ZÜRICH, SWITZERLAND, August 27 — Something special was clearly brewing in the 400H at the Weltklasse meet when Alison dos Santos had closed down the stagger on Karsten Warholm — known for his aggressively fast starts — by the fourth barrier, halfway down the backstretch. Coming into the final straight the Brazilian had a commanding lead over his Norwegian rival. From there all eyes at Stadion Letzigrund were fixated on the clock, which dos Santos stopped in an astonishing 45.80. And just like that, Warholm’s mind-boggling 45.94 WR from the ’21 Olympics was history.
“The crowd and the energy were perfect,” said the ’22 world champion, who beat Warholm in the DL for the fifth straight time this year. “I have been showing throughout the season that I am fast, that I am strong. We changed a lot of aspects of my training and racing in the preparation for this. I´m starting faster, I´m finishing stronger, and that is what I have to do to break a World Record. We need to start faster and finish strong, and we were able to do it.”
The Norwegian held on for 2nd in 46.69 — a time only Warholm, dos Santos and ’24 Olympic champion Rai Benjamin have ever surpassed. Nigeria’s Nathaniel Ezekiel finished 3rd in 47.50.
Another WR nearly came in the pole vault (a non-DL event), with Greece’s Manolo Karalís continuing to push Swedish superstar Mondo Duplantis. It was down to a 2-man battle after Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen could go no higher than 19-8¼ (6.00). Duplantis and Karalís both made 20-0 (6.10) on their first attempts. At 20-4 (6.20) Karalís, nudged the bar with his thigh on the way up, but it stayed in place and the jubilant Greek improved his hold on the No. 2 spot on the all-time list.
Seeing no need to match that height, Duplantis passed to 20-6 (6.25), slipping over on his first try and breaking out in an emotional celebration. Karalís had passed that bar, then both men missed three times at WR height, 20-8¾ (6.32). Duplantis was clearly frustrated at missing what would have been his sixteenth raising of the record.
“Manolo jumped really out of this world and jumped amazing with the 6.20 [20-4], and so I just had to respond the best way that I could, and I’m really happy to be able to get over that 6.25 [20-6] bar and come away with a win at the highest level of competition that there’s ever been,” said Duplantis, winner of the past two Olympic golds and three straight World titles.
Indeed, Karalís improved his claim (from Lausanne a week earlier) to the best 2nd-place performance in history. “It’s not every day two people contend for the World Record, so that was nuts. I really enjoyed myself. It was a great competition. Everyone had a blast there,” he said. “For sure, I pushed Mondo, I always push him. And I think he enjoys the pressure. And hopefully, in the future we are going to have amazing battles.”
In the javelin, Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage of Sri Lanka continued his near flawless campaign with a 302-0 (92.07) effort in the final round, not far off his world-leading 303-10 (92.62) from Rome in June. Grenada’s Anderson Peters — the only man to beat Pathirage this year (in Rabat) — was a distant 2nd in 285-2 (86.93).
In the meet-concluding 200, Kenny Bednarek established primacy on the curve and was never pressured as he crossed the line in a world-leading 19.62, ahead of South Africa’s Commonwealth Games champion Sinesipho Dambile (19.82).
“I just made sure to just to come in with a good mindset,” said Bednarek, the 2-time Olympic silver medalist in the event. “I got a lot of sneaky guys in that race, you know, and any moment you let them get a step on you they can take it and get the win. So I just made sure just to execute and just get out ahead of the pack and then maintain my lead.”
Cole Hocker (3:31.71) won a loaded (and crowded) 1500 by sprinting into the lead in the final 60m, passing Kenya’s Phanuel Koech (3:31.84) and fellow American Yared Nuguse (3:31.85) for the first DL win of his career.
Morocco’s Anass Essayi (3:32.05) took 4th, ahead of Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:32.16) as the Norwegian continued his steady return to racing coming off an Achilles injury. Four days after his surprise win in Poland, Ethan Strand (3:32.95) couldn’t find his way through the pack and finished 10th.
Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi held off a late challenge from Djamel Sedjati to win a non-DL 800 in a world-leading 1:41.76. Sedjati clocked 1:41.83, with fellow Algerian Slimane Moula a distant 3rd in 1:43.52.
