In 11 of the 16 events on show in Lausanne last weekend, the Diamond Race leaders emerged from a cool and blustery night still sitting proudly ahead of the rest of the field, while in the 100m hurdles, Dawn Harper-Nelson joined Jasmin Stowers at the top of the table. In five events, Lausanne saw a new leader ushered in.
Nijel Amos (800m), Renaud Lavillenie (pole vault), Pedro Pablo Pichardo (triple jump), David Storl (shot put), Vitezslav Vesely (javelin), Francena McCorory (400m), Sifan Hassan (1500m) Virginia Nyambura (steeplechase), Ruth Beitia (high jump), Tianna Bartoletta (long jump), Jasmin Stowers (100m hurdles) and Sandra Perkovic (discus) all maintained their positions at the top of their respective races, but via differing means.
While Amos, Storl, Hassan, Nyambura and Bartoletta all won and picked up four points to extend their leads, Lavillenie, Pichardo, Vesely, Beitia, Stowers and Perkovic all suffered defeats.
While Pichardo had his lead cut thanks to reigning champion Christian Taylor’s astounding performance, the other vanquished leaders all managed to extend or retain their existing points gaps by adding one or two points for second or third place finishes. Stowers’ second place finish behind Dawn Harper-Nelson means that she now shares the lead with her American teammate who has been so dominant in the Diamond Race in recent years, while McCorory remained on top despite not competing.
In the 200m Anaso Jobodwana took the overall lead from Justin Gatlin, Alonso Edward and Christophe Lemaitre thanks to another highly consistent performance that saw him finish second to Zharnel Hughes. The South African now has six points to his name despite not yet having recorded a victory in the Diamond League. Hughes’s four points leaves him second, joint with the former leading trio.
Mo Farah’s 5000m victory and Yomif Kejelcha’s second place meant that they replace Hagos Gebrhiwet and Thomas Longosiwa as joint leaders, both having a win and a second place to their names in 2015, while Bershawn Jackson regained the 400m hurdles lead, having set the early pace fafter picking up four points in the year’s first meeting in Doha.
Allyson Felix was another winner in Qatar and she too regained her lead in Lausanne, the 200m specialist having lost it to Jeneba Tarmoh.
Four Diamond Race points are awarded to event winners at each meeting, two to runners up and one to third place finishers, with the top eight athletes in the standings securing places in the season ending finales in Zurich and Brussels, where points won are worth double. The athletes in each discipline with the most points after all seven meetings are crowned the Diamond Race Champions and each secure a Diamond Trophy.
Dean Harman for the IAAF Diamond League
