Ethiopian Gudaf Tsegay and Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis broke both world records in a sensational afternoon of action Wanda Diamond League Finals in Eugene on Sunday (17).
First, Tsegay set the second senior world record of her career and her first outdoors, breaking the 5000m world record with a remarkable run of 14:00.21*.
In the second course final of the packed second day of action at Hayward Field, the 10,000m world champion beat the world record of 14:05.20 set by Faith Kipyegon in Paris in June as part of a record-breaking series that also included the 10,000m world champion , by almost five seconds The Kenyan set world records in the 1,500 meters and mile.
A fast time was planned and Tsegay, world record holder in the indoor 1500m race, delivered. The pacemakers led the way in the 1000m in 2:48.08 and the 2000m in 5:37.24, before Tsegay’s compatriot Birke Haylom topped the 3000m in 8:26.03 – well on world record pace. In fact, with this mark, 17-year-old Haylom would have improved the 38-year-old U20 3000m world record by more than two seconds if she had finished the official performance.
Looking composed and determined, Tsegay charged forward, reaching 4000m in 11:16.89. At that point she only had Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet for company, but she later left the two-time world medalist behind and set off for another historic achievement.
Tsegay opened up a lead over Chebet with two laps to go and stormed through the lights on the back straight, signaling a world record pace.
She reached the bell around 12:55 p.m., and with the crowd on its feet and the clock ticking to 14 minutes, she crossed the finish line shortly after, at 2:00.21 p.m.
Chebet followed her with 14:05.92, the third-fastest performance of all time and just shy of Kipyegon’s previous world record.
“I was really angry that I didn’t bring back two medals from the World Championships, but I knew from our training that I had a lot of potential to do something with my fitness,” said Tsegay, who was excited after his victory in the 5000m Final in Budapest took 13th place for her 10,000 m title. “Even though the conditions (in Eugene) weren’t perfect, we thought we could do it.”
Duplantis thought he could do it too.
Back at the stadium where he broke the world record and won his first senior world title in 2022, the pole vault superstar improved his world mark by another centimeter, clearing 6.23m* in his first attempt to set the seventh world record of his career.
Mondo Duplantis celebrates his world record in the pole vault of 6.23 m in Eugene (© Marta Gorczynska / Diamond League AG)
He opened his campaign with a first breakthrough at 5.62m, then overtook him at 5.72m and also managed 5.82m on his first attempt. He chose to clear 5.92m and managed it on his first attempt to win the competition, remaining clear with 6.02 m and achieving the 73rd six meter crossing of his career.
But he wasn’t finished yet. It was no surprise that the bar was raised to 6.23m – a centimeter higher than the world record height he set indoors in Clermont-Ferrand in February – but what happened next left fans in awe.
With the support of the audience, he took his run, placed the pole and then shot away – the pole stopped an incredible 6.23 m above him.
With his winning performance, Duplantis secured his third Diamond trophy. Ernest Obiena was second with 5.82m and Sam Kendricks was third on countback with 5.72m.
“The limit is very high and I hope that I can continue to jump well and continue to jump higher than today,” said Duplantis. “But right now I’m not thinking about anything other than enjoying this moment and enjoying what I just did.”
Ingebrigtsen and Jackson in the double
Having threatened the men’s world mile record on the first day of action in Eugene, Jakob Ingebrigtsen returned to the track on the second day to claim another Diamond trophy and another fast time in the 3000m. The Norwegian managed both, but only just as a late attack from Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha put him under serious pressure. It took a photo finish to separate them, with Ingebrigtsen taking the win in 7:23.63 while Kejelcha clocked 7:23.64, the third and fourth fastest performances ever, behind Daniel Komen’s world record of 7:20.67 and Hicham El Guerroujs 7: 23.09.
Ingebrigtsen was already the third-fastest 3,000-meter runner in history when he set a time of 7:24.00 en route to his world best over two miles in Paris. But he improved that European record and also set a Diamond League record in Eugene, with Kejelcha’s mark improving the Ethiopian record.
More PB performances followed – American Grant Fisher set a North American record of 7:25.47 in third, Ethiopian Telahun Haile Bekele set a PB of 7:25.48 in fourth and his compatriot Selemon Barega achieved in fifth place also a PB of 7:26.28.
Ingebrigtsen wasn’t the only athlete to complete a Diamond Double at Hayward Field. After winning the 100m in 10.70m on Saturday, Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson also retained her 200m title, setting a meet record of 21.57 (0.3 m/s) in the program’s final event .
