2017 Brussels Diamond League Recap: World champs Conseslus Kipruto, Faith Kipyegon and Hellen Obiri earn Diamond League titles

by LetsRun.com
September 1, 2017

The 2017 international track and field season came to a close (for all intents and purposes) at the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels on Friday. But before the stars departed on a well-earned fall break, the world had one last chance to watch their brilliance at the second Diamond League final, and with $50,000 on the line for the win in each event, the meet did not disappoint.

There were some thrilling showdowns on the track, with Conseslus Kipruto coming back from the dead to defeat Soufiane El Bakkali in the men’s steeplechase and Faith Kipyegon holding off Sifan Hassan in an epic home-straight duel to win the women’s 1500 in 3:57.04. In other distance action, Hellen Obiri (14:25.88 in the 5,000), Nijel Amos (1:44.53 in the 800), and Elijah Manangoi (3:38.97 in the non-DL 1500) all concluded stellar seasons by winning their specialty events.

The highlight in the sprints was Shaunae Miller-Uibo’s world-leading 49.46 in the women’s 400. There was also a big win for 20-year-old American Noah Lyles in the men’s 200, which gets its own article here: LRC 20-Year-Old Noah Lyles Wins 2017 Diamond League 200 Final in Brussels

In the field, Mariya Lasitskene (high jump) and Katerina Stefanidi (pole vault) closed out perfect seasons and Christian Taylor closed out a fine season of his own to win his sixth straight Diamond League title in the triple jump.

Full recap, results and analysis below. We start with the mid-d and distance events.

Men’s 3,000 steeplechase: Conseslus Kipruto wins a thriller

On paper, the results of tonight’s men’s steeplechase in Brussels were exactly the same as they were in London three weeks ago: Conseslus Kipruto first, Soufiane El Bakkali second, and Evan Jager third. But that doesn’t come anywhere close to telling the final story as tonight’s race was the most exciting steeplechase of 2017.

Left for dead after he came off the final barrier three meters behind El Bakkali, Kipruto showed the heart — and the kick — that carried him to the world title by unleashing a furious sprint to earn victory at the line in 8:04.73 to El Bakkali’s 8:04.83. Jager, who was dropped on the backstretch and fell after trying to hurdle the final water jump, barely held on for third, edging fellow American Stanley Kebenei, 8:11.71 to 8:11.93.

The Race

The rabbits were tasked with running 7:55 pace (the world record is 7:53) and right away, the big dogs Kipruto and Jager signaled their intent to follow as they were 1-2 within 100 meters. They stuck right on the second rabbit, John Koech, but after the first rabbit — Haron Lagat, who had a five-meter lead on the field — passed 1k in 2:40.27, Kipruto and Jager quickly realized they were too slow and made a move up to join Lagat.

But Lagat soon stepped off hits track and the racers were on their own. So rather than speed up, the field slowed even more over the second kilometer, to 5:24.45 at 2k. It was going to take a heroic final kilometer for anyone to break 8:00.

As he did in London, Jager tried to make a long, sustained push from a mile out, and with two laps to go, it was down to the three London medalists. But just as in London, Jager was unable to create any separation, and the kickers El Bakkali and Kipruto were still there at the bell (7:03).

At that point, El Bakkali moved by Kipruto into third and then moved past Jager into the lead on the first turn. Kipruto followed behind, moving up into second as Jager could not respond; by the backstretch, the American champion had been dropped.

El Bakkali was really pushing in an attempt to earn his first-ever victory over Kipruto, and though he chopped his steps approaching the final water jump, costing him some time, he had a three-meter lead off the final barrier and appeared headed to victory.

But Kipruto is a champion and, more importantly, he has serious wheels: Jager told us in London that Kipruto can run 400 meters in 48 seconds. And coming off the final hurdle, Kipruto smelled blood in the water. He lowered his head and began sprinting for all he could and though El Bakkali did not ease up, he was powerless to respond, throwing his arms down as he crossed the line as Kipruto nipped him by a tenth of a second thanks to a 60-second last lap.

Kipruto still had some ground to make up entering the last barrier

Though El Bakkali will be kicking himself for falling short, he didn’t give this race away; Kipruto took it. It was a special run by a truly special athlete.

