16 June, 2024

Road to the Final So Far: Part II

Photo: Thomas Windestam

Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Femke Bol and Yaroslava Mahuchikh all picked up their first wins of the 2024 Wanda Diamond League season as the series continued in Oslo and Stockholm.

The 2024 Wanda Diamond League season reached the halfway stage last weekend with the seventh of 14 meetings on the Road to the Final. It has been a vintage year so far, as the world's finest track and field athletes have jostled to get themselves into championship-winning form ahead of the all-important Olympic Games in Paris later this summer.

As always, the Wanda Diamond League has provided the perfect preparation for the biggest stage, allowing both established stars and upcoming talents to test themselves against the very best of their respective disciplines.

In July, the series will resume with meetings in Paris, Monaco and London as athletes look to accelerate into their very best form ahead of the Olympics and also secure qualification to the Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels on September 13th-14th.

With three weeks until the next leg of the Road to the Final, here's a look back at some of the highlights of the most recent meetings in Oslo and Stockholm.

Distance dynamos

All eyes were on the Norwegian stars as the Diamond League touched down in Oslo at the end of May, with a packed out home crowd at the Bislett Stadium expecting fireworks from the likes of Karsten Warholm and Jakob Ingebrigtsen.

They were initially disappointed as Warholm slumped to defeat against an in-form Alison Dos Santos in the 400m hurdles, the Brazilian clocking an impressive world lead of 46.63. That heaped the pressure on Ingebrigtsen in the men's 1500m, at a time when the 23-year-old was already under the cosh after his defeat to Britain's Josh Kerr in Eugene.

Yet Ingebrigtsen showed emphatically why he is the reigning series champion in two different disciplines, producing a gutsy performance to clock a world lead of 3:29.74 and claim his first win of the season.

There were also fireworks in the other men's distance event, as Ethiopia's Hagos Gebrhiwet stormed to 12.36.73 in the men's 5000m. The second-fastest time ever run over five kilometres, it was a new national record, meeting record and world lead.

There was a surprise in the sprints, meanwhile, as the USA's Brittany Brown beat Shericka Jackson and Daryll Neita to take her first ever Diamond League victory in the 200m and keep one of the most competitive events of recent years as unpredictable as ever.

Bol bursts out of the blocks

Brown's attempt to make it two wins in two fell flat in the 100m in Stockholm, as the Gambia's Gina Bass-Bittaye delivered another shock result with her first ever Diamond League win. In the men's event, Cameroon's Emmanuel Eseme made it an African double with his second win of the season, clocking 10.16 to go top of the 100m standings at the halfway stage.

Yet the standout performances in Stockholm came largely from the usual suspects, with several reigning Diamond League champions and world record holders adding more points to their tallies at the BAUHAUS-Galan.

Mondo Duplantis delighted the home crowd with another six-metre jump before falling just short of a new world record at 6.25m, while fellow world record holder Mykolas Alekna notched up his third successive win in the men's discus to all but confirm his place in the Diamond League Final.

Ukraine's Yaroslava Mahuchikh made her first appearance of the season and was under pressure to show she was still queen of the high jump after Serbian rival Angelina Topic had stormed to the top of the standings with two early wins. She delivered in style, clearing 2.00m to pick up her first win of the campaign.

It was flying Dutchwoman Femke Bol who stole the headlines however, as she burst out of the blocks in her first Diamond League appearance of the season, clocking a season's best of 53.07 to get her title defence off to the perfect start at her favourite Diamond League meeting.