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An electrifying atmosphere lit the athletics stars at Letzigrund Stadium and helped them shine during another magic night at Weltklasse Zürich 2025. Meeting records in the 110m hurdles and in the 400m hurdles, and a world leading performance in the javelin throw are some of the highlights in the men’s events of the 15th Wanda Diamond League Final.
200m: Showdown at Letzigrund Stadium
The duel between 100m Olympic champion Noah Lyles (USA) and 200m Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo (BOT) had been a highly anticipated moment. And, indeed, the showdown between the two sprint superstars turned out to be a truly gripping affair. Tebogo stormed out of the blocks entering the home straight some steps ahead. But as the race progressed, Lyles caught up with him. In the end, two hundredths of a second settled the final race of the night in favour of the three-time 200m world champion (19.74). Now the owner of six Diamond Trophy (five in the 200m), Lyles is also catching up with Renaud Lavillenie (FRA/pole vault) and Christian Taylor (USA/triple jump), who both won seven diamonds.
But 2024 winner Letsile Tebogo will not travel on to the world championships in Tokyo without a trophy. The most successful U23 athlete competing in the 2025 Wanda Diamond League was presented a “Jesse Owens Rising Star Award” by descendants of the sprint icon.
Javelin throw: The world leader keeps getting better
Former European champion Julian Weber (GER) opened the javelin throw competition with a statement, improving his own world leading performance (91.07m) to a stunning 91.37m in his first throw. And he kept going, throwing 91.51m in the second round. Neither world champion Neeraj Chopra (IND) nor Weber himself could top the two top performances. The well-reserved award: a first Diamond Trophy for the fifth German Wanda Diamond League champion in the javelin throw since the series was founded in 2020.
Whereas 90m represents a magic mark in the careers of Weber and his opponents, Switzerland’s Simon Wieland was eyeing the 80m at Letzigrund Stadium. And both him and his home crowd were delighted, when the 800g javelin of the 2019 European U20 champion (79.44m) landed at 81.29m. An important milestone for the 24-year-old World University champion.
400m/110m hurdles: a brand new and a historical meeting record
In 2024, Karsten Warholm had stood in the Letzigrund rain, dressed in a Swedish uniform, telling infield speaker Lukas Studer about the defeat he had suffered against Mondo Duplantis (SWE) in a 100m duel the day before. He had lost the bet and was paying the debt. But the Viking track star is not only a world record holder but also a true sportsman. And so, he returned to the venue, in which he had set a European record in 2019 (46.29). This time around, he treated the Zurich crowd to another meeting record (46.70), winning his third diamond and bringing the arena to boiling point.
In the 110m hurdles, world leader Cordell Tinch (USA) equalled the meeting record set by his fellow countryman Roger Kingdom 38 years ago. Kingdom’s 12.92 in 1989 had been the fifth and, until yesterday, final high hurdle world record at Letzigrund Stadium.
3000m steeplechase: a German long-distance winner after 45 years
The cheers in the arena’s south became deafening, when Fredrik Ruppert embarked on the final lap of the race, leading the field in the 3000m SC. The German record holder, who is staying in St. Moritz to prepare for the world championships this summer, was carried by the Swiss crowd. Kenya’s Edmund Serem almost caught up with him at the final hurdle, but the former European U23 champion (in the 400m hurdles!) and member of the LAV Tübingen, prevailed in the end. “To be running here in Zurich feels better than racing at the Olympic Games. People were really pushing me during the last lap,” Ruppert said. He is the first German winner of a Letzigrund track race since Thomas Wessinghage (1980/5000m) and the first non-African Wanda Diamond League Final winner in the 3000m SC.
Discus throw: Like father, like son
The night of the Final was opened by some of the strongest men in the sport. As far as personal bests are concerned, Mykolas Alekna has already surpassed his 53-year-old father Virgilijus. After all, the 22-year-old holds the current world record of 75.56m. No wonder that the Lithuanian Olympic and world championship silver medallists also had his eyes on the meeting record (71.12m) his dad had set at Letzigrund Stadium 25 years ago.
Virgilijus Alekna had competed in the discus ring of the legendary stadium as many as 16 times between 1996 and 2013. He won his competitions on four occasions (2000, 2001, 2005, and 2006). Now, his son is following in his impressive footsteps. Mykolas’ 68.96m did not quite match the record of his highly decorated father, who is also a two-time Olympic champion. But he stressed that they would be celebrating his first diamond together as a family.
These are the 16 Wanda Diamond League Champions 2025 (men)
100m: Christian Colemann (USA) 9.97
200m: Noah Lyles (USA), 19.74
400m: Jacory Patterson (USA) 43.85
800m: Emmanuel Wanyonyi 1:42.37
1500m: Niels Laros (NED) 3:29.20
3000m: Jimmy Gressier (FRA) 7:36.78
110m hurdles: Cordell Tinch (USA) 12.92 (=MR)
400m hurdles: Karsten Warholm (NOR) 46.70 (MR)
3000m steeplechase: Frederik Ruppert (GER) 8:09.02
High jump: Hamish Kerr (NZL) 2.32m
Pole vault (Sechseläutenplatz): Mondo Duplantis (SWE) 6.00m
Long jump (Sechseläutenplatz): Simon Ehammer (SUI) 8.32m
Triple jump: Andy Díaz Hernández (ITA) 17.56m
Shot Put (Sechseläutenplatz): Joe Kovacs (USA) 22.46 m Discus: Mykolas Alekna (LTU) 68.89 m
Javelin throw: Julian Weber (GER) 91.51m (WL)