Jager made a brave attempt for the win, but the wheels really fell off on the last lap. Already adrift of the top two, Jager uncharacteristically hurdled the final water jump and wound up collapsing into the pit. To Jager’s credit, he picked himself up and fought off Kebenei to take third.

Jager fell late after going for it

3000 Metres Steeplechase - Men 
                                                                
    1 Kipruto , Conseslus              KEN    8:04.73           
    2 El Bakkali , Soufiane             MAR    8:04.83           
    3 Jager , Evan                     USA    8:11.71           
    4 Kebenei , Stanley Kipkoech       USA    8:11.93           
    5 Bett , Nicholas Kiptonui         KEN    8:12.20           
    6 Kigen , Benjamin                 KEN    8:13.06           
    7 Kirui , Amos                     KEN    8:18.32           
    8 Haileselassie , Yemane           ERI    8:19.19           
    9 Birech , Jairus Kipchoge         KEN    8:25.58           
   10 Bayer , Andrew                   USA    8:26.15           
   11 Kibiwott , Abraham               KEN    8:33.76           
   12 Martos , Sebastián               ESP    8:44.23           
      Koech , John Kibet               BRN        DNF           
      Lagat , Haron Kiptoo             KEN        DNF

Quick Take: Conseslus Kipruto is really, really hard to beat

Conseslus Kipruto has finished 12 steeplechases since the start of 2016 and lost one: the 2016 Kenyan Olympic Trials, where he was laughing and joking with his countrymen across the finish line. That may be the only way to beat Kipruto as his incredible ability and mental toughness was on display once again tonight.

Remember, in London, Kipruto was worried about losing to Jager the night before the World Championship final but then he woke up and told himself: “I’m better, I’m Olympic champion. I’m the best in the event, I’m going to beat them.”

Tonight, we imagine Kipruto thought something similar once he hurdled the final barrier as he dug as deep as we’ve ever seen him dig to close out another victory.

Kipruto may be a little disappointed with the time, considering he was aiming to run sub-8:00 tonight, but he got the win and a big payday as well. With no global championships in 2018, sub-8:00 will be there for the taking for Kipruto, and if he can avoid injury — such as the ankle issue he battled for much of this year — we expect him to do it.

Quick Take: Credit to Evan Jager for going for it; now he has an entire offseason to draw up a gameplan to beat Kipruto and break 8:00

Jager is unafraid to take it to the best in the world, something he showed both in London and Brussels. He’s also been able to get incredibly fit the last few years, and he’s been rewarded with Olympic silver and World Championship bronze. But Jager wants the gold, and to get it he’ll have to get by Kipruto (and El Bakkali), something that no one has been able to do the last two years.

The problem is, right now, Kipruto is simply better than Jager. Kipruto has a better kick, but he can also hold on to any pace Jager has been able to set. Jager and coaches Jerry Schumacher and Pascal Dobert now has several months to devise a way to beat Kipruto, but with the way Kipruto is running, there isn’t much they can do. Jager simply has to get fitter or be able to close faster, and when you’re already in 8:01 shape and can close in 56, that’s a tough ask.

However, in our mind, 2018 should be about one thing and one thing only – breaking 8:00. With no Worlds to peak for, Jager should not be afraid to rip it in practiceas whenever he gets in shape, he can find a race and go for it.

Women’s 1500: Faith Kipyegon ends her season in style, with a narrow win over Sifan Hassan in a seasonal best

The expected battle between Faith Kipyegon and Sifan Hassan lived up to the hype. In the end, Kipyegon, the Olympic and world champ, got the win as she pulled away from Hassan over the final 35 meters thanks to a final 400 of 60.9 and final 200 of 30.1 to win in a seasonal best of 3:57.04 as Hassan was second in 3:57.22. Kenya’s Winny Chebet, who was the only woman with the top two at the bell (2:56.1), was third in 4:00.18.

American Jenny Simpson ran a big seasonal best of 4:00.70 (previous best of 4:02.57) but was never a factor in the race. She moved up throughout, however, as she was 12th at 400, 10th at 800, 9th at the bell, 7th at 1200 and sixth at the finish.

