In the 12th IAAF Diamond League track and field meeting of the year at Stockholm on Thursday, Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce ran 100m in 10.93s to offer further evidence of her superiority in the event. She looks like taking the 2015 DL championship and seems set for next month’s world title in Beijing. The Jamaican goes to Zurich’s 13th DL meet with a 4-point lead over her nearest rival. But Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim continued to struggle with his form and lost his fourth consecutive DL high jump. The Stockholm DL meeting is the last before the 2015 World Championships in Beijing and after that only Zurich and Brussels DLs remain. Held at the venue of the 103 year old historic Olympic stadium under the flag of Stockholm BAUHAUS Athletics, the track-and-field meeting is the biggest annual sporting event in Sweden. Despite being small in size, Stockholm BAUHAUS Athletics arena offers a unique blend of traditional athletics, a mix of music, sound effects and the latest technology. All this adds to a glamorous atmosphere that has made the meet well known and highly respected all over the world. The Olympic arena is known for the 83 world records that have been set here until 2014. No other track-and-field stadium in the world can match that number.
On Thursday night, the two-time Olympic 100m champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won the race in 10.93. This time was not impressive if compared to her 10.74s that she did in Paris DL earlier this year. But in Stockholm, no one could beat her and USA’s Tori Bowie finished second in 11.05. In contrast to SAFP’s great DL performance this season, Qatar’s 2014 world indoor high jump champion Mutaz Essa Barshim was unlucky. At Stockholm, the Qatari could only manage 2.29m. After sailing over 2.43m last season, Barshim did 2.41 in Eugene this season but since then he has been down in doldrums. Barshim’s loss was a gain for US jumper Jacorian Duffield, who sailed 2.34m to record his personal best. Six days earlier in London, Barshim had lost to Italian Marco Fassinotti.
Britain’s Olympic long jump champion, Greg Rutherford beat USA’s Marquis Dendy, who had won in London last week. In a superb performance, Rutherford produced three jumps of 8.34m, 8.32m and 8.13m that were beyond the reach of anyone and Dendy’s second place came by leaping only 8.09m. Djibouti’s Ayanleh Souleiman wanted to run a fast 1500m in Stockholm and although he was 10 meters clear of second-placed Czech Republic’s Jakub Holusa, Souleiman took much longer by clocking 3:33.33.
In women’s 800m, 21-year old Frenchwoman Renelle Lamote picked up the first DL win of her career in 1:59.94 by passing GBR’s Lynsey Sharp, who clocked 2:00.29. In men’s 400m, 22-year old Jamaican Rusheen McDonald broke away from the pack at the start and remained in lead until 25 meters remained. Then he faded away as five runners passed him one after another. The final winner was Trinidad & Tobago’s 19-year-old Machel Cedenio, who clocked 44.97. Dominican Republic’s 21-year-old Luguelin Santos was second in 45.21. Men’s 3000m steeplechase was won in 8:16.54 by Morocco’s Hicham Sigueni , who edged out his compatriot Brahim Taleb, who clocked 8:16.56.
In women’s 400m hurdles, Czech Republic’s reigning world champion Zuzana Hejnova scored her third straight DL win while Denmark’s Sara Petersen did her best to fight it out. Going into the DL final in Zurich on September 3, only Jamaica’s Kaliese Spencer with 12 points can catch Hejnova, who has 14 points now. Men’s 200m was won by Panama’s 25-year-old Alonso Edward, silver medalist at 2009 World Championship. Edward clocked 20.04s and South Africa’s Anaso Jobodwana was second in 20.18. Men’s 110m hurdles was won by Orlando Ortega of Cuba in 13.18s while Russia’s Sergey Shubenkov was second in 13.22. In men’s discus, Poland’s Piotr Malachowski sent the disc over 65.95 meters to win the event while Belgium’s Philip Milanov finished second with 64.97.
Women’s DL shot put champion was decided at Stockholm, when Germany’s Christina Schwanitz won the event with her 20.13m second throw. Schwanitz had already won in DL events at Birmingham, Oslo and Paris and her 18-point tally cannot be surpassed with just one DL event remaining. Another woman DL winner was decided at Stockholm, when Colombian world champion Caterine Ibarguen won the triple jump in her fifth DL event of 2015. It was Ibarguen’s third consecutive DL title. The amazing Colombian has won 17 out of 20 triple jump events since the start of the 2103 DL season. She has yet to taste defeat since 2012 London Olympics.
In women’s Pole Vault, Cuba’s Yarisley Silva was the only one to get over 4.81 meters as both Greece’s Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou and Brazil’s Fabiana Murer failed in their attempts. In women’s javelin, World record holder Barbora Spotakova hurled her arrow to 65.66 to produce season’s best throw in her third attempt. South Africa’s Sunette Viljoen was second in 64.03.
