The Diamond League came to a close yesterday night with back to back events of the highest quality. Here’s our Zurich Diamond League results and highlights.
Shot Put Women
Maggie Ewen was a clear winner in Zurich, twice throwing over 19 metres to take the Diamond League crown.
Shot Put Men
Ryan Crouser cemented his 2021 dominance with a third round throw which nudged him past compatriot Joe Kovacs. Armin Sinancevic broke up the Tokyo podium by nudging Tomas Walsh into fourth.
5000m Women
Francine Niyonsaba held off the challenge of Hellen Obiri. The Burundi athlete is undefeated since Tokyo and has picked up wins at Pre, Lausanne, Brussels and now Zurich. Everyone will be eyeing a Sifan Hassan showdown in 2022.
High Jump Women
Mariya Lasitskene saved her best till last by clearing 2.05m to take the Diamond League crown. The Olympic champion’s second time clearance was the highest off the year.
Long Jump Mens
Thobias Montler held off the challenge of Steffin McCarter to take the biggest win of his career. The European indoor silver is now the Diamond League champion.
Long Jump Womens
Ivana Spanovic is your 2021 Diamond League champion. The Serbian’s win in Zurich was her sixteenth Diamond League event win, to add to World and European Indoor titles.
5000m Mens
In the absence of Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Berihu Aregawi backed up his second place in Lausanne over 3000m with a clear win in Zurich. Aregawi was fourth in Tokyo over 10,000m and is only 20. He is destined to be at the top of the sport for many years to come.
Pole Vault Womens
Anzhelika Sidorova became only the third women in history to clear 5 metres. She joins Yelena Isinbayeva and Sandi Morris, setting a Diamond League record in the process. In Zurich she was in a class of her own and it proved one of the highlights of a compelling night of diamond league action.
Discus Mens
Daniel Stahl was some way below his best but did enough to take the Diamond League crown. His first round throw was good enough to beat Kristjan Ceh to take the honours in Zurich.
Discus Womens
Valarie Allman was a clear winner in Zurich to back up her Olympic title with Diamond League glory. The USA athlete is the undoubted discus star of 2021.
Triple Jump Womens
Yulimar Rojas jumped nearly a metre better than Shanieka Ricketts. 15.48m, good enough to break the meeting record, is only her fourth best jump this year. It is two centimetres short of Inessa Kravets’s previous world record she broke in Tokyo.
Triple Jump Mens
Pedro Pichardo is the Olympic and now the Diamond League champion. His sixth round jump extended the gap over Hugues Fabrice Zango and cemented his position as the best triple jumper this year.
400m Womens
Quanera Hayes shocked Marileidy Paulino to take the Diamond league crown. Hayes’s triumph is the biggest of her career and helps aid the disappointment of finishing last in the Olympic final.
400m Mens
Michael Cherry continued his fine form since Tokyo to overcome Kirani James. Cherry is undefeated since Tokyo and reversed the order at the Olympics where he was fourth behind James.
3000m Steeplechase Womens
Norah Jeruto was a clear winner in Zurich despite stumbling over the final hurdle. The Kenyan, soon to be Kazakhstani (she missed the Olympics to fulfil citizenship requirements) has been the best steeplechaser in the world this year.
100m Hurdles Women
Tobi Amusan had a real breakthrough to beat Nadine Visser and take the Diamond League title. Her 12.42 broke the African record and comes off the back of an impressive 2021 season. She will head into 2022 hoping to challenge Keni Harrison and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn for global honours.
110m Hurdles Men
USA’s Devon Allen got over the disappointment of Tokyo fourth to claim Diamond League honours in Zurich. Allen came through over the final hurdle to out-dip Jamaican Ronald Levy.
1500m Womens
Faith Kipyegon held off the challenge of Sifan Hassan. The Dutchwoman looked to be getting the better of the Kenyan over the final eighty metres but Kipyegon held on to add Diamond League honours to her Olympic title. That takes Kipyegon to 3-1 versus Hassan this year. Another classic in Zurich I’m sure we’ll see plenty of highlights from these two in Diamond League clashes to come.
1500m Mens
Timothy Cheruiyot took his head-to-head record against Jakob Ingebrigtsen over 1500m to 11-1. The Kenyan held on through the final straight to take his first victory against the Norwegian since Monaco in July of this year.
It was a fitting reminder that there will be plenty more duels between these two to come, especially with an injury-free Cheruiyot in 2022 (he has struggled with a hamstring injury throughout this year).
Pole Vault Mens
Another Mondo Duplantis exhibition another Diamond League meeting record. No outright world record in Zurich but surely it is only a matter of time till the star takes his own 6.18m mark even higher.
Javelin Throw Mens
Johannes Vetter is the best in the world and, in the absence of Olympic champ Neeraj Chopra, cemented that status with his Diamond League victory. Vetter has only lost once this year, crucially in the biggest event of the lot.
Javelin Throw Womens
With Maria Andrejczyk failing to make a throw of any note in Zurich, Christin Hussong was there to claim the title. Her best proved over 2 metres ahead of the rest of the pack.
High Jump Mens
Gianmarco Tamberi added the Diamond League title to his Olympic triumph. Anyone watching the event would do well to miss this fact with Tamberi engaging in around an hour of celebrations afterwards with fans. The Italian was a popular champion.
100m Womens
Elaine Thompson-Herah rounded out an impressive season with another dominant win over 100m. The Jamaican ran under 10.7 for the fourth time this year, a feat which no other athlete in history has ever managed.
100m Mens
Fred Kerley ran 9.87 to win in Zurich, vindicating once again his decision at the start of this season to step down in distance. The 400m man adds Diamond League honours to an Olympic silver over 100m. He now has Diamond League titles at both 100m and 400m (2018).
3000m Steeplechase Mens
Benjamin Kigen claimed the Diamond League title, surging from 300m out to give himself enough of a gap for victory. After a stumble on the final hurdle it looked like he might have opened the door for Soufiane El Bakkali but the Moroccan’s final sprint proved too late to bring back the Kenyan.
800m Womens
Keely Hodgkinson underlined a fantastic 2021 season to prove herself best of the rest in the absence of Athing Mu. The Brit overcame Natoya Goule over the final 100m to add the Diamond League title to Olympic silver and a European indoor triumph earlier this year.
800m Mens
Emmanuel Korir proved an impressive winner to add Diamond League honours to his Olympic title. Ferguson Rotich made sure the Olympic top two was repeated with a slight return to form for USA’s Clayton Murphy.
400m Hurdles Women
Femke Bol held off the challenge of Shamier Little by cruising away after the final hurdle to break the meeting record. Zurich was Lea Sprunger‘s last as a professional.
400m Hurdles
Karsten Warholm made sure of Diamond League honours in a race where all athletes looked tired. His 47.35 whilst impressively quick was over a second outside his Tokyo best.
200m Womens
Christine Mboma improved her World U20 best by outdipping an impressive Shericka Jackson. Mboma’s win adds to her Tokyo silver and sends an ominous messenger to her challengers in 2022.
200m Mens
Kenny Bednarek reversed the Tokyo order by beating Andre De Grasse into second. The American has not finished outside the top two in any race this year and has run under 20 seconds on thirteen occassions.
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Featured image “Letzigrund” by ‘PixelPlacebo’ is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