The Race

The race was rabbitted by Britain’s Jenny Meadows, who was running the last race of her career, as she took the field through 400 in 61.80 and 800 in 2:07.39. Hassan and Kipyegon were the first two racers and right next to each other throughout. Hassan had the lead at the bell. On the backstretch, Kipyegon wanted to lead, but Hassan wouldn’t let her by. As a result, Kipyegon ran a little extra ground on the turn on the outside of Hassan’s shoulder. The two were right on top of each other as Kipyegon ran the turn as close to Kipyegon as is humanly possible without making major contact. 

Kipyegon and Hassan side by side on the final turn

They were basically side by side for the first half of the homestretch with Kipyegon just behind Hassan but at the 3:50 mark, Kipyegon started to move and up and she ever so slightly moved forward and got the narrow win.

POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK
1	Faith Chepngetich KIPYEGON	KEN	3:57.04
2	Sifan HASSAN	NED	3:57.22
3	Winny CHEBET	KEN	4:00.18
4	Gudaf TSEGAY	ETH	4:00.36
5	Meraf BAHTA	SWE	4:00.49
6	Jennifer SIMPSON	USA	4:00.70
7	Laura WEIGHTMAN	GBR	4:00.71
8	Angelika CICHOCKA	POL	4:02.77
9	Besu SADO	ETH	4:03.83
10	Rababe ARAFI	MAR	4:07.22
11	Malika AKKAOUI	MAR	4:10.76
12	Dawit SEYAUM	ETH	4:12.92
	Jennifer MEADOWS	GBR	DNF
	Emily Cherotich TUEI	KEN	DNF

Quick Take: Kipyegon ends her 2017 season a lot happier than 2016

Last year, Kipyegon won the biggest race of them all – the Olympics – but she ended her 2016 campaign on a sour note as she faded to seventh in the Diamond League final when a fifth place showing would have won her the DL title and $40,000. This year, after winning the biggest race of the year at Worlds, she capped her season in style, with a win over a big rival that netted her $50,000.

“I´m so happy to end my season on that way. Last year I was so disappointed but now I won the Diamond League, proving I’m in good shape,” said Kipyegon.

As for Hassan, she was satisfied with her effort but said she was still tired from Worlds.

“I am satisfied. I wanted to run the best possible race, and I did. But I still felt very, very tired from the London Worlds,” said Hassan.

For good reason. Given how narrow the result was tonight, we wonder if Hassan would have won had she also not raced the 3k in the Birmingham DL and the 800 in the Zurich meet. Contrast that to Kipyegon, who was racing for the first time since Worlds today. One of the hardest things about being a fan in the year 2017 is that so many pros hardly ever race, but as former athletes, we know how hard it is to consistently get up and deliver a big performance.

Quick Take: Races like this make us appreciate Jenny Simpson all the more

Watching Jenny Simpson race after Worlds hasn’t been pretty — 7th at Birmingham in the 1500 in 4:03.71, 9th in Zagreb in an 800 in 2:01.64 and now 6th in the DL final. But when it matters most, she’s on top of her game as she’s got four global medals on her CV.

Women’s 5000: Hellen Obiri wins as Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui arrives

World 5000 champ Hellen Obiri didn’t look good 12 days ago in Birmingham but with $50,000 on the line, she overcame her late-season fatigue to take the women’s 5,000 in 14:25.88, thanks to a 63-mid final lap and 30.4 final 200. Over the final 250, Obiri pulled away from Kenya’s Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui. Kipkirui (also known as Caroline Chepkoech), who only got into the DL final after a few women scratched (she was 14th in the DL point standings), ran a huge pb of 14:27.55 (14:51.87 pb coming in) for a much-deserved second. American fans, if the name Caroline Chepkoech sounds familiar there’s a reason for it: Chepkoech is the two-time champ of the Falmouth Road Race, having put up the largest margin of victory in 35 years on August 20th where she won $15,000. Ethiopia’s Senberi Teferi, who fell in the first mile, rallied for third in 14:32.03.

Kenya’s Beatrice Chepkoech, one of four women to have broken 9:00 in history in the steeple, was fifth in 14:39.33 – not bad since this was her first 5000 ever on a track. Top non-African honors went to Eilish McColgan as the Scot’s amazing 2017 continued. She broke 15:00 for the first time in her career in style as she also broke her mom’s PB (Liz McColgan, who owns a 14:59.56 ppb, was the 1991 world 10k champ) and 14:50 as well, running 14:48.49 for a new Scottish record.

