BRUSSELS, BELGIUM, September 04 — The 1500 exemplified all that a Diamond League Final comp in finest fettle should be: a near-complete roster of an event’s sharpest talent tilting both tactically and at world-class velocity. This led to a most exciting finish. The top 7 all finished within 0.67 seconds. In a tight tactical game, it was young Cam Myers who played best. The Australian, who was back in 7th at the 800 (1:52.0 for rabbit Christian Jackson), moved to 4th at the bell. With 100 left, he sat in 3rd behind Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Phanuel Koech, but he closed best with a 12.8 for a 3:30.14 win.
Koech got 2nd in 3:30.18 and Ethan Strand — though he had the fastest sprint of all at 12.7 — was relegated to 3rd in 3:30.50 ahead of Ingebrigtsen (3:30.52 diving across the line) and the U.S. Olympic squad of Yared Nuguse (3:30.56), Hobbs Kessler (3:30.71) and Cole Hocker (3:30.80).
“Everyone was pushing each other,” said Myers, “but I felt that I could stay relaxed and save my energy for the homestretch.”
It’s not been a perfect season for Ja’Kobe Tharp, but it’s starting to look pretty darn close. While the new WR man can point to a couple of races that didn’t go his way, he keeps notching the big wins. Now he has claimed the DL Final in his first run at the event.
The competition couldn’t have been more fierce, with the loaded event showing off its current royalty in lanes 3-6, all of them sub-13 men. Trey Cunningham in 3, world champion Cordell Tinch in 4, Jamal Britt in 5 and Tharp in 6. First, though, a call-back after a starting glitch had everyone explode out of the blocks but Japan’s Rachid Muratake, who realized immediately that it wouldn’t count.
Then the race for real: Cunningham jumped out best and held that advantage for most of the straight. Tharp and Britt followed, and by hurdle 6 Tinch had reeled in Britt. Tharp’s strength is his strength and he kept attacking, moving into the lead at hurdle 9 as Britt challenged Cunningham and Tinch nicked it and was thrown off balance.
At the final hurdle, it was over. Tharp could not be stopped and he hit the line in 13.03, a mild 0.2 breeze in his face. Britt got 2nd in 13.09. Tinch crashed on hurdle 10 and didn’t finish, leaving 3rd to Cunningham (13.22).
“A win is a win,” said Tharp, who added, “I love the pressure of being World Record holder. The more pressure I feel, the better I run. Only time will tell if I can go even faster.”
The men’s track events on this cool night had started with the 100. Like the later hurdles, it began with an apparent false start (Trayvon Bromell) that officials green-carded. Once the race really got off, Bromell got out fastest but was soon overtaken by Christian Coleman. Not until the final 20m did Olympic champion Oblique Seville break into the lead, with Africans Emmanuel Eseme and Kayinsola Ajayi applying serious pressure. The Jamaican took the win in 9.90 as Cameroon’s Eseme ran 9.93 and Nigeria’s Ajayi 9.97. The Americans finished well back: Coleman (6th, 10.01) and Bromell (8th, 10.07).
“My start was far from the best,” acknowledged Seville.
The 800 immediately looked unusual by this season’s metrics, with Marco Arop easing into 3rd in the first 200 instead of charging from the front. That left 3-time champ Emmanuel Wanyonyi chasing the rabbit. He followed through a 50.0 at halfway. On the backstretch, the anticipated challenge from Arop never really materialized. The Kenyan steamed through 600 in 1:15.89 and looked fearsomely strong through the final turn, with the Canadian in 2nd before being overtaken by Djamel Sedjati and France’s Yanis Meziane.
Good kicking happened, but none could match Wanyonyi, who in addition to being fastest (13.1 final 100) had a significant head start on the final stretch. His 1:41.80 took down a meet record set by Denmark’s Wilson Kipketer 29 years ago.
Now a 4-time winner, Wanyonyi said, “I knew that I would have to run 1:41 to win and I did. The conditions weren’t ideal tonight. The wind didn’t bother me that much. I was happy it stopped raining.”
