Justin Gatlin hadn't lost a race this season and neither he will. The American finished in style with a huge 100m run to 9.77secs and secured the four-carat diamonds on offer for the best athlete in any of the sixteen Diamond League disciplines, eight of which had their season finale in Brussels. Michael Rodgers, Asafa Powell en Kemar Bailey-Cole also dipped below the ten-second mark in a ferocious race. His time was just shy of Usain Bolt's meeting record (9.76s).
Gatlin followed up his sensational 100m win with an equally strong 19.71secs in the 200m. Qatari Femi Ogunode was Gatlin's closest challenger in 20.15s. Alonso Edward and Christophe Lemaître had to settle for third and fourth.
Allyson Felix (22.02s) conquered the diamonds in a close 200m sprint with France's Myriam Soumaré (22.12s). Blessing Okagbare, the only woman who could theoretically stop Felix from taking home the diamonds, disappointed with a sixth place in 22.60s. Dafne Schippers, the star of the European Championship in Berlin, finished third in her first race since becoming the queen of the European sprint.
The ever-electric King Badouin Stadium built up to a gigantic climax as Javier Sotomayor's 21-year old high jump record (2.45m) came under threat from not one, but two high jumpers. Ukraine's Bohdan Bondarenko and Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim traded the high jump lead until a staggering 2.43 clearance by the Qatari forced Bondarenko to raise the bar to 2.46, one centimetre beyond the legendary Cuban.
In the end Sotomayor's world record remained safe, but seemingly not for very long. Barshim took the high jump win as well as the diamonds. Bohdan Bondarenko had to settle for second with a best effort of 2.40m.
Renaud Lavillenie raised his bar to 6.03m in the pole vault, but in Belgium that height proved to be elusive for the Frenchman. Nevertheless Air Lavillenie had had a good one. His 5.93m is a new world lead and for the fifth time in a row Lavillenie conquered the Diamond Race.
The knowledgeable Belgian crowd cheered on Kevin Borlée in the 400m race, but the local hero had to settle for second place (45.44s) after not being able to train due to injury. Renny Quow, bronze at the world championship, took the victory in 45.37s.
Olympic champion Sanya Richards-Ross impressed in the 400 metres with a time of 49.98secs. She held off Jamaica's Stephenie Ann McPherson in second. Her compatriot Novlene Williams-Mills took third and secured the diamonds.
Kristi Castlin took the honours on the 100m hurdles in 12.76, beating local favourite Anne Zagré (12.84).
Brussels also witnessed a world leading performance in the 3,000m steeplechase. Jairus Birech, already certain of a nice haul of diamonds, is the first to dip below eight minutes in 2014 with an excellent 7:58.41. Mahiedine Mekhissi had to settle for second.
Earlier the night got off to a promising start with two meeting records and world leading performances out in the field. Barbora Spotakova threw the javelin to 67.99m, while Valerie Adams reached 20.59m in the shot put competition.
Taoufik Makhloufi won a thrilling 1500m in 3:31.78, beating Silas Kiplagat at the line by 0.02secs. Kiplagat's disappointment was brief as he had done enough to secure the Diamond Race.
Kaliese Spencer put the icing on the cake in the 400m hurdles. The Jamaican won in 54.12secs, beating Czech Denisa Rosolova and Britain's Eilidh Child. Spencer had already tied up the Diamond Race.
Brenda Martinez won the 800m in 1:58.54. Eunice Sum took third, which was more than good enough for the overall victory in the Diamond Race.
Pascal Martinot-Lagarde coame out on top in the 110m hurdles. The Frenchman outsprinted Cuba's Orlando Ortega in 13.10secs. He already had the diamonds bagged up.
The South African Godfrey Mokoena swept away the diamonds after winning the long jump competition. His best effort of 8.19m proved to be a jump too far for his Dutch rival Ignisious Gaisah.
Caterine Ibarguen already had the Diamond Race tied up, but put the cherry on top with victory in the triple jump. The Colombian jumped to 14.98 in her final attempt.
Germany's Robert Harting was king of the discus with a best attempt of 67.57m, but that didn't prove to be enough to secure the diamonds. Poland's Piotr Malachowski, second with 67.35m, won the Diamond Race.
Finally Kenya's Mercy Cherono was the last diamond winner as she claimed the 3,000m in 8:28.95. Holland's Sifan Hassan came second in 8:29.38, which is a new national record.
USA's Richard Browne ran a new paralympic world record. In the 200m race for "blade runners" Browne stopped the clocks after 21.62secs.
Poland's Adam Kszczot took the win in a rather unusual one-kilometre race. In a three-way sprint Kszczot defeated Ethiopia's Mohammed Aman and his compatriot Marcin Lewandowski. Kszczot's 2:15.72 is a new Polish record.
At the end of the night, the Brussels crowd witnessed no less than seven world leading performances and three new meeting records.
<link http: www.sport.be aginsurancememorialvandamme eng video>VIDEO: Highlights AG Insurance Memorial Van Damme 2014 >>
<link http: www.sport.be aginsurancememorialvandamme eng video>VIDEO: Justin Gatlin wins 100m >>
<link http: www.sport.be aginsurancememorialvandamme eng video>VIDEO: Justin Gatlin wins 200m >>
<link http: www.sport.be aginsurancememorialvandamme eng video>VIDEO: Interview with Justin Gatlin >>
<link http: www.sport.be aginsurancememorialvandamme eng video>VIDEO: Interview with Mutaz Essa Barshim >>
<link http: www.sport.be aginsurancememorialvandamme eng video>VIDEO: Allyson Felix wins 200m >>
<link http: www.sport.be aginsurancememorialvandamme eng video>VIDEO: Interview with Allyson Felix >>
<link http: www.sport.be aginsurancememorialvandamme eng video>VIDEO: Martinot-Lagarde wins 110m hurdles >>
<link http: www.sport.be aginsurancememorialvandamme eng video>VIDEO: Kristi Catlin wins 100m hurdles >>
05 September, 2014