Jordan Geist took the shot put lead in the second round with a PR 73-11 (22.53), moving up to 7th on the U.S. all-time list. That was enough to secure his first DL win, ahead of Jamaican Rajindra Campbell’s 72-10 ¾ (22.22) and Italian Leonardo Fabbri’s 72-8½ (22.16).
“The 22.53m [73-11] throw was not perfect, it is still about the timing,” said Geist, who won his first U.S. title in July. “It’s a really big confidence boost for me going into the Diamond League final next week to come over to Europe, and this is an absolutely amazing crowd, absolutely great environment to throw far in.”
A tight group ran together at the bell of the 3000 before Australia’s Cam Myers blasted into the lead on the final backstretch. He was passed by Parker Wolfe coming off the turn and the North Carolina grad used a 13.1 final 100 to win comfortably in 7:27.43. That smashed the meet record of 7:32.54 set by Moroccan great Saïd Aouita way back in ’86 and made Wolfe the third-fastest American all-time. Graham Blanks (7:27.92) passed Myers (7:27.97) right at the line and moved up to No. 4 on the U.S. list.
Greece’s Miltiádis Tentóglou won another closely contested long jump, reaching 27-8¾ (8.45) in the fourth round, just ahead of Tajay Gayle’s fifth-round leap of 27-8 (8.43). Switzerland’s Jason Joseph won the non-DL 110H in 13.11 from Trey Cunningham (13.19) and Yuki Joseph Nakajima of Japan took the non-DL 400 in 44.62.
ZÜRICH DL MEN’S RESULTS
200(-0.4): 1. Kenny Bednarek (US) 19.62 (WL, AL);
2. Sinesipho Dambile (SA) 19.82; 3. Andre De Grasse (Can) 20.03; 4. Makanakaishe Charamba (Zim) 20.10; 5. Jose Figueroa (PR) 20.32; 6. Bryan Levell (Jam) 20.32; 7. Timothé Mumenthaler (Swi) 20.34.
Non-DL 400: 1. Yuki Joseph Nakajima (Jpn) 44.62; 2. Edoardo Scotti (Ita) 44.70; 3. Kirani James (Grn) 44.83; 4. Vernon Norwood (US) 44.92; 5. Lionel Spitz (Swi) 45.29.
Non-DL 800: 1. Emmanuel Wanyonyi (Ken) 1:41.76 (WL);
2. Djamel Sedjati (Alg) 1:41.83; 3. Slimane Moula (Alg) 1:43.52; 4. Jake Wightman (GB) 1:43.76; 5. Gabriel Tual (Fra) 1:43.89; 6. Wycliffe Kinyamal (Ken) 1:44.25; 7. Navasky Anderson (Jam) 1:44.31; 8. Ramon Wipfli (Swi) 1:44.76;… rabbit—Patryk Sieradzki (Pol) (49.18).
1500: 1. Cole Hocker (US) 3:31.71 (13.2, 26.4, 53.8, 1:52.4); 2. Phanuel Koech (Ken) 3:31.84 (2:51.75); 3. Yared Nuguse (US) 3:31.85; 4. Anass Essayi (Mor) 3:32.05; 5. Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Nor) 3:32.16; 6. Hobbs Kessler (US) 3:32.35; 7. Vincent Ciattei (US) 3:32.50; 8. Robert Farken (Ger) 3:32.63; 9. Jake Heyward (GB) 3:32.73; 10. Ethan Strand (US) 3:32.95; 11. Timothy Cheruiyot (Ken) 3:33.01;… rabbit—Ben Claridge (GB) (55.51, 57.47 [1:52.98]).
3000: 1. Parker Wolfe (US) 7:27.43 PR (AL) (3, 4 A) (2:29.7, 2:32.0 [5:01.7], 2:25.8) (13.1, 26.2, 54.6);
2. Graham Blanks (US) 7:27.92 PR (4, 5 A);
3. Cam Myers (Aus) 7:27.97 NR; 4. Egide Ntakarutimana (Bur) 7:28.13 PR; 5. Biniam Mehary (Eth) 7:28.18 PR (5:01.48); 6. Ky Robinson (Aus) 7:29.13 PR; 7. Grant Fisher (US) 7:29.74; 8. Nico Young (US) 7:31.76 PR; 9. Abdihamid Nur (US) 7:33.30 PR.
