Alison dos Santos in Zurich (© Getty Images)
With the Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels just one week away and the World Athletics Ultimate Championship fast approaching, Alison dos Santos and Masai Russell produced the headline performances of an extraordinary night at the Weltklasse meeting in Zurich on Thursday (27).
Dos Santos opened the record-breaking sequence with a stunning 45.80 in the men’s 400m hurdles, and less than 40 minutes later Russell followed with 12.09 in the women’s 100m hurdles, as two world records fell at the final regular-season Wanda Diamond League meeting of the year.
By the end of the evening, Diamond League records, meeting records, world leads and national records had been scattered across the programme, with the women’s 800m and men’s pole vault also edging into world record territory.
Dos Santos, the 2022 world champion, made up the stagger on multiple global champion Karsten Warholm by halfway, then continued to forge ahead. The Brazilian charged through the line in 45.80, taking 0.14 off the world record set by Warholm at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021.
Warholm finished a distant second in 46.69 – still one of the fastest times in history – but this was Dos Santos’ night, and one of the defining performances of the season.
“The crowd and the energy were perfect,” said Dos Santos. “This night was amazing for me and for everyone who came to watch, and everyone watching from home. I hope Brazil stopped to watch it.
“I have no words to explain what happened other than: I just broke the world record. I have been showing great form throughout the season – that I am fast, that I am strong. We changed a lot in training and racing for this. I’m starting faster, I’m finishing stronger, and that is what I had to do to break a world record.
“I was looking for my coach as soon as I crossed the finish line. I was the one running, but he is the one who made this possible. He believed in me when I was younger and helped me develop as an athlete and as a person.”
Russell then added another world record in the women’s 100m hurdles.
The Olympic champion had already come close to the world record twice this year, and in Zurich she finally took it down. Producing a flawless run over the barriers, Russell stopped the clock at 12.09 to take 0.03 off the previous world record.
Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan, the world record-holder heading into the race, was second in a season’s best of 12.23. European champion Nadine Visser finished third in a season’s best of 12.34.
"My start felt really good," said Russell. "As I was approaching the line, I thought, 'let me actually run through the line this time and see what the time is'. When I saw 12.09, I got so emotional.
"I have dreamed about this moment for so long. This is the best place I ever could have imagined to break the world record. When I heard that Alison dos Santos had broken the world record, it confirmed the track was hot. I got a lot of motivation from him for sure."
Masai Russell after winning in Zurich (© World Athletics)
World records threatened in 800m and pole vault
The world records remained intact in the women’s 800m and men’s pole vault, but only just. Audrey Werro continued her remarkable season with another Diamond League record in front of her home crowd, while Mondo Duplantis and Emmanouil Karalis produced one of the highest-quality pole vault contests in history.
Werro won the women’s 800m in 1:53.70, improving her own Diamond League record, world lead and meeting record by 0.10.
This time, Femke Broeders-Bol took a more aggressive approach, tracking the pacemaker through the opening lap before Werro drew closer down the back straight. The Swiss athlete took the lead with 200 metres to go and, despite some slight jostling on the top bend, stretched away down the home straight to claim another superb victory.
Her 1:53.70 brought her another step closer to the world record, while Broeders-Bol was rewarded with a Dutch record of 1:54.71, a 0.70 improvement on the PB she set in Lausanne last week. That performance lifts her to ninth on the world all-time list. World silver medallist Georgia Hunter Bell was third in a season’s best of 1:55.03.
The men’s pole vault also soared into rare air, as Duplantis cleared an outdoor world lead of 6.25m and Karalis set a Greek record of 6.20m.
The meeting record had stood at 6.07m, but it was revised several times during a contest that quickly became a duel between history’s two highest vaulters. Both cleared 6.10m, Duplantis then went over 6.15m, Karalis responded with 6.20m, and Duplantis reclaimed the lead with a first-time clearance at 6.25m.