The Race

The race was fairly evenly run as the first, second, and fourth kms were all 2:55. The third one was 2:51. Given the honest pace, the lead pack was down to three with four laps to go and with two laps to go it was a two-woman race.

5000 Metres - Women 
                                                                
    1 Obiri , Hellen Onsando           KEN   14:25.88           
    2 Kipkirui , Caroline Chepkoech    KEN   14:27.55           
    3 Teferi , Senbere                 ETH   14:32.03           
    4 Kipkemboi , Margaret Chelimo     KEN   14:32.82           
    5 Chepkoech , Beatrice             KEN   14:39.33           
    6 Rengeruk , Lilian Kasait         KEN   14:41.61           
    7 Gidey , Letesenbet               ETH   14:42.74           
    8 McColgan , Eilish                GBR   14:48.49           
    9 Krumins , Susan                  NED   14:51.25           
   10 Tirop , Agnes Jebet              KEN   14:52.39           
   11 Diro , Etenesh                   ETH   15:07.69           
      LaCaze , Genevieve               AUS        DNF           
      Tverdostup , Tamara              UKR        DNF           
      Assefa , Sofia                   ETH        DNS

Quick Thought: Obiri’s really hard to beat

Obiri has had a fantastic 2017. In addition to winning the DL and World titles, she also put up the world leader at 3000 (8:23.13) by a massive 5.52 seconds and 5000 (14:18.37) by 6.85 seconds. If you convert her 4:16.56 mile to a 1500 it converts to 3:57.52, which would put her #3 on the 2017 world 1500 list (although Genzebe Dibaba ran a faster mile, so maybe #4 as it would only be fair to convert Dibaba’s mile).

So right there, you see why she’s so hard to beat. Like Mo Farah, she’s got great 1500 speed and fantastic endurance.

Quick Thought: Welcome to the sub-14:30 club, Caroline Chepkoech Kipkirui

Coming into tonight, only 15 women in history had ever broken 14:30. Now there are 16 and check this out –  Kipkirui is now the 9th fastest woman in history at 5000. Not bad for a woman who didn’t even try out for the Kenyan team on the track this year. Coming into tonight, the highlights of her track career were finishing 3rd at World Youths in 2011, 5th at World Juniors in 2012, running 31:16 at Stanford last year, finishing 5th in the Kenyan 10k Olympic Trials, and running 14:51 for 5th in Doha this year. She was a prolific racer on the US road circuit last year, as she was third at the BAA 5k, Bolder Boulder, and Beach to Beacon, 2nd at Carlsbad and first at Azalea, Bay to Breakers, Falmouth and Silicon Valley.

Quick Thought: What a year for McColgan

McColgan started the season with pbs of 4:03.74, 8:43.27 and 15:05.00 and leaves it with PBs of 4:01.60, 8:31.00 and 14:48.49 – enough said. She’s also #4 all time on the UK list.

British all-time 5000m lists:

14:29.11 Radcliffe
14:39.96 Pavey
14:48.07 Budd
14:48.49 McColgan
14:49.12i Muir

— Steven Mills (@srmills90) September 1, 2017

Wahh! Buzzing to run another PB – by 12s! Scottish record and 4th on the all time list! It's been a good season! Don't want 2017 to end ???? pic.twitter.com/Bbmh2Hozbx

— Eilish McColgan (@EilishMccolgan) September 1, 2017

Men’s 800: Nijel Amos closes out a dominant year with the Diamond League title (but no World Championship medal)

Tonight in Brussels, Nijel Amos did what he has done all season long (with the exception of the World Championships): he got to the lead early and won in wire-to-wire fashion. Amos got out quickly and was a few strides behind rabbit Bram Som, who passed 400 in 49.61, with Asbel Kiprop a few strides behind Amos.

Amos continued to lead down the backstretch, where World Champs silver medalist Adam Kszczot, who had won the past two Diamond League finals, moved up from fifth to second place. At 600 (1:17.09), Amos was threatening to run away with it, but Kszczot and fellow London medalist Kipyegon Bett made a concerted effort to close the gap on the final turn and were in striking distance with 100 to go. But Amos, as he has so often this year, had a little something in reserve and pulled away to win in 1:44.53. Kszczot looked to have second sewn up, but meters before the line, he looked back to his inside. In fact, the threat was on his outside as fellow Pole Marcin Lewandowski blew by him; by the time Kszczot reacted, it was too late, and he had to settle for third.