Non-DL 110H(-0.2): 1. Jason Joseph (Swi) 13.11; 2. Trey Cunningham (US) 13.19; 3. Enzo Diessl (Aut) 13.22; 4. Enrique Llopis (Spa) 13.35; 5. Just Kwaou-Mathey (Fra) 13.42.
400H: 1. Alison dos Santos (Bra) 45.80 WR (old WR 45.94 Karsten Warholm [Nor] ’21);
2. Karsten Warholm (Nor) 46.69; 3. Nathaniel Ezekiel (Ngr) 47.50; 4. Matheus Lima (Bra) 47.57; 5. Abderrahmane Samba (Qat) 47.77; 6. Matic Ian Guček (Slo) 47.80 NR; 7. Dany Brand (Swi) 48.92 PR.
Field Events
Non-DL PV: 1. Mondo Duplantis (Swe) 20-6 (6.25) (x, =7 W) (18-6½, 19-4¼, 20-0, 20-2, 20-6, 20-8¾ [xxx]) (5.65, 5.90, 6.10, 6.15, 6.25, 6.32 [xxx]);
2. Manolo Karalís (Gre) 20-4 (6.20) NR (2, x W) (18-½, 19-¼, 19-4¼, 19-8¼, 20-0, 20-4, 20-8¾ [xxx]) (5.50, 5.80, 5.90, 6.00, 6.10, 6.20, 6.32 [xxx]);
3. Sondre Guttormsen (Nor) 19-8¼ (6.00) (18-½, 19-¼, 19-4¼ [x], 19-8¼ [2], 20-0 [xxx]) (5.50, 5.80, 5.90 [x], 6.00 [2], 6.10 [xxx]);
4. Chris Nilsen (US) 19-4¼ (5.90); 5. EJ Obiena (Phi) 19-4¼; 6. tie, Zach Bradford (US), Sam Kendricks (US) & Kurtis Marschall (Aus) 19-¼ (5.80); 9. Renaud Lavillenie (Fra) 18-6½ (5.65).
(best-ever mark-for-place: 2, =3)
LJ: 1. Miltiádis Tentóglou (Gre) 27-8¾ (8.45); 2. Tajay Gayle (Jam) 27-8 (8.43); 3. Wayne Pinnock (Jam) 27-4 (8.33); 4. Jorge A. Hodelín (Cub) 27-3¾ (8.32); 5. Bozhidar Saraboyukov (Bul) 26-9¼ (8.16); 6. Simon Ehammer (Swi) 26-8½ (8.14); 7. Luka Bošković (Ser) 26-6½ (8.09).
SP: 1. Jordan Geist (US) 73-11 (22.53) PR (7, x A) (71-¾, 73-11, 72-5, 70-5, 72-8½, 70-6½) (21.66, 22.53, 22.07, 21.46, 22.16, 21.50);
2. Rajindra Campbell (Jam) 72-10¾ (22.22); 3. Leonardo Fabbri (Ita) 72-8½ (22.16); 4. Joe Kovacs (US) 71-½ (21.65); 5. Roger Steen (US) 70-7¾ (21.53); 6. Tom Walsh (NZ) 70-5¾ (21.48); 7. Adrian Piperi (US) 69-11½ (21.32); 8. Payton Otterdahl (US) 67-9½ (20.66).
JT: 1. Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage (SrL) 302-0 (92.07) (267-5, 289-5, 294-11, 278-7, f, 302-0) (81.50, 88.23, 89.90, 84.91, f, 92.07); 2. Anderson Peters (Grn) 285-2 (86.93; 3. Dawid Wegner (Pol) 279-5 (85.16); 4. Keshorn Walcott (Tri) 272-4 (83.02); 5. Julius Yego (Ken) 267-11 (81.66); 6. Marc Minichello (US) 263-8 (80.38); 7. Curtis Thompson (US) 263-6 (80.31); 8. Thomas Röhler (Ger) 262-0 (79.86).