Shericka Jackson wins the 200 m in Eugene (© Marta Gorczynska / Diamond League AG)
As she rode away at the start she was clearly the athlete to beat and so all eyes were on the clock, with Jackson openly talking about Florence Griffith-Joyner’s world record of 21.34 being her target.
Although the record eluded her, Jackson’s performance is the eighth fastest in history and she now has five of the eight best performances of all time to her credit.
The two-time world champion was followed to the finish line by Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou, who secured a second runner-up finish in 22.10 minutes after also finishing second to Jackson in the 200-meter dash. Bahamas’ Anthonique Strachan was third with 22.16 seconds.
In the men’s 200m, Olympic champion Andre De Grasse returned to winning ways as the Canadian ended a challenging year with success.
The multiple Olympic and world medalist finished sixth at the world finals in Budapest, but recovered to run his first 200-meter race of the season under 20 seconds in Brussels. He came third with a time of 19.89 (0.6 m/s).
In Eugene he improved again and ran the fourth-fastest time of his career, 19.76, to triumph over US duo Kenny Bednarek and Erriyon Knighton, who ran 19.95 and 19.97 respectively.
Mu and Wanyonyi win 800m showdowns
In the women’s 800m, US Olympic champion Athing Mu won a highly anticipated 800m battle against Great Britain’s Olympic and world silver medalist Keely Hodgkinson and Kenyan world champion Mary Moraa.
Athing Mu beats Keely Hodgkinson in the 800m race in Eugene (© Matthew Quine / Diamond League AG)
Although Mu was ineligible for the Diamond Trophy because she entered as a wildcard entry and did not earn enough points while competing on the Diamond League circuit, Mu had a chance to end the year as a winner , when she once again competed alongside the two who had achieved this she beat in Budapest.
In the end, Mu and Hodgkinson pushed each other to national records as Mu pipped her British rival, who took the trophy, with a world-leading time of 1:54.97 to 1:55.19. Jamaica’s Natoya Goule-Toppin also set a national record of 1:55.96 to finish third, while Moraa was fourth with 1:57.42.
In the men’s 800m, Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi thwarted Marco Arop for the Diamond League title in the same way Arop thwarted his Kenyan rival at the World Championships. He started the final turn and stormed to a world-leading PB and meeting record of 1:42.80.
Arop led at the bell and followed the pacesetter, completing the 400m in 49.19 minutes. He maintained his pioneering tactics until the last corner, but then Wanyonyi launched his attack.
Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati went wide and also gave chase, but Wanyonyi held off both and crossed the finish line to improve his own best and the world lead by 0.4 seconds and clinch the Diamond League title for Kenya keep. Arop finished second with a Canadian record of 1:42.85, while Sedjati was third with a best time of 1:43.06.
A world lead was also achieved in the men’s 110 m hurdles when the Jamaican Olympic champion Hansle Parchment defeated the three-time US world champion Grant Holloway and finally set his best time as a nine-year-old with the winning mark of 12.93 (0.9 m/s). improved measurements.
Although Parchment appeared to falter at the first hurdle, he soon made his way through the field and led at hurdle nine. As Holloway cleared the final hurdle, Parchment pulled ahead for the win while Holloway remained in second place in 13.06. As at the World Championships, American Daniel Roberts completed the top three with a time of 13.07.
In the women’s 100m hurdles, Nigeria’s world record holder Tobi Amusan beat the Olympic champion from Puerto Rico, Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, with a season’s best time of 12.33. Camacho-Quinn was second in 12.38, USA’s Kendra Harrison was third in 12.44 and Jamaica’s world champion Danielle Williams was fourth in 12.47.
Dutch star player Femke Bol broke another record, once again clocking in under 52 seconds to win the 400m hurdles. This time the world champion achieved a time of 51.98, improving her meeting record and winning her third Diamond trophy. She finished clearly ahead of the American Shamier Little, who also completed a strong season with 53.45 and second place. Rushell Clayton of Jamaica made it to the podium again in Budapest, taking third place with a time of 53.45.
Like Bol, Marileidy Paulino, world champion from the Dominican Republic, successfully defended her Diamond League title, winning the 400m in 49.58 ahead of Polish world silver medalist Natalia Kaczmarek (50.38) and Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands (50.47). .
Kovacs crowned himself after a close fight, diamond gift for Mahuchikh
In another historic men’s shot put final, just two centimeters separated the top two, with world bronze medalist Joe Kovacs defeating world champion and world record holder Ryan Crouser 22.93m to 22.91m – the best mark ever for a runner-up Place.