Over 400, Collen Kebinatshipi is the freight train that cannot be stopped this season. Undefeated since March, he steamrollered over Jereem Richards in the final 100 of the evening finale to clock an MR (and Botswana NR) of 43.40, just 0.02 off the yearly world lead.
The vastly experienced Richards, 32, celebrated more than Kebinatshipi, so excited was he about his Trinidadian Record 43.68. Americans Jacory Patterson (43.78) and Chris Bailey (43.97) also got under 44.
“After staying undefeated all season, I feel like I really deserve this reward,” said the winner. “I hope to finish this season as the world leader and for that I will need to find 0.02 seconds next week at the World Ultimate Championships in Budapest.”
The field events also impressed, even if Mondo Duplantis scratched out of the vault. In his absence, rival Manolo Karalís won by a foot, taking down the MR (previously owned by Mondo) with an impressive clearance at 20-1 (6.12). Sondre Guttormsen and Kurtis Marschall got the next two spots, both clearing 19-1 (5.82).
In the discus, Mykolas Alekna nailed an MR, just like he had at Euros, reaching 230-1 (70.14) on his third try. But once again, just like at Euros, Kristjan Čeh topped him with an even bigger record smasher, a 233-10 (71.29).
Even so, the Slovenian was not happy. “I feel like I left about 2m out there. I still have two competitions left this season, so hopefully I can pull out a better result distance-wise.”
World leader Miltiádis Tentóglou came as a strong favorite in the long jump, with 9 wins since Rome. He lived up to that billing for five rounds, leading with a 27-6¾ (8.40). Then Jamaica’s Tajay Gayle came to life. On his final jump, the ’19 world champion flew out to a winning 27-9¼ (8.46).
“We worked patiently towards the Diamond League final and the World Ultimate Championship,” explained Gayle. “It was a bit cold for me as a Jamaican, but I handled that well.”
The high jump didn’t set any records, as the weather perhaps limited the bounce. Only Mateusz Kołodziejski and JuVaughn Harrison could clear 7-5¾ (2.28), the Pole on his first attempt. It was his first win since May, a string of 12 straight losses preceding this.
Said Kołodziejski, the World U20 Champs bronze medalist in ’21: “This is my first season ever in the Diamond League circuit. To immediately win the final is crazy.”
BRUSSELS DL MEN’S RESULTS, DAY 1
100(0.1): 1. Oblique Seville (Jam) 9.90; 2. Emmanuel Eseme (Cam) 9.93; 3. Kayinsola Ajayi (Ngr) 9.97; 4. Lachlan Kennedy (Aus) 9.99; 5. Gift Leotlela (SA) 10.01; 6. Christian Coleman (US) 10.01; 7. Akani Simbine (SA) 10.03; 8. Trayvon Bromell (US) 10.07.
400: 1. Collen Kebinatshipi (Bot) 43.40 NR (=5, =6 W);
2. Jereem Richards (Tri) 43.68 NR (14, x W);
3. Jacory Patterson (US) 43.78 PR (10, x A);
4. Chris Bailey (US) 43.97 PR; 5. Matthew Hudson-Smith (GB) 44.23; 6. Zakithi Nene (SA) 44.44; 7. Daniel Segers (Bel) 44.82; 8. Khaleb McRae (US) 45.53.
Non-DL 400: 1. Lee Eppie (Bot) 44.50; 2. Muhammad Abdalla Kounta (Fra) 44.55; 3. Attila Molnár (Hun) 44.66; 4. Jonathan Sacoor (Bel) 44.85 PR.
800: 1. Emmanuel Wanyonyi (Ken) 1:41.80; 2. Djamel Sedjati (Alg) 1:42.71; 3. Yanis Meziane (Fra) 1:42.87 PR; 4. Marco Arop (Can) 1:43.50; 5. Ben Pattison (GB) 1:44.29; 6. Gabriel Tual (Fra) 1:44.55; 7. Tobias Grønstad (Nor) 1:44.86; 8. Slimane Moula (Alg) 1:49.62;… rabbit—Jan Vukovič (Slo) (49.58).
