Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi narrowly failed to break the 800 m world record at the start of the Athletissima. At the end of the Diamond League evening, the Swiss sprint relay team missed the Swiss record.
After the Olympic Games, you’re usually a little out of energy. But not so for Emmanuel Wanyony. The Olympic champion from Kenya completed the two laps of the track in 1:41.11 minutes. This meant he was only two tenths of a second short of David Rudisha’s 800 m world record (1:40.91).
Wanyonyi is now tied with Wilson Kipketer as number 2 on the all-time list. The African Kipketer, who competes for Denmark, had lowered the world record to 1:41.11 minutes in André Bucher’s time.
Wanyonyi achieved the only annual world best of the evening. But the audience also saw top performances in numerous other disciplines. Jakob Ingebrigtsen took revenge for his painful defeat at the Olympic Games in the 1500 m. There, the Norwegian collapsed as a front runner and came fourth. On the Pontaise, he had a pacemaker and only had to face the wind on the last lap. This time, he kept Olympic champion Cole Hocker from the USA at bay in a top time of 3:27.83 minutes.
Although it was a little cooler than hoped for the sprinters in Lausanne that evening, strong times were achieved in the sold-out Pontaise: Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith crossed the finish line in 10.88 seconds over 100 m in a light headwind, while the 200 m Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo from Botswana impressed with a time of 19.64 seconds. A murmur went through the audience when Anderson Peters from Grenada threw the best throw. The javelin landed beyond the 90 m mark (90.61).
Rather surprisingly close to a record
The Swiss women’s 4×100 m relay missed the Swiss record from 2021 by just 11 hundredths in 42.16 seconds. This performance was surprising. But with Salomé Kora, Sarah Atcho-Jaquier, Léonie Pointet and Mujinga Kambundji, the changes were perfect. Without the double burden, the record might have been broken. An hour earlier, Mujinga Kambundji had achieved a podium finish in the 100 m for the first time in the Diamond League in Lausanne. The Olympic sixth-place finisher came third in 11.06 seconds.
Mujinga Kambundji sprints to third place in the 100 m in Lausanne.
The 32-year-old from Bern thus achieved a more valuable result than her sister Ditaji Kambundji. Kambundji still lacks the zip that took her to silver in the 100 m hurdles at the European Championships in Rome in 12.40 seconds. She had to make do with 12.75 seconds at the Pontaise.
Audrey Werro completed the 800 m in a fine 1:59.31 minutes. However, this was not enough for more than 7th place. The Freiburg native ran tactically well this time, stayed on the inside lane and waited until the gap opened up on the home straight.
Opportunity not used
Simon Ehammer had to settle for third place in the long jump with 7.99 m. He missed the win by just seven centimetres. The field of long jumpers was filled to the Olympic standard, but there were only two 8-m jumps. Greece’s dominant Miltiadis Tentoglou secured victory in the last attempt (8.06). Jamaican Wayne Pinnock recorded 8.01 m. Ehammer made three attempts between 7.92 and 7.99 m, but for once the 8-m mark refused to be broken. The man from Appenzell has already won twice in the Diamond League. In Lausanne, his competitors would have left the door open for a third coup.
Dominic Lobalu completed a speed test over 1500 m. The 10,000 m European champion achieved a pleasing result of 3:34.39 minutes and a personal best.