Duplantis Better Than Last Year, Denny Pulverises 40-year-old Meeting Record

Mondo Duplantis needed only three jumps to become Wanda Diamond League Champion in the pole vault. The Swede smoothly cleared 5m62 and 5m92. The 5m92 was the height at which his three remaining ‘competitors’ - Emmanouil Karalis, Sam Kendricks and Ben Broeders - saw the bar come down three times. The American and Belgian shared third place with 5m82, while the Greek took second place with the same height but fewer invalid jumps.

To spoil the crowd, Duplantis had the bar set at 6m11, 1cm higher than the meeting record he jumped at the King Baudouin Stadium last year. His first attempt was immediately successful and led to a great burst of joy from the Olympic Champion. “My legs felt terrible tonight, I am very tired,” Duplantis confessed afterwards. “6m11 is a good result, but I really didn’t have the world record in me tonight. It's not easy to do better every time. Everything has to fall into place. Now it's time to celebrate my great season: I'm definitely going to have some nice Belgian beers tonight!”

Discus thrower Matthew Denny also has something to celebrate. At his first attempt, the Paris bronze medallist threw the discus 69m96. In doing so, he bettered Czechoslovakian Imrich Bugar's 1984 meeting record by 2cm! And it is also a new Australian record. Nobody could keep Denny from winning in Brussels. Lithuanian Olympic silver medallist Mykolas Alekna came second with 68m86, Austrian Lukas Weisshaidinger third with 66m52.
 
Olympic Champion Valarie Allman of the USA was outstanding in the women's discus throw with a throw of 68m47. Olympic silver medallist Bin Feng (67m49) of China had to be satisfied with second place, just like in Paris. Cuban Yaimé Perez (66m96) came third.

INGEBRIGTSEN FINALLY FLOORS HOCKER 

It was a cold evening in Brussels, around 13 degrees, which probably meant that absolute top times were not reached. But of course, we did get to see beautiful and exciting races.

In the 1500 metres, Jakob Ingebrigtsen triumphed. The Norwegian wiped away his fourth place in the Olympic final with a resounding victory in the Wanda Diamond League final. Ingebrigtsen won in 3:30.37 ahead of Kenyan Timothy Cheruiyot (3:30.93) and US Olympic Champion Cole Hocker (3:30.94).

ALFRED AND BLAKE SPRINT CHAMPIONS

In the women's 100 metres, all eyes were on the clash between Olympic Champion Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia and World Champion Sha'Carri Richardson. However, it did not come to a duel between the two, as the American only finished eighth in 11.23. Alfred was in excellent form though, winning in 10.88. Britain's Dina Asher-Smith came second in 10.92, Ivory Coast's Marie-Josée Talou-Smith third in 11.05.

In the men's 100 metres, Ackeem Blake was the only one to dip under 10 seconds. The Jamaican finished after 9.92. Americans Christian Coleman (10.00) and Fred Kerley (10.01) had to make do with second and third places.

ETHIOPIAN PODIUM FOR 5000 METRES

In the 5000 metres, the entire podium was Ethiopian: Berihu Aregawi (12:43.66), the Olympic silver medallist in the 10,000 metres, triumphed ahead of Hagos Gebrhiwet (12:44.25) and Telahun Haile Bekele (12:45.63). Isaac Kimeli finished in a strong sixth place in 12:58.16. Another Belgian, Thomas Vanoppen, acted as pacer in this final.

In the 3000-metre steeple, Kenyan Amos Serem (8:06.90) easily bested Olympic Champion Soufiane El Bakkali (8:08.60) from Morocco in the final sprint. Swiss Mohamed Amin Jhinaoui (8:09.68) finished a fine third.

Olympic Champion Marileidy Paulino from the Dominican Republic lived up to her role as favourite in the 400 metres, winning decisively in 49.45. American Alexis Holmes (50.32) and Ireland's Rhasidat Adeleke (50.96) came second and third. In the men's event, Britain’s Charles Dobson took the diamond trophy. The European silver medallist stopped the clock at 44.49, flooring Grenada's Kirani James (44.63)
and Zambian Muzala Samukonga (44.69).

The women's 800 metres was won by Kenya's Mary Moraa (1:56.56). She made it ahead of Britain's Georgia Bell (1:57.50) and Jamaican Natoya Goule-Toppin (1:58.94). The Wanda Diamond League Champion in the 110-metre hurdles is Frenchman Sasha Zhoya. The World Junior U20 Champion raced to victory in 13.16. Second place went to Italian Lorenzo Ndele Simonelli in 13.22, and third to American Freddie Crittenden in 13.24.

REPEAT OLYMPIC PODIUM IN HIGH JUMP

In the women's high jump, we got almost the same podium as at the Olympics: Ukrainian Yaroslava Mahuchikh won ahead of Australian Nicola Olyslagers and Ukrainian Iryna Gerashchenko, who in Paris had to share the bronze with Australian Eleanor Patterson. Patterson fell just short of the podium in Brussels. Mahuchikh recorded 1m97 in Brussels like Olyslagers, but had fewer invalid jumps, making her the Wanda Diamond League Champion again.

Canada's Sarah Mitton (20m25) was in control in the shot put. American Chase Jackson (19m90) was second, German Olympic Champion Yemisi Ogunleye (19m72) third. Cuban Leyanis Perez Hernandez (14m37) performed the best triple jump beating Jamaican duo: Shanieka Ricketts (14m22) and Ackelia Smith (14m11).

Finally, in the men's long jump, Olympic Champion Miltiadis Tentoglou bit the dust. The Greek finished third with 8m15. Diamonds went to Jamaican Tajay Gayle (8m28). Swiss Simon Ehammer (8m16) nestled into second place.

The remaining 16 finals of the Wanda Diamond League are scheduled for Saturday night.

FRIDAY'S 16 WANDA DIAMOND LEAGUE CHAMPIONS:

Women:
100 metres: Julien Alfred
400 metres: Marileidy Paulino
800 metres: Mary Moraa
High jump: Yaroslava Mahuchikh
Triple jump: Leyanis Perez Hernandez
Discus throw: Valarie Allman
Shot-put: Sarah Mitton

Men:
100 metres: Ackeem Blake
110-metre hurdles: Sasha Zhoya
400 metres: Charles Dobson
1500 metres: Jakob Ingebrigtsen
3000 metres steeple: Amos Serem
5000 metres: Berihu Aregawi
Pole vault: Mondo Duplantis
Discus throw: Matthew Denny
Long jump: Tajay Gayle