1500: 1. Cam Myers (Aus) 3:30.14; 2. Phanuel Koech (Ken) 3:30.18; 3. Ethan Strand (US) 3:30.50; 4. Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Nor) 3:30.52 (2:50.09); 5. Yared Nuguse (US) 3:30.56; 6. Hobbs Kessler (US) 3:30.71; 7. Cole Hocker (US) 3:30.80; 8. Jake Heyward (GB) 3:31.18; 9. Robert Farken (Ger) 3:32.11; 10. Ruben Verheyden (Bel) 3:32.47; 11. Vincent Ciattei (US) 3:33.67; 12. Timothy Cheruiyot (Ken) 3:35.20;… rabbit—Christian Jackson (US) (55.45, 56.55 [1:52.00]).
110H(-0.2): 1. Ja’kobe Tharp (US) 13.03; 2. Jamal Britt (US) 13.09; 3. Trey Cunningham (US) 13.22; 4. Kendry Menéndez (Cub) 13.32; 5. Elie Bacari (Bel) 13.42; 6. Orlando Bennett (Jam) 13.43; 7. Rachid Muratake (Jpn) 13.53;… dq—Cordell Tinch (US).
Field Events
HJ: 1. Mateusz Kołodziejski (Pol) 7-5¾ (2.28) PR (missed 7-7/2.31); 2. JuVaughn Harrison (US) 7-5¾; 3. tie, Oleh Doroshchuk (Ukr) & Gianmarco Tamberi (Ita) 7-4½ (2.25); 5. Romaine Beckford (Jam) 7-3 (2.21); 6. Erik Portillo (Mex) 7-3.
PV: 1. Manolo Karalís (Gre) 20-1 (6.12) (18-1¼, 19-1 [2], 19-5, 20-1 [3]) (5.52, 5.82 [2], 5.92, 6.12 [3]); 2. Sondre Guttormsen (Nor) 19-1 (5.82); 3. Kurtis Marschall (Aus) 19-1; 4. Sam Kendricks (US) 18-9¼ (5.72); 5. Baptiste Thiery (Fra) 18-9¼; 6. Ben Broeders (Bel) 18-1¼ (5.52);… dnc—Mondo Duplantis (Swe).
LJ: 1. Tajay Gayle (Jam) 27-9¼ (8.46) (24-9¾, 26-11¼, 26-9, 26-2¼, 26-10, 27-9¼,) (7.56, 8.21, 8.15, 7.98, 8.18, 8.46,); 2. Miltiádis Tentóglou (Gre) 27-6¾ (8.40) (26-5¾, 26-7¾, 27-3¼, 27-6¾, p, 20-9¼) (8.07, 8.12, 8.31, 8.40, p, 6.33); 3. Simon Ehammer (Swi) 27-0 (8.23); 4. Bozhidar Sarâboyukov (Bul) 26-3 (8.00); 5. Wayne Pinnock (Jam) 26-¾ (7.94); 6. Yanni Sampson (Bel) 25-8 (7.82); 7. Jorge A. Hodelín (Cub) 22-4¼ (6.81).
DT: 1. Kristjan Čeh (Slo) 233-10 (71.29) (219-11, 210-4, 233-10, 228-5, 228-9, 224-3) (67.05, 64.13, 71.29, 69.62, 69.73, 68.36); 2. Mykolas Alekna (Lit) 230-1 (70.14) (212-1, 224-2, 230-1, 218-8, f, f) (64.65, 68.34, 70.14, 66.64, f, f); 3. Rojé Stona (Jam) 225-11 (68.86); 4. Matt Denny (Aus) 223-3 (68.04); 5. Daniel Ståhl (Swe) 222-10 (67.92); 6. Henrik Janssen (Ger) 217-6 (66.30).
