The season so far: Top five on track

Having made history with his 1500m and 5000m double at last year's Wanda Diamond League Final in Eugene, Jakob Ingebrigtsen was out of sorts as he got his title defence underway at the start of the current campaign. Defeat to Josh Kerr in Eugene evoked painful memories of recent World Athletics Championships setbacks, and left Ingebrigtsen under mounting pressure as he arrived for his second 1500m of the season on home turf in Oslo. At his beloved Bislett Games, he also had to dig deep as his long-time Kenyan rival Timothy Cheruiyot snapped at his heels on the home straight. Only a desperate, instinctive dive over the line secured victory and a world-leading 3:29.74 for Ingebrigtsen, who was visibly relieved to get a first Diamond League win of the season under his belt. A few weeks later, he was back to his brilliant best in Monaco, setting a new European record of 3:26.73 at the last race before the Olympics. 

Faith Kipyegon was the standout star of last season's historic season, becoming the first athlete to break more than one world record in a single Diamond League campaign with her triumphs in the 1500m, the 5000m and the mile. The Kenyan ultimately lost her 5000m world record Gudaf Tsegay at the series final in Eugene, but she still ended the season as 1500m Diamond League champion and a double world record holder. Expectations, then, were astronomical as she lined up for her first Diamond League appearance of the season. As always, the Kenyan delivered, clocking 3:49.04 to shave another 0.07 of a second off the world record she had set at the Wanda Diamond League Florence last season. It was a statement victory, albeit a somewhat unexpected one for the athlete herself: "Even I am surprised!" she admitted in the mixed zone after the race.

Perhaps the only downside of Kipyegon's staggering performance in Paris was that it overshadowed an almost equally historic race in the men's 800m. In a discipline which was already shaping up to be one of the most fascinating battles at Paris 2024, distance fans were eagerly anticipating the pre-Olympics showdown between Kenyan stars Wycliffe Kinyamal and Emmanuel Wanyonyi, France's newly minted European champion Gabriel Tual and Algeria's in-form Diamond League standings leader Djamel Sedjati. They were treated to a race beyond their wildest dreams, as Wanyonyi, Tual and Sedjati jostled for the lead in a dramatic final 200 metres, eventually tumbling over the line in a rare three-way photo finish. In the end, it was Sedjati who clinched it with a world lead and national record of 1:41.56. Wanyonyi and Tual also claimed personal bests, making this the first race ever in which three athletes had gone under 1:42 and the first in which six had gone under 1:43. It propelled Sedjati, Tual and Wanyonyi into the top five 800m runners of all time, and set the tone for Sedjati's Diamond League record of 1:41.46 in Monaco a week later. 

"The three best hurdlers of all time are lining up ahead of the Olympics," declared Rai Benjamin on the eve of his 400m hurdles clash with Karsten Warholm and Alison Dos Santos in Monaco earlier this month. He wasn't exaggerating either. The showdown between the three hurdlers was arguably one of the most eagerly anticipated track races in Diamond League history, a rare head-to-head between the three men who have dominated and revolutionised their discipline in recent years. Warholm remains the world record holder and reigning Olympic champion, but had been pipped to the Diamond League title by Benjamin the previous year. Dos Santos, meanwhile, had beaten Warholm twice already - including once in his home town of Oslo - and dominated the Diamond League with four wins in the first half of the season. A race between the three fastest men ever, it was too close to call, but in the end, it was Benjamin who defied his jetlag to come out on top. The reigning Diamond League champion clocked 46.67 to come in ahead of both his rivals and throw down the gauntlet ahead of the Olympics in Paris. 

With 22 wins in the past five seasons, Dutch hurdles star Femke Bol has been one of the most dominant track athletes the Diamond League has ever seen in recent years. A world champion, five-time European champion and three-time Diamond League champion, Bol still has one final challenge to become the greatest hurdler of her generation. That challenge is Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who still holds the world record and Olympic title despite Bol's increasing heroics in recent years. This season, Bol has got closer than ever to her US rival, and one performance in particular will have her fancying her chances as the two women prepare to face off at the Olympics. Fresh from a new, world-record tickling PB of 50.95 in Switzerland, Bol arrived at the Wanda Diamond League in London hoping to deliver a statement victory before crossing the Channel to Paris. She did just that, clocking 51.30 to smash her own Diamond League record and send another warning shot to McLaughlin-Levrone. "I am excited for Paris - I want to put on my best race there and I am looking forward to racing Sydney. I will be ready for it," she said afterwards.