2024 Season Review: Diamonds are forever

Autumn was already in full swing by the time the world's best athletes arrived in Brussels in mid-September. So after 14 meetings across four different continents during the northern summer, the 2024 Diamond League season ultimately came down to two, chilly nights in Belgium. 

That didn't mean there wasn't some serious heat on the track, however. Over the course of two thrilling days at Allianz Memorial Van Damme, all 32 Diamond League champions were crowned, with 14 athletes winning the Diamond Trophy for the first time and several of the sport's biggest names extending their title streaks.

The action began on September 13th, with both Mondo Duplantis and Jakob Ingebrigtsen picked up their fourth Diamond League titles. Duplantis cleared a meeting record of 6.11m in the men's pole vault, while Ingebrigtsen overcame his Olympic vanquishers Cole Hocker and Yared Nuguse to defend his 1500m title.

Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchikh also defended her crown in the women's high jump, while Australia's Matthew Denny continued his rise to discus stardom with a second title in two years. A surprise package when he triumphed in Eugene in 2023, Denny defied the doubters again with a brilliant meeting record of 69.96m in Brussels. 

There were also a handful of first-time champions on day one, most notably in the women's and men's 100m.

Olympic champion Julien Alfred clocked 10.88 in the women's final, beating British rival Dina Asher-Smith by a whisker to claim a first ever Diamond League title for both herself and St. Lucia. 

Jamaica's Ackeem Blake beat US stars Christian Coleman and Fred Kerley in the men's race, claiming not only his first title but also his first ever Diamond League victory. 

Perhaps the biggest shock of the night came in the men's 400m, where Britain's Charlie Dobson pulled off the performance of his career to claim a stunning victory over compatriot Matthew Hudson-Smith and three-time Diamond League champion Kirani James. 

Click here to read the full report of day one of the 2024 Wanda Diamond League Final

After Dobson's heroics on day one, there was an evern bigger shock in store as the Wanda Diamond League Final action continued on September 14th.

In the men's 200m, US star Kenny Bednarek finally got the better of Botswana's Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo. Bednarek's 19.67 saw him come in 0.13 seconds ahead of Tebogo, who had been on sparkling form with four successive Diamond League wins since Paris 2024. There was a silver lining for the Botswanan, however, as he became the first recipient of the Jesse Owens Rising Star Award alongside Ethiopia's Diribe Welteji.

While Tebogo was toppled, other reigning Olympic champions extended their Diamond League title streaks on day two.

Femke Bol eased to a cool 52.45 in the women's 400m hurdles to claim her fourth successive Diamond Trophy, while Faith Kipyegon picked up a fifth title in the women's 1500m. The Kenyan star clocked 3:54.75, smashing a meeting record which had stood for 21 years.

In the men's high jump, Italian star Gianmarco Tamberi made up for his Olympic heartbreak with a stunning 2.34m and a third career title. His compatriot Leonardo Fabbri, meanwhile, pulled off another shock as he beat American legend and Olympic champion Ryan Crouser with a PB of 22.98m.

Fabbri wasn't the only first-time winner on the second day. The USA's Brittany Brown also triumphed in the women's 200m, while Puerto Rico's Jasmine Camacho-Quinn finally broke her Diamond League title duck in the women's 100m hurdles. Camacho-Quinn's 12.38 was her 14th Diamond League victory, but the first time she had secured the Diamond Trophy.

Click here to read the full report from day two of the 2024 Wanda Diamond League Final.