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Diamond Race Review 2015 - The Jumps
01 October, 2015

Diamond Race Review 2015 - The Jumps

Renaud Lavillenie won his sixth consecutive Diamond Trophy in 2015

Our Diamond Race Review series lets you relive the thrills and spills of all 32 Diamond Races. Over the next month we will bring you a weekly recap of the 2015 Diamond Race action from various disciplines. Let's start with the jumps...

High Jump

Many had expected 2015 to be the year of Mutaz Essa Barshim. It started well for the Qatari, who took victories in the first two rounds of the high jump in Shanghai and Eugene. <link https: youtu.be external-link-new-window external link in new>Defeat to Guowei Zhang in Oslo was his first major shock. Barshim struggled to find his form after that setback, missing out on the world title and failing to win any more Diamond League meetings. Failing, that is, until the final in Zürich, where he was back with a bang, defending his Diamond Trophy at the last.

In the women's high jump, Ruth Beitia led for most of the year thanks to victories in Rome and New York, but<link https: youtu.be external-link-new-window external link in new> Anna Chicherova's dramatic return to winning ways in Lausanne put pressure on the Spaniard.

Ahead of the final, Beitia held a strong six point lead. Had it not been for the brilliance of Mariya Kuchina, she could have surrendered it at the last. Beitia came third in Brussels, with Kuchina beating Chicherova to first place and ensuring that Beitia won the Diamond Race by just one point.

 

 

Pole Vault

Renaud Lavillenie kept up his unblemished record in the IAAF Diamond League, claiming his sixth Diamond Trophy in 2015 and extending his complete hegemony on the competition.

It was close this year, though. The Frenchman, who suffered disappointment in Beijing, fell to surprise defeats in Paris and Lausanne, allowing Konstantinos Filippidis to get within three points of him ahead of the Brussels final. Cometh the hour, cometh the champion: <link https: youtu.be external-link-new-window external link in new>Lavillenie was sublime in Brussels, winning on the night to retain the Diamond Trophy.

In the women's pole vault, Brazilian Fabiana Murer was out to defend her 2014 title. Victories in Birmingham and New York seemed to set her on her way, but that didn't account for the brilliance of Nikoleta Kyriakopoulou. The Greek built on her early victory on Shanghai with wins in Paris and London to storm past Murer to the top of the table.

Yarisley Silva, who would also become world champion in 2015, threw a late spanner in the works by winning in Stockholm, setting up a thrilling final in Zürich. It was Kyriakopoulou who prevailed, though, taking victory in Switzerland and her first Diamond Trophy.

Long Jump

In the season long slog that is the Diamond Race, you don't need to win all the time to dominate. Take Tianna Bartoletta, for example. Out to defend her Diamond Trophy from 2014, she started this year explosively, with victories in Doha and Eugene.

As the likes of Ivana Spanovic and Christabel Nettey shared ensuing wins between them Bartoletta's consistent second place finishes meant that her lead remained unchallenged for the entire season. A timely victory in Lausanne pushed her further ahead, and another second place in the Brussels final meant that she won a second Diamond Trophy by eight points.

Greg Rutherford's winning margin was even bigger, with the Brit a whole 11 points ahead of the chasing pack at the end of the season. Rutherford, though, had left it late.<link https: youtu.be external-link-new-window external link in new> After two superb showings in Birmingham and Oslo, Rutherford stumbled with a third place finish in London. The door appeared ajar for Michael Hartfield, Marquis Dendy and Aleksandr Menkov.

Rutherford came surging back in Stockholm and Zürich however, blasting the competition away at the last to add a Diamond Trophy to his world championship title in 2015.

Triple Jump

There was absolutely no stopping Caterine Ibargüen in 2015. The Colombian won the Diamond Race by a huge 21 point margin.

Yet what this Diamond Race lacked in competitiveness, it made up for in sheer quality. The only question from meeting to meeting was whether Ibargüen could extend her superb winning streak, and it was a joy to behold her do so.<link https: youtu.be external-link-new-window external link in new> It was at the final in Brussels that she came closest to losing it, but she pulled out a huge jump at the last to claim a 30th consecutive victory in all competitions.

The men's triple jump, meanwhile, was the scene of one of the greatest duels in Diamond League history. After Teddy Tamgho's tragic injury in Doha put him out of the contest before the season had really begun, it was down to Christian Taylor and pretender Pedro Pablo Pichardo to generate the excitement.

And boy, how they did so. Pichardo had Taylor under his thumb for the first half of the season, winning three of the first four rounds and establishing a huge eight point lead. Taylor, though, was not going to give up his Diamond Trophy without a fight. In an unbelievable few weeks of triple jumping, he beat Pichardo at both Lausanne and Monaco to destroy his deficit. Victory in Brussels meant that Taylor took the Diamond Trophy once again.

 

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