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A Fascinating Athletics Show, World Leading Times and Promising Swiss Performances

The first Samsung Diamond League final offered a night of fascinating athletics at a sold-out Letzigrund Stadium. There were two world leading performances, as well as a number of Swiss athletes offering hints of a very promising future.

The two world leading results (one by Jeremy Wariner in the men’s 400m in 44.13 and the other by Team USA in the 4x100m Zurich Trophy in 37.45), David Oliver’s energetic show in the high hurdles, and a gripping 5000m race were among an entire series of Weltklasse highlights.

Triple Olympic and fivefold world champion Jeremy Wariner (USA) passed world leader Jermaine Gonzales of Jamaica with 60m to go and finished the race improving the world leading time by 27 hundredths of a second. It was Wariner’s fourth win at Weltklasse Zürich and a special triumph, as he had been defeated by the currently suspended LaShawn Merritt (the Olympic champion of 2008 and world champion of 2009) at the last two editions of the meeting. With six wins at six Diamond League meetings, Wariner – whose agent is also his role model Michael Johnson – won his first Diamond Trophy.

In the 4x100m men’s relay – the Zurich Trophy – team USA conquered their rivals from Jamaica convincingly. Their result of 37.45 represented the second world leading result of the night. The Jamaicans were competing without Usain Bolt, who had to call it a season due to an injury, last week. The winning squad of the USA included Tyson Gay, Trell Kimmons (who had won his 100m heat in 9.95 earlier in the evening), Wallace Spearmon (the winner of the 200m race and a diamond), as well as Michael Rodgers, who anchored his team confidently.

Even though David Oliver did not quite run the 100m h world record the Zurich spectators had secretly hoped for, he offered another impressive demonstration of his supremacy in the event. He clocked 12.93 – a result just four hundredths slower than his own world leading time and six hundredths away from Dayron Robles’ world record. In the race, Oliver hit the sixth hurdle, but managed to postpone a fall until after the finishing a line. Dwight Thomas of Jamaica came in second in 13.25 holding off the rest of the field.

In the men’s 5000m, Tariku Bekele’s compelling final lap reminded a little of his injured brother Kenenisa’s triumph at Weltklasse Zürich last year. Last night, as many as six runners broke the magic 13-minute barrier. Bekele’s fellow countryman Imane Merga came in second, and picked up a diamond for winning the overall score. European champion Mo Farah placed fifth. He broke David Moorcroft’s 28-year-old British record in 12:57.94, becoming the first UK athlete to run under 13 minutes in the 5000m.

Allyson Felix (USA) is the only athlete who will be able to win even two diamonds in the inaugural year of the Samsung Diamond League. After prevailing in the 400m race (winning time 50.37), the first Diamond Trophy was hers. Next week, she will receive her second award – the 200m diamond – at the final in Brussels.

The women’s 100m had been eagerly anticipated. 200m Olympic Champion Veronica Campbell won the race in a knife-edge finish clocking the same time as her US-American Carmelita Jeter rival in 10.89. Jeter who had dominated the event throughout the 2010 season, however, was the one to pick up the Diamond Trophy at the end of the evening.
In the 3000m SC – a traditional Weltklasse Zürich highlight – 2009 winner Ezekiel Kemboi from Kenya ran the second best performance of the year in 8.01.74. He won the race after shaking off his toughest opponent, Paul Kipsiele Koech, when entering the home straight. European championship silver medallist Bouabdallah Tahri of France came in third in 8.07.20.

All 16 Diamond Trophy contenders were able to defend their leading position and received the precious award at last night’s ceremony.

Ambitious Swiss Talents
For the first time in years, a number of Swiss athletes participated in the international programme of the meeting – and they all managed to capture the attention of the 26 000 spectators at the stadium. Their performances were a promise for the European Championship which will take place at Letzigrund Stadium in 2014.

21-year-old Lisa Urech, 7th in the final in Barcelona, placed fourth behind US-American star Lolo Jones in 12.81, improving her previous personal best of 12.84. She clearly defeated European Champion Nevin Yanit who came in sixth in 12.94. The young athlete from the Emmental region is now in a position to eye Julie Baumann’s 19-year-old national record. Priscilla Lopes-Schliep of Canada won the race running 12.53 into a head wind of 0.2 m/s, nearly beating her own world leading time. Her result represented a new stadium record.

Irene Pusterla’s Weltklasse Zürich debut offered the second Swiss highlight of the night: With her a third place at Weltklasse Zürich, Pusterla, 22 years old and ninth at the European Championships, proved her skill and excellent shape. Her 6.70m (head wind of 0.5 m/s), were the second best result of her career.

200m sprinter Marc Schneeberger ran a season’s best of 20.55. Even though this result earned him a mere eighth place, he managed to cut a fine figure in a field of sprint stars. Benefitting from a slight tail wind of 0.4 m/s, Wallace Spearman won the race in 19.79, yet another stadium record.

Finally, Schneeberger and his colleagues of the 4x100m relay team inspired the Zurich fans in the Zurich Trophy. Pascal Mancini, Aron Beyene, Reto Amaru Schenkel, and Marc Schneeberger placed 5th in an exciting relay event. Clocking 38.81 – their third sub-39.00 result – they missed their own national record of Barcelona by only 12 hundredths of a second.