it
As expected, this was a close battle between Olympic champ Brianna McNeal and World Indoor champ Keni Harrison. Ultimately, McNeal got it with a superior lean, clocking 12.61 to Harrison’s 12.63.
100 Metres Hurdles - Women - Diamond Discipline Wind: +0.1 m/s 1 McNeal , Brianna USA 12.61 2 Harrison , Kendra USA 12.63 3 Williams , Danielle JAM 12.64 4 Amusan , Tobi NGR 12.69 5 Nelvis , Sharika USA 12.80 6 Visser , Nadine NED 12.81 7 Berings , Eline BEL 12.94 8 Harper-Nelson , Dawn USA 13.08 9 Manning , Christina USA 13.34
Women’s 200: Shaunae Miller-Uibo caps perfect season
Shaunae Miller-Uibo capped a perfect season in 2018 by winning the Diamond League 200 title in a cakewalk in 22.12. World champ Dafne Schippers in 22.53 was a distance second, and Schippers ran inside of the lane for multiple steps on the curve so we can’t believe she hasn’t been disqualified (she was initially but was reinstated). Take a look at this:
What's wrong with this picture? pic.twitter.com/FXbeYz4zIH
— FloTrack (@FloTrack) August 31, 2018
A great run by Miller-Uibo in cool conditions (60 degrees) in Brussels.
200 Metres - Women - Diamond Discipline Wind: +0.1 m/s 1 Miller-Uibo , Shaunae BAH 22.12 2 Schippers , Dafne NED 22.53 3 Samuel , Jamile NED 22.64 4 Jackson , Shericka JAM 22.72 5 Prandini , Jenna USA 22.96 6 Thomas , Gabrielle USA 23.18 7 Lalova-Collio , Ivet BUL 23.36 8 Depuydt , Manon BEL 23.69 9 Bolingo , Cynthia BEL 23.82
Women’s 400: Salwa Eid Naser overcomes jet lag to demolish the field
With Olympic champ Shaunae Miller-Uibo opting to run the 200 here, Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser was the obvious favorite on paper in the 400. But Naser’s biggest opponent was fatigue; she had run both the 4×100 and 4×400 yesterday at the Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia and had to take an overnight flight, arriving in Brussels early this morning.
She showed no ill effects, opening up a healthy lead coming off the final turn before powering to victory in 49.33, a full second up on runner-up Phyllis Francis, the 2017 world champ.
Considering the fact that she ran two races yesterday and had to fly over 7,000 miles from Jakarta to Brussels, her 49.33 today may have been even more impressive than her 49.08 pb from Monaco last month.
400 Metres - Women - Diamond Discipline 1 Naser , Salwa Eid BRN 49.33 2 Francis , Phyllis USA 50.51 3 Wimbley , Shakima USA 50.77 4 Stepter , Jaide USA 51.17 5 McPherson , Stephenie Ann JAM 51.40 6 Beard , Jessica USA 51.47 7 Okolo , Courtney USA 52.18 8 Laus , Camille BEL 53.72
Women’s 400 hurdles: Ukraine’s Anna Yaroshchuk-Ryzhykova wins
With the world’s top women running the DL final in Zurich yesterday, the competition wasn’t great in this non-Diamond League event, with Ukraine’s Anna Yaroshchuk-Ryzhykova taking the win in 55.38.
400 Metres Hurdles - Women - Promotional Event 1 Yaroshchuk-Ryzhykova , Anna UKR 55.38 2 Claes , Hanne BEL 55.87 3 Folorunso , Ayomide ITA 56.12 4 Beesley , Meghan GBR 56.15 5 Tkachuk , Viktoriya UKR 56.15 6 Mykolenko , Mariya UKR 57.72 7 Nel , Wenda RSA 57.93 8 Grillet , Justien BEL 58.11
Men’s 400 (Non Diamond League): The world junior champ wins
Jonathan Sacoor, the 18-year-old world junior champ (45.03 pb), got a narrow win in front of the home fans over Kevin Borlee, who is now 30 and was 2nd at the recent European champs. Sacoor ran 45.59 to Borlee’s 45.62.
