South Africa’s Akani Simbine finished fourth in the men’s 100m at the season-ending Diamond League meeting in Zurich on Thursday night. American Trayvon Bromell clocked 9.94sec to beat Jamaica’s Yohan Blake (10.05) and Canadian Aaron Brown who finished third in 10.06. Simbine was next in 10.07.
There was success for world record holder in the 400m, South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk, who won his race on the pre-programme in 44.39, which was a season’s best for him.
Van Niekerk, whose 43.03 record from the 2016 Rio Olympics still stands, was a comfortable winner of the one-lap race, seeing off the American Wilbert London who clocked 44.78.
44.39 big step forward.
Let the Lords will be done 🙏🏽🤍#Fifteen27 pic.twitter.com/logvwOgp6O
— Wayde van Niekerk (@WaydeDreamer) September 8, 2022
Mondo Duplantis, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Noah Lyles showed off all their pedigree by setting meet records en route to victories.
Duplantis, after a rare defeat in Brussels last week, gave a masterclass in pole vaulting at a 25 000 sell-out Letzigrund Stadium, the Swede eventually winning with 6.07 metres.
Fraser-Pryce stormed back to “remarkable” winning ways in the 100m having also suffered a rare blip in the Belgian capital.
The 35-year-old Jamaican clocked a meet record-equalising 10.65 seconds, just 0.03sec off her personal best and the seventh time this season she has gone under 10.70.
Lyles smashed Jamaican legend Usain Bolt’s 10-year-old 200m meet record by 0.14sec as he scorched through for victory in 19.52sec.
That top trio of athletes was part of 19 reigning Olympic champions, 21 world champions and 20 European champions in individual events on show for the final, a true feast of the highest-quality track and field.
Athletes were competing to bag a Diamond Trophy and prize money of $30 000 while in addition there were wildcard entries up for grabs for next year’s World Athletics Championships in Budapest.