ZURICH: American Yared Nug­use fought off a high-calibre field to win the 1,500 metres at the Welt­klasse Diamond League in Zurich on Thursday, on a night when the weat­her dampened world record expectations at the Letzigrund Stadium.

Nuguse, who took the bronze medal at the Paris Olympics, kicked for home in the final 50 metres to see off Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen who had to settle for second, with Olympic champion Cole Hocker coming in third.

The race featured the top four from the Olympic final, but this time Nuguse came out on top, having alre­ady beaten Ingebrigtsen, the defending champion, for third place in Paris, and the American’s winning time was three minutes 29.21 seconds.

“This race was so highly anticipated and I knew that it was going to be quick in the end,” said Nuguse. “Everyone could have got this race. I am glad I was still able to win.”

In the women’s 100 metres, world champion Sha’Carri Richardson ran 10.84 and defeated Olympic champion Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia.

The American, silver medallist behind Alfred in Paris, lined up alongside her rival on the blocks, but it was Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith who got away quickest before Richardson took the lead, and Alfred came second in a photo finish with the Briton.

“I am training and executing because I know the race is not going to take care of itself,” said Richardson.

Botswana’s Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo also left it late for his victory in the men’s 200m. The 21-year-old edged Olympic silver medallist Kenny Bednarek by 0.02sec as he won in 19.55sec.

“I always dig deep for the races and for everything, so, for me it means a lot,” said Tebogo.

CHEBET MISSES WORLD RECORD

Olympic champion Beatrice Chebet came to Zurich with the women’s 5000m world record in her sights, but the Kenyan had to go it alone for most of the race, and the 14:00.21 set last year by Gudaf Tsegay was a stretch too far.

Chebet, who won the 5,000 and 10,000m double in Paris and broke the 10,000m record in May, had to settle for a time of 14:09.52 in the rain, which is the quickest time this year.

“I really wanted to run the world record, but I missed it, this is due to the weather,” Chebet said. “And the pacemaker was supposed to pace until 3000 metres but she dropped off earlier. I used a lot of energy to push.”

There was a fifth consecutive Diamond League victory for Ukraine’s Olympic champion and world record holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who managed a best of 1.96m in the high jump for victory.

There were also two more dominant performances from Americans who’d struck gold in Paris.

First up, three-time Olympic champion Ryan Crouser wrapped up another shot put competition with a winning 22.66m.

Grant Holloway then clocked a rapid 12.99sec for victory in the 110m hurdles.

DUPLANTIS ‘WRECKED’

There was, however, disappointment for the Zurich crowd when world record holder Norwegian Karsten Warholm pulled out of the 400m hurdles.

Warholm had been in action at the same venue the previous night when he lost a 100 metres sprint showdown with Swedish pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis, and was forced to withdraw from his race with a hamstring issue.

Roshawn Clarke of Jamaica, in 47.49sec, won the 400m hurdles in his absence.

The crowd were treated, however, to War­holm walking a lap of the track in a Swedish shirt, which he was forced to wear after his loss to Duplantis, with Abba’s “Mamma Mia” playing from the stadium’s speakers.

Duplantis did win the pole vault, but was clearly feeling the effects of his sprint win, as he won with a jump of 5 metres 82, a long way off his world record of 6.26.

“Mentally, I felt kind of good today. But my body felt wrecked after yesterday’s race,” Duplantis said. “The sprint yesterday was very impressive. For both of us it was a great experience.”

The Diamond League final takes place in Brussels on Sept. 13 and 14.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2024