WITH NO RAI BENJAMIN or Karsten Warholm on the start line in Brussels, Olympic bronze medalist Alison dos Santos was the pundits’ favorite, but the Brazilian had to work hard for his second DL Final win following on from his 2022 victory.
Coming into the eighth barrier, three men were in contention: dos Santos leading just slightly in lane 6, Jamaica’s Roshawn Clarke on his inside and Estonia’s 3-time Olympic finalist Rasmus Mägi out in lane 8.
Clarke got his stride pattern all wrong, badly hit the hurdle and went out of contention as dos Santos edged away from his rivals down the home straight to finish in 47.93.
“I’ve fully recovered from a serious injury [right knee surgery in February 2023 that marred his season last year] and I stayed healthy during this season. That’s probably the most important thing. It was not easy mentally to get back at this level, but I am happy that it all worked out,” said dos Santos.
Behind him, Qatar’s Abderrahmane Samba — who was 4th at the eighth barrier, came home strongly to finish 2nd in 48.20 as Mägi tired slightly but came home 3rd in 48.26 with CJ Allen 4th in 48.68.
Results
1. Alison dos Santos (Bra) 47.93; 2. Abderrahman Samba (Qat) 48.20; 3. Rasmus Mägi (Est) 48.26; 4. CJ Allen (US) 48.68; 5. Roshawn Clarke (Jam) 49.08; 6. Malik James-King (Jam) 49.37; 7. Gerald Drummond (CR) 49.63; 8. Wilfried Happio (Fra) 50.19.