400 Metres - Men - Promotional Event 1 Sacoor , Jonathan BEL 45.59 2 Borlée , Kevin BEL 45.62 3 Bonevacia , Liemarvin NED 46.08 4 Solomon , Steven AUS 46.62 5 Yousif , Rabah GBR 46.72 6 Schneider , Patrick GER 46.76 7 Atine - Venel , Teddy FRA 47.14 Borlée , Dylan BEL DNF
Field Events
Women’s discus: Cuba’s Yaime Perez upsets Sandra Perkovic
For the first time since 2011, someone other than Sandra Perkovic is the Diamond League champion in the women’s discus. Perkovic had won all 10 of her meets in 2018 entering Brussels, and she held the lead through five rounds tonight. But both Yaime Perez and Brazil’s Andressa de Morais surpassed her in round six, relegating Perkovic to third — her worst finish since the 2014 Continental Cup (h/t Steven Mills).
After the meet, Perkovic revealed she’s been sick and she trashed the concept of awarding the DL title in a single meeting, saying, “Stupid things sometimes happen, but that is sports. Actually I was sick, I have a flu since 5 days ago. I thought I wouldn´t be able to compete. This is my 8th final, I won 7 of them. But this Diamond League should not be awarded in 1 final. And 30 seconds for each throw is ridiculous. In other disciplines like the long jump they get more. IAAF should consider this and not make fun of the athletes.”
Discus Throw - Women - Diamond Discipline 1 Pérez , Yaimé CUB 65.00 2 de Morais , Andressa BRA 64.65 3 Perkovic , Sandra CRO 64.31 4 Vita , Claudine GER 61.33 5 Lewis-Smallwood , Gia USA 59.28 6 Ashley , Whitney USA 58.75 7 Müller , Nadine GER 58.24 8 Caballero , Denia CUB 56.37
Women’s long jump: Caterina Ibarguen completes TJ/LJ double
After winning the DL triple jump title by one centimeter in Zurich last night, Ibarguen prevailed in tonight’s long jump competition, going 6.80 meters in round four, which was good enough to hold off runner-up Shara Proctor of Great Britain.
Ibarguen is now the fifth woman (first non-sprinter) to win two DL titles in one year:
Caterine Ibarguen confirmed as the long jump winner, becoming the first non-sprinter in history to win two Diamond trophies in one year.
Other DL doubles:
Felix (200/400, '10)
Jeter (100/200, '11)
Fraser-Pryce (100/200, '13)
Miller-Uibo (200/400, '17)— Jon Mulkeen (@Statman_Jon) August 31, 2018
Ibarguen had never competed on the Diamond League circuit in the long jump until this year and not long jumped at all in 2015 or 2016. She picked the big stage to win her first Diamond League long jump.
Long Jump - Women - Diamond Discipline Wind 1 Ibarguen , Caterine COL 6.80 +0.3 2 Proctor , Shara GBR 6.70 -0.4 3 Saunders , Shakeelah USA 6.68 -0.2 4 Mihambo , Malaika GER 6.61 +0.6 5 Stratton , Brooke AUS 6.57 -0.4 6 Ugen , Lorraine GBR 6.53 +0.2 7 Nettey , Christabel CAN 6.52 +0.4 8 Maudens , Hanne BEL 6.36 0.0 9 Sawyers , Jazmin GBR 6.33 +0.4
Men’s Pole Vault: Morgunov wins
A 3rd-attempt clearance at 5.88 put Timur Morgunov of Russia in the lead and when he cleared 5.93 on the first attempt, Sam Kendricks decided to move the bar to 5.98, where he missed all 3 times. Morgunov decided to call it a night with his $50,000 DL first place prize.
Armand Duplantis vaulted in his LSU uniform, where he will return to school once he returns from Europe.
Morgunov had a breakout year in 2018 as in 2016 and 2017 he wasn’t cleared to compete internationally with the Russian ban and had not vaulted over 5.80. This year he’s gone 6.00 and is the Diamond League champ.