The lesson, kids: run as hard as you can all the way through the line. This was the last of many hard races for Kszczot this season; did he really need to look back to see if anyone was close in the final meters? As a result, he missed out on an extra $10,000 — the difference between second and third place.

Quick Take: Nijel Amos was the clear World #1 this year, but he went home from Worlds empty-handed

Years from now, people will look back at Nijel Amos’s 2017 season and wonder how in the world he couldn’t medal at Worlds in a race that was won in 1:44.67. Amos won the final five Diamond League races, including the final tonight, had the #2 time on the year at 1:43.18, yet only finished fifth at Worlds. And it’s not like he made a ton of mistakes in the final; he just got beat on the final lap. Was he out of gas after three rounds? Perhaps, but Amos also ran 1:41 in the 2012 Olympic final to take silver and had to run three rounds there. Whatever the reason, Amos and coach Mark Rowland will have to dig for some answers in the offseason.

The good news, however, is that Amos returned to full health this year, his first as a member of the Oregon Track Club, and returned to the top of the event, a spot he occupied in 2014.

800 Metres - Men 
                                                                
    1 Amos , Nijel                     BOT    1:44.53           
    2 Lewandowski , Marcin             POL    1:44.77           
    3 Kszczot , Adam                   POL    1:44.84           
    4 Bett , Kipyegon                  KEN    1:45.21           
    5 Rotich , Ferguson Cheruiyot      KEN    1:45.25           
    6 Kipketer , Alfred                KEN    1:46.27           
    7 Giles , Elliot                   GBR    1:47.03           
    8 Kiprop , Asbel                   KEN    1:49.85           
      Som , Bram                       NED        DNF

Quick Take: A fitting result in a down year for the men’s 800

Before the race, we said that for someone to beat Amos tonight, they’d have to run under 1:44. And indeed, had anyone done that in Brussels, they would have been the DL champ. But few men have been able to run that fast this year, so perhaps it’s fitting that Amos won the DL final in a pedestrian 1:44.53.

Assuming nobody runs faster for the remainder of 2017, this would mark the first time in 10 years that no athlete broke 1:43 on the year. And if you compare the number of sub-1:43 and sub-1:44 guys this year to the recent past, you can see just how much of an outlier 2017 has been.

Men’s 1500: Elijah Manangoi wins as expected

As expected, 2017 world champ Elijah Manangoi took a fairly comfortable victory in this non-Diamond League race that took place before the international TV window, winning in 3:38.97. World Championship placing didn’t matter that much beyond the top spot however. France’s Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad, who went out in the first round of the 1500 in London, was second, almost half a second back in 3:39.42 (the only other man under 3:40), while Spain’s Adel Mechaal, who took fourth in the 1500 final at Worlds, was only fourth here tonight.

POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK
1	Elijah Motonei MANANGOI	KEN	3:38.97
2	Mahiedine MEKHISSI	FRA	3:39.42
3	Jordan WILLIAMSZ	AUS	3:40.03
4	Adel MECHAAL	ESP	3:40.43
5	Jamal HAIRANE	QAT	3:40.58
6	Vincent LETTING	KEN	3:41.15
7	Isaac Kipruto KIMELI	BEL	3:41.45
8	Adam CLARKE	GBR	3:41.72
9	Ali HAMDI	BEL	3:41.88
10	Tarik MOUKRIME	BEL	3:44.11
	Reuben BETT	KEN	DNF
	Jackson Mumbwa KIVUVA	KEN	DNF
	Ismael DEBJANI	BEL	DNS

Sprints

Men’s 200: Noah Lyles is so good he gets his own article

LRC 20-Year-Old Noah Lyles Wins 2017 Diamond League 200 Final in Brussels How do you spell “total stud?” N-O-A-H.

Women’s 400: Shaunae Miller-Uibo wins in style – with a world leader

Olympic champ Shaunae Miller-Uibo, who shockingly went from first to fourth in the final meters of the World Championships in London, got a little redemption tonight as she won the women’s 400 in 49.46 – a world-leading time for 2017 and just off of her 49.44 pb.

