ZURICH, Switzerland, CMC – Jamaicans Shericka Jackson and Danielle Williams led Caribbean performers with wins, and they were two of eight world champions that maintained their status at the World Athletics Diamond League meet on Thursday in the Swiss city of Zurich.
The meet, taking place only four days after the World Championships ended in the Hungarian capital of Budapest, featured Jackson, fellow Jamaican Williams, and 10 other world champions in front of a packed house of 25 000 at the Letzigrund Stadium.
Jackson, the two-time women’s world 200 metres champion, remained supreme in her preferred event, winning by four metres in a time of 21.82 seconds from the British pair of Daryll Neita, whose time was 22.25, and Kayla White with a time of 22.33, while Anthonique Strachan of The Bahamas was sixth in 22.65.
The women’s 100 hurdles is arguably the most competitive race on the track at the moment, but Williams backed up her Budapest victory with win in a time of 12.54 from the American duo of Alaysha Johnson, whose time was four hundredths-of-a-second slower, and Kendra Harrison with a time of 12.59.
Megan Tapper of Jamaica was fifth in 12.64, and Devynne Charlton of the Bahamas ran 12.75 for eighth in the nine-woman field.
World silver medallist Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands upstaged three-time world champion Karsten Warholm of Norway in the men’s 400 hurdles.
McMaster ran an aggressive opening 200 to put the Norwegian off his game, forcing Warholm to chase him when the race entered the home straight.
Warholm fought back and they were even at the final hurdle, but McMaster held on for a narrow, but well-deserved victory in 47.27, only 0.03 ahead of Warholm, with 2022 world champion Alison Dos Santos of Brazil finishing third in 47.62.
Dual Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica is only now finding her form with less than a month remaining of the international outdoor season and ran a season’s best time of 11 secs flat in the women’s 100 to follow world champion Sha’Carri Richardson of the United States home.
Richardson began her reign as the world’s fastest woman in fine style, dominating the race to clock 10.88 with the Jamaican duo of Natasha Morrison, also clocked at 11 ticks flat, and Thompson-Herah taking second and third.
Shashalee Forbes of Jamaica finished fifth with a time of 11.12, and Strachan ran 11.39 to finish at the back of the nine-woman field.
Adelle Tracy of Jamaica ran one minute, 59.05 seconds to finish third in the women’s 800, with her compatriot Natoya Goule-Toppin clocking 2 min, 00.10 secs for ninth in the 12-woman race.
Laura Muir of Great Britain was looking to make amends after a disappointing World Championships, and she stepped down in distance from her favoured 1500 and blasted into the lead on the second lap to claim a convincing victory in 1:57.71 from Catriona Bisset of Australia, whose time was 1:58.77.
Shanieka Ricketts, the 2022 Commonwealth Games champion from Jamaica, cleared 14.78 metres to finish runner-up in the women’s triple.
Thea La Fond of Dominica cleared 14.42m had to settle for fifth, and Kimberley Williams of Jamaica was ninth out of 10 competitors with a distance of 13.75.
Four-time world champion Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela cleared 15 flat on her first attempt to take the lead immediately, and the breathing room she did not have in the World Championships final.
A second-round distance of the 15.50 was deemed a foul, but her fourth-round effort of 15.15 stretched her advantage and enabled her to take the win.
Tajay Gayle, the 2019 men’s world long jump champion from Jamaica, finished second in the event with a leap of 8.07 metres.
He was 13 centimetres behind world champion Miltiadis Tentoglou of Greece, whose jumping provided late drama at the meet in the “final thre85.04.e” round.
The Greek went into the jump-off in third place with a best of 8.04, but soared past Gayle and Jarrion Lawson, whose best leap was 8.05m, to claim the win.
Carey MacLeod of Jamaica finished ninth with a leap of 7.60 in the 10-man field.
Former world javelin champion Anderson Peters of Grenada continued his struggles this year when he hurled the spear 81.01 metres and finished sixth in the 10-man field in the event won by Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic with a hurl of 85.86.
World champion Neeraj Chopra of India was third with a hurl of 85.71 and Julian Weber of Germany was third with 85.04.
Reigning women’s Olympic 400 metres champion Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas returned to winning ways when she clocked 51.83 to win a one-lap race on the under-card.
None of the podium finishers from Budapest was entered for the race, and Miller-Uibo dominated with a time way off her best mark of 48.36.