Pole Vault - Men - Diamond Discipline 1 Morgunov , Timur ANA 5.93 2 Kendricks , Sam USA 5.88 3 Barber , Shawnacy CAN 5.83 4 Lisek , Piotr POL 5.78 5 Lavillenie , Renaud FRA 5.73 6 Wojciechowski , Pawel POL 5.68 7 Duplantis , Armand SWE 5.68 8 Filippidis , Konstantinos GRE 5.63 9 Hague , Adam GBR 5.53 10 Braz , Thiago BRA 5.53 Art , Arnaud BEL NM Marschall , Kurtis AUS NM
Men’s Discus: Jamaica’s Fedrick Dacres wins
The 24-year-old Dacres, who was 4th at Worlds last year and is the 2nd farthest thrower on the year, got the win with his first-round throw of 68.67m. It was his sixth straight win on the year. Finishing second was 2017 world champ Andrius Gudžius of Lithuania as 2018 world leader Daniel Ståhl of Sweden was third.
Gudžius admitted the right man won, saying, “Fedrick Dacres was just too good tonight, he beat me several times this year. I only beat him in Ostrava this year when he had an off day. But today, when it mattered for the Diamond League he was just too good.”
Discus Throw - Men - Diamond Discipline 1 Dacres , Fedrick JAM 68.67 2 Gudžius , Andrius LTU 67.56 3 Ståhl , Daniel SWE 66.74 4 Finley , Mason USA 66.09 5 Weisshaidinger , Lukas AUT 65.66 6 Harting , Christoph GER 65.13 7 Urbanek , Robert POL 64.03 8 Hadadi , Ehsan IRI 63.48
Men’s High Jump: Brandon Starc wins
The fantastic season for Australian Brandon Starc continued as he won with a second attempt clearance at 2.33m. Starc, who entered the year with a 2.31 pb but hadn’t cleared cleared 2.30 since 2015, has now cleared 2.30 in 4 of his last 5 competitions including an area record of 2.36 last Sunday. Plus his other clearance over 2.30 this year won him Commonwealth Gold in April.
High Jump - Men - Diamond Discipline 1 Starc , Brandon AUS 2.33 2 Przybylko , Mateusz GER 2.33 3 Tamberi , Gianmarco ITA 2.31 4 Protsenko , Andriy UKR 2.31 5 Thomas , Donald BAH 2.29 6 Tobe , Naoto JPN 2.26 7 Mason , Michael CAN 2.26 8 McBride , Bryan USA 2.23 8 Robinson , Jeron USA 2.23 8 Sawe , Mathew KEN 2.23 11 Ghuys , Bram BEL 2.20 Fassinotti , Marco ITA NM
Men’s triple: PPP gets best of Taylor
Pedro Pablo Pichardo took the lead in round 1 with a 17.31 and then when Christian Taylor matched it in round 4, he retook it for good in round 4 with a leap of 17.49 to even the season series with Taylor and get the DL title
Women’s Shot
This event was held yesterday but we’ll include the results in case you missed them.
Shot Put - Women - Diamond Discipline 1 Gong , Lijiao CHN 19.83 2 Saunders , Raven USA 19.64 3 Schwanitz , Christina GER 19.50 4 Dubitskaya , Aliona BLR 19.01 5 Guba , Paulina POL 18.54 6 Thomas-Dodd , Danniel JAM 18.27 7 Boekelman , Melissa NED 17.90 8 Leantsiuk , Yuliya BLR 16.13
Women’s high jump: Nafissatou Thiam wins event she was designed to win
This non Diamond League event was on the card to highlight Belgian’s Nafissatou Thiam and she did not disappoint getting the win in 1.89
High Jump - Women - Promotional Event 1 Thiam , Nafissatou BEL 1.89 2 McDermott , Nicola AUS 1.87 3 Okuneva , Oksana UKR 1.87 4 Hrubá , Michaela CZE 1.87 5 Strachová , Nikola CZE 1.78 6 van Hessche , Hanne BEL 1.75 Goossens , Zita BEL NM
Talk about the meet on our messageboard.
- Official 2018 Brussels DL Discussion Thread
- Holy sh**!!! The guy who couldn’t even medal at World Jrs or the African Champs just ran 12:43!!! Selemon Barega
- Christian MF Coleman! 9.79! I never doubted you, bro. Never! If