Two-time world gold medalist Kovacs took the early lead when he shot the throw to 22.70m in the first round. His American compatriot Crouser, who defended the world title in Budapest with a championship record of 23.51 m – just 5 cm below his own world record – despite having two blood clots in his leg, reacted in the second round with 22.91 m and took over Lead, as New Zealander Tom Walsh also improved to 22.69 m.
But Kovacs had an answer of his own, throwing 22.93m in the fourth round to move into the lead, relegating Crouser to second with 22.91m. The previous best non-win mark of all time was the 22.90m Crouser threw during the dramatic world final in Doha in 2019, where Kovacs won with 22.91m and Crouser and Walsh 22.90m in second and third respectively Throw space.
Kovacs’ 22.93m in Eugene replaces that Doha mark as his second-best performance ever, behind only the 23.23m he threw in Zurich last year to win the Diamond League title, moving behind Crouser to second place on the all-time world best list.
Walsh took third place with his second-round throw of 22.69 m.
Joe Kovacs and Ryan Crouser in Eugene (© Marta Gorczynska / Diamond League AG)
Two days before her 22nd birthday, Yaroslava Mahuchikh gave herself an early birthday present by winning the high jump with a world-leading effort of 2.03m.
The event boiled down to a battle between the two world leaders as Ukrainian world champion Mahuchikh took on Australian world bronze medalist Nicola Olyslagers.
After first clearing up to 1.95 m, Olyslagers had a scare at 1.98 m as she needed all three attempts to overcome it. But she kept her competition alive by taking a clear lead on her third attempt and then briefly took the lead when she also cleared 2.01m on her first attempt. But Mahuchikh also did it to maintain a perfect scoresheet
Then the bar moved to the world-leading height of 2.03m and both made it – to huge cheers from the crowd. Mahuchikh was first, making it on her second attempt, before Olyslagers matched her, improving her own oceanic record by a centimeter when she made it on her third attempt. When 2.05m was too much for both athletes, Mahuchikh was confirmed as the winner on countback, with 18-year-old Serbian U20 world and senior European bronze medalist Angelina Topic in third thanks to her distance of 1.95m took place.
Olympic champion Valarie Allman and world champion Laulauga Tausaga took a place in the top two in the USA in the women’s discus throw when Allman started with 68.66 m and that remained the winning mark.
Tausaga fought back in the third round with 68.36m – which was the second-best mark of her career behind the 69.49m she threw to win in Budapest – but it wasn’t quite enough. This secured her second place ahead of multiple Croatian gold medalist Sandra Perkovic, who took third place with 66.85 m.
Allman ended her streak with 68.51m in the final round before claiming her third Diamond Trophy victory.
In the men’s discus final, the last two world champions – the two best in the world at the moment – will compete against each other, with Sweden’s Daniel Stahl once again competing against Slovenia’s Kristjan Ceh. For a while, the competition stuck to this script, as the duo led the competition until the fourth round. But Australian Matt Denny was ready to spoil their party and with his fourth throw the Commonwealth Games champion hurled the device 67.37m and moved into second place – just 1cm ahead of Stahl and 27cm behind Ceh.
None of the leading candidates could improve on the fifth lap, but Denny still had another big lead ahead of him. After Stahl threw 210 feet on his final attempt, Denny walked to the circle and when he let go of the tackle, it was clear he knew it was good. He jumped up and down in place before there were more cheers as the distance was confirmed – 68.43m, improving by 19cm the Australian record he set with fourth place at the World Championships in Budapest .
Only a man could refuse him. Ceh went into the circle in pursuit of his second consecutive Diamond trophy, but that didn’t work out and he was unhappy with his throw and left the front of the circle to collect a foul. His 67.64m in the second round placed him second, while Stahl secured third place with 67.36m.
The Swiss Simon Ehammer and the Jamaican Tajay Gayle could only be separated by countback in the men’s long jump, both athletes jumped 8.22 m. Both appearances also took place in the fourth round.
Ehammer, the 2022 world bronze medalist who holds the world best in the decathlon long jump with 8.45m, took the lead early with 8.12m and kept it. Top score of 8.08 m. The Japanese Yuki Hashioka was only 7 cm behind them and reached third place with 8.15 m.
Remarkably, the top two finishers in the women’s long jump final also achieved exactly the same marks. The Serbian Ivana Vuleta left her best until the end and jumped 6.85 m in the final round. She added a fifth Diamond trophy to the world title she won in Budapest, winning on countback ahead of Nigeria’s Ese Brume, who jumped 6.85m in the third round. The American Quanesha Burks took third place with 6.77 m.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics
*Subject to normal ratification procedures