Sondre Guttormsen also cleared 6.00m for third, while Chris Nilsen and Ernest John Obiena both managed 5.90m in a competition of exceptional depth.
Karalis passed at 6.25m, then joined Duplantis in taking aim at a would-be world record height of 6.32m. Neither could clear it, but both had solid attempts, underlining the sense that the event is still being pushed into new territory.
Cockrell and Wolfe break meeting records
Anna Cockrell produced a world-leading meeting record of 52.13 in the women’s 400m hurdles, taking 0.05 off the mark set by Femke Bol in 2025.
Emma Zapletalova, the world leader coming into the race, was level with Cockrell entering the home straight, but clattered the penultimate hurdle and faded to sixth. Former world record-holder Dalilah Muhammad was second in a season’s best of 53.16.
Parker Wolfe took five seconds off Said Aouita’s long-standing men’s 3000m meeting record, winning in 7:27.43. The previous mark had stood since 1986, but Wolfe led a US one-two as Graham Blanks finished second in 7:27.92. Australia’s Cameron Myers was third in 7:27.97, with seven men dipping under 7:30.
Wanyonyi and Bednarek set world leads
There was a similarly close battle in the men’s 800m, where Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi held off a strong challenge from Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati.
Wanyonyi won in a world-leading 1:41.76, with Sedjati close behind in a season’s best of 1:41.83.
Kenny Bednarek looked a class apart in the men’s 200m, striding clear to victory in a world-leading 19.62. The US sprinter finished just 0.05 shy of his PB and 0.20 ahead of South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile.
A photo-finish was needed to separate Olympic champion Julien Alfred and world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden in the women’s 100m, both clocking 10.70 as Alfred took victory by five thousandths of a second in a national record. It was just the second time in history that two women had run 10.70 or faster in the same race.
The women’s 3000m steeplechase meeting record came under threat as world champion Faith Cherotich led a Kenyan one-two from Doris Lemngole, winning by 0.12 in 8:55.82. Peruth Chemutai also finished inside nine minutes, clocking 8:58.28.
In the men’s javelin, Sri Lanka’s world leader Rumesh Tharanga Pathirage came within 21 centimetres of the meeting record that has stood for 30 years.
Two-time world champion Anderson Peters led after the opening round with 86.93m, but Pathirage moved into the lead with 88.23m in round two and extended his advantage in round three. He then went farther again in the final round, launching the javelin 92.07m.
Moll, Olyslagers, Geist and Tentoglou among field event winners
In the women’s pole vault, held on the eve of the meeting in the city centre, Hana Moll cleared a PB of 4.90m to take victory. Switzerland’s Angelica Moser was second with a season’s best of 4.85m.
Nicola Olyslagers won a high-quality women’s high jump with a season’s best of 2.02m. Iryna Gerashchenko cleared an equal PB of 2.00m for second, while world record-holder Yaroslava Mahuchikh was equal fourth with 1.96m.
Elsewhere, Jordan Geist set a PB of 22.53m to win the men’s shot put from Rajindra Campbell, who reached 22.22m.
Miltiadis Tentoglou won a superb men’s long jump contest with 8.45m, just ahead of Tajay Gayle, who jumped 8.43m. Wayne Pinnock was third with 8.33m and Jorge Hodelin fourth with 8.32m.
Cole Hocker produced a well-timed finish to win a competitive men’s 1500m in 3:31.71. Kenyan youngster Phanuel Koech was second in 3:31.84, while Jakob Ingebrigtsen finished fifth in 3:32.16.
The night’s standout events – Dos Santos’ 400m hurdles world record, Russell’s 100m hurdles world record, Werro’s 800m Diamond League record and the Duplantis-Karalis pole vault duel – gave Zurich the feel of a championship final in miniature. With the Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels next week and the World Athletics Ultimate Championship on the horizon, they also offered a tantalising glimpse of the contests still to come.
