Chebet, Kipyegon and the Evening’s Surprise Fabbri Broke Three More Meeting Records at 48th Allianz Memorial Van Damme

Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet lived up to her favourite role in the 5000 metres, rushing to victory in 14:09.82. With that time, the Kenyan bettered the meeting record of the Allianz Memorial Van Damme, which had been held by Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana since 2016 with 14:18.89. Furthermore, Chebet only just finished above the year’s best performance in the world in Brussels, which  she had set in Zurich last week with 14:09.52. Second behind Chebet was 19-year-old Ethiopian Medina Eisa, who ran a new world U20 record of 14:21.89. Third place was for her compatriot Fotyen Tesfay in 14:28.53.

Faith Kipyegon was crowned Wanda Diamond League champion in the 1500 metres for the fourth year in a row. The triple Olympic champion did so in style, setting a new meeting record. Her time of 3:54.75 made the Kenyan 58 hundredths faster than Türkiye’s Süreyya Ayhan-Kop in 2003. Behind Kipyegon, Ethiopian Diribe Welteji (3:55.25) took second place. This means she too dipped just below the previous meeting record. Third place went to Olympic silver medallist Jessica Hull from Australia in 3:56.99.

Sensation in the shot put, where Ryan Crouser - also three-time Olympic champion - was beaten by European champion Leonardo Fabbri. On his first attempt, the Italian grabbed the limelight with a fabulous 22m98. In doing so, the Italian beat American Joe Kovacs' two-year-old meeting record by 37cm. Crouser also bettered the previous meeting record in his fourth attempt - 22m79 - but did not manage to improve Fabbri's performance. The American had to make peace with second place. Jamaican Rajindra Campbell came a good distance behind in third with 21m95.

BOL EXTENDS WINNING STREAK 
 
Femke Bol, who always gets a loud cheer in Brussels, ended her season with a resounding victory in the 400 metres hurdles. The Dutch athlete won by a (short) mile in 52.45 ahead of American Anna Cockrell (53.71) and Jamaican Shiann Salmon (53.99). Bol dominated the 400-metre hurdles in the Wanda Diamond League this season, winning five times out of five. In fact, she has been unbeaten in the Diamond League for a total of 24 races in a row.
 
In the men's 400 metres hurdles, Alison dos Santos was equally impressive in the series: he won five of the six qualifying meetings he participated in and is now also the best in the final. The Brazilian, bronze medallist at the Olympics, led from start to finish and won in 47.93, ahead of Qatari Abderrahman Samba (48.20) and Estonian Rasmus Magi (48.25).
 
BEDNAREK FLOORS TEBOGO
 
In the 200 metres, we got to witness a fantastic duel between Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo and Olympic silver medallist Kenneth Bednarek. The Paris order was reversed in Brussels: the American won in 19.67, relegating the Botswanan to second place with 19.80. Alexander Ogando of the Dominican Republic came third in 19.97. They were the only three to stay under 20 seconds in this Wanda Diamond League Final.
 
The USA also came out on top in the women's event. Brittany Brown, who took bronze in this event at the Olympics, won in 22.20. Britain's Daryll Neita finished second in 22.45. Another American, Anavia Battle, finished third in the race in 22.61.
 
In the 100 metres hurdles, the diamonds went to Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico, the Tokyo Olympic champion and bronze medallist in Paris. She was the clear winner in 12.38 ahead of the Netherlands’ Nadine Visser (12.54) and Jamaican Ackera Nugent (12.55).
 
WANYONYI IN THE NICK OF TIME, CHEROTICH SURPRISES YAVI
 
In the 800 metres, Emmanuel Wanyonyi looked beaten, but in the final metres the Olympic champion managed to overtake Canadian Marco Arop and Algerian Djamel Sedjati in a final burst. The Kenyan made it in 1:42.70. Sedjati came second in 1:42.86, Arop third in 1:43.25.
 
Kenya’s Faith Cherotich caused an upset in the 3000 metres steeplechase by beating Olympic champion Winfred Yavi, who competes for Bahrain. Cherotich, good for bronze in Paris, won in 9:02.36, compared to 9:02.87 for Yavi. Third place went to Ugandan Peruth Chemutai (9:07.60), the Olympic Games silver medallist.
 
TAMBERI OVERJOYED, ITALY ALSO TOPS LONG JUMP
 
In the men's high jump, Gianmarco Tamberi cleared 2m34 on his third attempt, thereby securing his victory in Brussels. The reigning European champion and 2020 Olympic champion was overjoyed and immediately started his well-deserved lap of honour. Ukrainian Oleh Doroshchuk (2m31) was second, South Korean Sanghyeok Woo (2m25) third.
 
There was also an Italian celebration in the women's long jump. Larissa Iapichino is the new Wanda Diamond League champion thanks to a jump of 6m80. The Italian outclassed two Americans: Monae Nichols (6m68) and Jasmine Moore (6m61).
 
1 CM DIFFERENCE IN THE JAVELIN
 
The men's javelin was wildly exciting. Anderson Peters from Grenada registered 87m87 on his first throw. Indian Neeraj Chopra reached 87m86 on his third attempt ... 1 centimetre short, in other words. Nobody was able to do better in the later attempts, so the diamond trophy goes to two-time world champion Peters. Behind Peters and Chopra, German Julian Weber (85m97) took third place.
 
In the women's event, Japan's Haruka Kitaguchi is the 2024 Wanda Diamond League champion. The Olympic champion did so with a throw of 66m13, her season's best. Serbian Adriana Vilagos was second with 65m23 and American Maggie Malone-Hardin third with 62m40.
 
The women's pole vault was also won by the Olympic champion. Australian Nina Kennedy (4m88) left American Sandi Morris (4m80) and Canadian Alysha Newman (4m80) behind. In the men's triple jump, Olympic silver medallist Pedro Pichardo was the laureate. The Portuguese won with 17m33 ahead of German Max Hess (17m20) and Hugues Fabrice Zango from Burkina Faso (17m05).
 
JESSE OWENS RISING STAR AWARD
 
Diribe Welteji and Letsile Tebogo were awarded the prize of best youngsters (U23) of the Wanda Diamond League Final on Saturday night for their performances. They were honoured to receive the brand-new Jesse Owens Rising Star Award. That trophy is designed to give top young athletes a boost. The winners were determined on the basis of a points system that allowed performances in different disciplines to be compared.
 
ALLIANZ LEGEND OF THE YEAR
 
Who was the absolute standout of this athletics year and who shone at this 48th Allianz Memorial van Damme? An expert jury including Meeting Director Kim Gevaert and Wilfried Meert, founder of the Memorial in 1977 and former Meeting Director, chose the winner. And that was Yaroslava Mahuchikh. The Ukrainian high jumper improved the world record this year, became Olympic champion in Paris and crowned herself Wanda Diamond League champion on Friday.
  
SATURDAY’S 16 WANDA DIAMOND LEAGUE CHAMPIONS:
 
Women:
100 metres hurdles: Jasmine Camacho-Quinn
200 metres: Brittany Brown
400 metres hurdles: Femke Bol
1500 metres: Faith Kipyegon
3000 metres steeplechase: Faith Cherotich
5000 metres: Beatrice Chebet
Javelin: Haruka Kitaguchi
Pole vault: Nina Kennedy
Long jump: Larissa Iapichino
 
Men:
200 metres: Kenneth Bednarek
400 metres hurdles: Alison dos Santos
800 metres: Emmanuel Wanyonyi
Triple jump: Pedro Pichardo
Shot put: Leonardo Fabbri
High jump: Gianmarco Tamberi
Javelin: Anderson Peters