Jakob Ingebrigtsen sets a world 2000m record in Brussels (© AFP / Getty Images)
The Wanda Diamond League season reaches its climax this week with the final at the Allianz Memorial Van Damme in Brussels, where the first set of champions will be crowned on Friday (4) before the remaining disciplines are decided on Saturday.
A win in Brussels for athletes in events contested at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship will guarantee a place in the lucrative inaugural event, where a prize pot of US$10million is up for grabs.
Among the day-one contenders already confirmed for Budapest is Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who has secured a wildcard 1500m call-up and will be hoping to continue his return to form following almost a year out with an Achilles injury.
The Norwegian was crowned European 5000m champion in Birmingham recently, then went on to finish fourth over 1500m in Silesia and fifth in Zurich.
But he faces a stellar line-up including 20-year-old Cameron Myers, who broke the Australian record in winning the Paris Diamond League in 3:28.00, Olympic champion Cole Hocker and 2019 world champion Timothy Cheruiyot.
The day-one action at the Allianz Memorial Van Damme is capped off by the men’s 400m, with 22-year-old world champion Collen Kebinatshipi having enjoyed a stellar season since his first Diamond League win in May.
Since then, he has twice broken the Diamond League record, first with 43.54 and then with 43.44 in Monaco to move to sixth on the world all-time list. The other two runners in the field to duck under 44 seconds this season are Zakithi Nene and Jacory Patterson.
The last women’s action of the night sees Julien Alfred looking to extend her unbeaten streak in the 200m.
She set a career best of 21.51 in Monaco and only two women in the field have come within half a second of that this season: the US duo Kayla White and Cambrea Sturgis. Amy Hunt will also be hoping to get in the mix after her quadruple gold at the European Championships.
US hurdles battle
It was in Brussels back in 2012 that Aries Merritt set the long-standing world record for the 110m hurdles, a mark Ja’Kobe Tharp broke at the NCAA Championships in June. He will have his eyes on lowering that 12.75 mark, but faces a triple threat from his US compatriots on Friday night.
Most notable among his challengers is world champion Cordell Tinch, along with Jamal Britt and Trey Cunningham, all sub-13 men at their peak.
Like Tinch, Oblique Seville has already booked his spot at the Ultimate as the current world champion in the 100m, and he has properly backed up those credentials in 2026. He was crowned national champion in June in a season’s best of 9.82, won the Prefontaine Classic, and also picked up victories in Monaco and Silesia.
He faces a double US challenge from Christian Coleman and Trayvon Bromell, while a strong African contingent — Kanyinsola Ajayi, Emmanuel Eseme, Gift Leotlela and Akani Simbine — have all run 9.93 or quicker this season.
Emmanuel Wanyonyi is peaking at just the right time, having clocked a season’s best of 1:41.76 to win last week’s 800m Diamond League in Zurich. He again faces Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati, who pushed him so close in Switzerland.
The other sub-1:42 man this season, Canada’s Marco Arop, is also in action in Brussels, along with home favourite Elliot Crestan.
While Wanyonyi has long targeted David Rudisha’s world 800m record, France’s Jimmy Gressier will be aiming to break Mo Farah’s one-hour record in Brussels, the mark currently standing at 21.33km.
Recently crowned European champion Emma Zapletalová heads the rankings for the women’s 400m hurdles ahead of Anna Cockrell and Rushell Clayton.
Defending Diamond League champion Faith Cherotich, fresh from her 8:55.82 victory in Zurich, looks set to do battle with Peruth Chemutai and Winfred Yavi in the women’s 3000m steeplechase.
Ethiopian contenders dominate the entries for the 5000m, among them Likina Amebaw, Freweyni Hailu and Senayet Getachew, while home hopes will be on Jana van Lent.
Challengers line up to dethrone Duplantis
Mondo Duplantis faces a star-studded threat to his Diamond League title, with the top four from last year’s World Championships all in action in the Belgian capital.
Kurtis Marschall, a bronze medallist in Tokyo, got the better of Duplantis in Stockholm earlier this season, while Emmanouil Karalis cleared 6.20m in pushing the world No.1 in Zurich recently.
But Duplantis has cleared 6.20m or higher in his three most recent competitions and has had some solid attempts at bettering the 6.31m world record he set indoors in Uppsala at the start of the year.
In the men’s long jump, Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou has marked himself out as the man to beat with a stellar outdoor season to date. He was crowned European champion for the fourth time with a best of 8.44m, but his standout display came at the Greek Championships in July, where he managed three jumps beyond 8.60m.
Those hoping to disrupt his run of good form include Swiss jumper Simon Ehammer, with a personal best of 8.51m set this season, and European indoor champion Bozhidar Sarâboyukov.
The top five in the 2026 rankings will compete in the women’s triple jump, including three women over the 15-metre mark this season: Thea LaFond with 15.25m in Zagreb, Saly Sarr with 15.08m in Silesia and Leyanis Pérez Hernández with 15.06m in Monaco.
Gianmarco Tamberi, fresh from his wildcard call-up for the Ultimate, has been enjoying a renaissance at the age of 34. Plagued by injuries in recent years, he clinched a third successive European title on what was the first birthday of his daughter Camilla. Threats in Brussels are likely to come from JuVaughn Harrison, Oleh Doroshchuk and Romain Beckford.
Lithuania’s Mykolas Alekna heads the field for the men’s discus along with European champion Kristjan Čeh of Slovenia and world champion Daniel Ståhl of Sweden, while two-time Olympic champion Valarie Sion is bidding for a sixth successive Diamond League title. Among those aiming to dethrone her are Jorinde van Klinken and Cierra Jackson.
In the other field event to be decided, Chase Jackson of the USA and Dutch athlete Jessica Schilder will be hoping to emulate their 21-metre throws from this season in the women’s shot put. Jackson only joined that elite club last week in Berlin, while Schilder achieved the feat at the start of the outdoor season in China.
Matt Majendie for World Athletics