Miller-Uibo can thank Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser for her WL as Miller-Uibo had to fight to win this one. The Nigerian-born Naser, 19, was a revelation at Worlds as she lowered her pb from 50.88 to 50.06 and nabbed silver in the process. Today, she chopped even more off her PB as she ran a new national record of 49.88.

If you are wondering where world champ Phyllis Francis was absent, she didn’t qualify for the race as her 4th place showing in Birmingham last week was her only official DL race of the season.

POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK
1	Shaunae MILLER-UIBO	BAH	49.46
2	Salwa Eid NASER	BRN	49.88
3	Courtney OKOLO	USA	50.91
4	Natasha HASTINGS	USA	50.98
5	Shericka JACKSON	JAM	51.16
6	Novlene WILLIAMS-MILLS	JAM	51.27
7	Stephenie Ann MCPHERSON	JAM	51.72
8	Lydia JELE	BOT	53.11

Women’s 100: Elaine Thompson comes on late to win it

Thompson, much like Nijel Amos in the 800, has been totally dominant in the 100 this year but could only manage fifth place at Worlds. Apart from London, however, Thompson won her eight other finals this year, including tonight in Brussels, where she ran down World Champs silver medalist Marie-Josee Ta Lou for the win in 10.92. This was just the latest near miss for Ta Lou, who was 4th in both the 100 and 200 in Rio and 2nd in both the 100 and 200 in London. Though two silvers is an impressive haul, Ta Lou has to be kicking herself. She was .01 away from winning Worlds and .01 away from winning the DL title tonight. Had she won both, she’d have made an extra $60,000 in prize money alone — and, we imagine, a ton more in bonuses and sponsorship opportunities.

100 Metres - Women                                Wind: +0.4 m/s
                                                                
    1 Thompson , Elaine                JAM      10.92           
    2 Ta Lou , Marie-Josée             CIV      10.93           
    3 Okagbare-Ighoteguonor , Blessing NGR      11.07           
    4 Ahye , Michelle-Lee              TTO      11.07           
    5 Bartoletta , Tianna              USA      11.14           
    6 Akinosun , Morolake              USA      11.15           
    7 Levy , Jura                      JAM      11.17           
    8 Williams , Christania            JAM      11.35

Men’s 110 hurdles: Sergey Shubenkov holds off Ortega & Merritt

With world champ Omar McLeod of Jamaica skipping this one, the Diamond League title was up for grabs and halfway down the track, it looked as American Aries Merritt, who broke the world record on this track five years ago, was headed for the win. But Authorized Neutral Athlete Sergey Shubenkov, who earned gold and silver at the last two World Champs, ran a terrific second half of the race to earn the win in 13.14 as Merritt faded and was passed for second by Olympic silver medalist Orlando Ortega for second.

Wind +0.5 

POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK
1	Sergey SHUBENKOV	ANA	13.14
2	Orlando ORTEGA	ESP	13.17
3	Aries MERRITT	USA	13.20
4	Devon ALLEN	USA	13.24
5	Ronald LEVY	JAM	13.41
6	Garfield DARIEN	FRA	13.42
7	Milan TRAJKOVIC	CYP	13.47
8	Shane BRATHWAITE	BAR	13.49

Women’s 400 hurdles: Dalilah Muhammad adds DL crown to her U.S. title

This was a thrilling race between Dalilah Muhammad, the 2016 Olympic champion, and Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic, the 2013 and 2015 world champion. Muhammad, running in lane 6, went out incredibly hard and pulled level with Hejnova in lane 7 midway down the backstretch. They remained side by side for most of the race, with Muhammad opening up a slight gap on the final turn only for Hejnova to close the gap back up on the homestretch. But Hejnova could not finish the job and Muhammad wound up taking the title in 53.89 to Hejnova’s 53.93.

It’s been a great year for Muhammad, who ran 52.64 to win USAs, the fastest time in the world since 2011 and won the DL crown tonight, but she had to settle for silver at Worlds as she lost to countrywoman Kori Carter. In case you’re wondering why Carter didn’t run here tonight, she didn’t qualify. Though Carter ran 53.36 to win in Monaco on July 21, that meet didn’t count in the DL standings so she found herself shut out.

POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK
1	Dalilah MUHAMMAD	USA	53.89
2	Zuzana HEJNOVÁ	CZE	53.93
3	Ashley SPENCER	USA	54.92
4	Eilidh DOYLE	GBR	55.04
5	Sara Slott PETERSEN	DEN	55.54
6	Janieve RUSSELL	JAM	55.60
7	Léa SPRUNGER	SUI	55.98
8	Wenda NEL	RSA	56.30

Men’s 100: Yohan Blake wins

Men’s 400: Luguelin Santos takes the win as Dylan wins the Battle of the Borlees

The meet ended with a 400 as the Borlee brothers were in it but they couldn’t produce a win in front of the home crowd.

POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK
1	Luguelín SANTOS	DOM	45.67
2	Rabah YOUSIF	GBR	46.10
3	Martyn ROONEY	GBR	46.29
4	Dylan BORLÉE	BEL	46.42
5	Jonathan BORLÉE	BEL	46.44
6	Kévin BORLÉE	BEL	46.96
7	Patrick SCHNEIDER	GER	47.20
8	Teddy ATINE – VENEL	FRA	47.2

Field Events

Men’s Shot Put: Massive PR nets Darrell Hill $50,000

The US’s Darrell Hill, who was just 11th at Worlds, was in 4th heading into the final round of the men’s shot, which took place on Thurday at Brussels’ Place de la Monnaie. And then he came up with the performance of his life – unleashing a massive 22.44-meter throw that won the competition (and destroyed his old personal best of 21.91) ahead of 2016 Olympic champ Ryan Crouser (22.37). 2017 World champ Tom Walsh was just sixth with a 21.38m. Hill was obviously very pumped to have won $50,000. 22.44m moves Hill into the top 10 all-time for the US (#9) and moves him to #3 on the 2017 world list. America has the top 3 shot putters in terms of distance in 2017.

2017 World Top 5
1. Ryan Crouser (USA) 22.65m
2. Joe Kovacs (USA) 22.57m
3. Darrell Hill (USA) 22.44
4. Tom Walsh (NZL) 22.14m
5. Tomas Stanek (CZE) 22.01m

QT: Ryan Crouser picked the wrong meets to lose

Crouser has 7 of the top 10 longest throws in the world this year, but he’s picked the wrong time to lose. At Worlds, he had a foul that would have won the competition. That cost him $54,000 in prize money as he only finished 6th. Today’s 2nd place finish cost him $30,000 in prize money. (At a normal DL meet finishing 2nd would have cost him $4000 and finishing 6th versus 1st would cost him $8000). So that’s $84,000 in prize money Crouser missed out on. He likely lost a lot more than that in bonuses by not winning the World Championship while being Olympic champ, but he’s still the best shot putter in the world.

POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK
1	Darrell HILL	USA	22.44
2	Ryan CROUSER	USA	22.37
3	Joe KOVACS	USA	21.62
4	David STORL	GER	21.47
5	Tomáš STANEK	CZE	21.39
6	Tomas WALSH	NZL	21.38
7	O’Dayne RICHARDS	JAM	21.07
8	Konrad BUKOWIECKI	POL	20.54

Women’s Shot Put: Stefanidi stays unbeaten outdoors

Greece’s Katerina Stefanidi (who live in Ohio BTW) deservedly won the $50,000 Diamond League jackpot by clearing 4.85m on her first attempt, keeping the Olympic and world champ undefeated during the outdoor season – 12 for 12. The US’s Sandi Morris, the silver medallist at the Olympics and Worlds, finished second once again at 4.75m but actually had the lead heading into 4.85 as Morris cleared 4.75 without a miss while Stefanidi missed once at 4.75m.

The third placer was Canada’s Alysha Newman. The former collegiate star for Miami jumped a Canadian record of 4.75m for the second time in the span of six days as she also cleared 4.75 in Germany on Sunday.

POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK
1	Ekateríni STEFANÍDI	GRE	4.85
2	Sandi MORRIS	USA	4.75
3	Alysha NEWMAN	CAN	4.75
4	Katie NAGEOTTE	USA	4.65
5	Nicole BÜCHLER	SUI	4.65
6	Holly BRADSHAW	GBR	4.55
7	Lisa RYZIH	GER	4.55
8	Michaela MEIJER	SWE	4.55
9	Yarisley SILVA	CUB	4.55
10	Mary SAXER	USA	4.45
10	Anzhelika SIDOROVA	ANA	4.45
12	Fanny SMETS	BEL	4.45

Men’s Triple Jump: Christian Taylor Gets the Best of Will Claye

PPP (Pedro Pablo Pichardo) was leading going into the fourth round when the Americans took over with Will Claye going 17.35, but Christian Taylor one-upped him to 17.49 and that’s how they’d finish up.

Lifetime outdoors Taylor has a 20-15 advantage over Claye including two wins over Claye at both the Olympics and World Champs.

POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK	WIND
1	Christian TAYLOR	USA	17.49	+0.1
2	Will CLAYE	USA	17.35	-0.1
3	Pedro P. PICHARDO	CUB	17.32	+0.2
4	Troy DORIS	GUY	16.64	-0.5
5	Alexis COPELLO	AZE	16.55	+0.2
6	Chris BENARD	USA	16.37	-0.2
7	Jean-Marc PONTVIANNE	FRA	16.36	+0.2
8	Omar CRADDOCK	USA	15.89	-1.2

Women’s long jump: Spanovic wins a super tight competition in the final round

How close was this one? Entering the final round, five women were within five centimeters of the lead, led by Great Britain’s Lorraine Ugen, the world indoor bronze medalist. It was anyone’s competition.

But only one of those women could improve upon her mark, and that was Serbia’s Ivana Spanovic, who leaped 6.70 meters in round six to take the victory by five centimeters.

With cool, damp conditions, the marks were not nearly as far tonight as they were in London; Spanovic’s winning mark tonight would only have been good for sixth at Worlds.

POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK	WIND
1	Ivana ŠPANOVIC	SRB	6.70	+0.3
2	Lorraine UGEN	GBR	6.65	+0.1
3	Shakeelah SAUNDERS	USA	6.64	-0.2
4	Tianna BARTOLETTA	USA	6.63	+0.3
5	Brittney REESE	USA	6.61	+0.1
6	Shara PROCTOR	GBR	6.50	-0.5
7	Darya KLISHINA	ANA	6.49	-0.3
8	Claudia SALMAN-RATH	GER	6.21	+0.4

Women’s High Jump: Mariya Lasitskene completes perfect season

Mariya Lisitskene did what she’s done all season – win. Lasitskene cleared 1.97 on her second try and Yuliya Levchenko of Ukraine was the only one left in the competition at that point but she could not clear that height or her one attempt at 1.99 and Lasitskene’s perfect season was complete.

POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK
1	Maria LASITSKENE	ANA	2.02
2	Yuliia LEVCHENKO	UKR	1.94
3	Michaela HRUBÁ	CZE	1.88
4	Nafissatou THIAM	BEL	1.88
5	Kamila LICWINKO	POL	1.88
6	Sofie SKOOG	SWE	1.84
7	Levern SPENCER	LCA	1.84
8	Mirela DEMIREVA	BUL	1.84
8	Morgan LAKE	GBR	1.84
8	Oksana OKUNEVA	UKR	1.84
11	Erika KINSEY	SWE	1.80
12	Alessia TROST	ITA	1.80

Women’s discus: Perkovic clinches sixth straight DL title

Few athletes have dominated an event over the past six years as thoroughly as Croatia’s Sandra Perkovic has dominated the women’s discus throw. From 2012 to 2017, Perkovic has lost an average of just 1.3 competitions per year and the 2017 world champ closed out her year with her fifth straight victory and sixth straight Diamond League crown. Across all disciplines, only Renaud Lavillenie, with seven men’s pole vault titles, has won more DL titles than Perkovic.

POS	ATHLETE	COUNTRY	MARK
1	Sandra PERKOVIC	CRO	68.82
2	Dani STEVENS	AUS	65.85
3	Denia CABALLERO	CUB	64.61
4	Nadine MÜLLER	GER	62.85
5	Mélina ROBERT-MICHON	FRA	62.49
6	Whitney ASHLEY	USA	62.14
7	Yaimé PÉREZ	CUB	61.45
8	Julia HARTING	GER	59.89

Men’s Discus: World champ Andrius Gudzius gets DL title