Mondo Duplantis in Brussels (© Getty Images)
Legendary pole vaulter Mondo Duplantis and high jump superstar Yaroslava Mahuchikh – both of whom have broken world records and won Olympic gold this year – will be aiming to end their season on a high when they compete on the first day of the Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels on Friday (13).
The first 16 of the 32 Diamond disciplines will be contested on the first day of action at the Allianz Memorial Van Damme, while the rest will take place on Saturday in the Belgian capital.
A combined total of 82 medals – 25 of them gold – were won by Brussels-bound athletes at the recent Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and Duplantis and Mahuchikh will feature among the five disciplines that have the full complement of podium finishers.
World and Olympic champion Duplantis has already set three world records this year – one of them coming at the Olympic Games, plus one before and one after, his latest being a 6.26m vault in Silesia.
It was at the Diamond League Final last year where Duplantis set the seventh world record of his career, clearing 6.23m. If an 11th world record is out of reach this weekend, he may take aim at the meeting record of 6.10m he set last year.
Regardless, as a minimum he will want to complete his undefeated streak for 2024, and he’ll once again be up against the men who joined him on the podium in Paris – USA’s Sam Kendricks and Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis – as well as USA’s six-metre vaulters Chris Nilsen and KC Lightfoot.
All four women who stood on the high jump podium in Paris – Mahuchikh, silver medallist Nicola Olyslagers and joint bronze medallists Eleanor Patterson and Iryna Gerashchenko – will renew their rivalry in Brussels.
Mahuchikh has been undefeated outdoors this year. The Ukrainian’s winning streak includes the 2.10m world record she set at the Diamond League meeting in Paris in July. Since winning Olympic gold in the French capital, Mahuchikh went on to win in Lausanne and Zurich.
Yaroslava Mahuchikh in the high jump in Paris (© Christel Saneh)
European silver medallist Angelina Topic will also be in Brussels. The teenager was forced to miss the Olympic final through injury, but she returned to action at the end of the month to win the world U20 title in Lima.
The women’s discus, women’s shot put and men’s long jump will all feature full Paris podium reunions.
Olympic discus champion Valarie Allman takes on 2022 world champion Feng Bin and multiple global gold medallist Sandra Elkasevic, as well as world leader Yaime Perez.
In the shot put, surprise Olympic medallists Yemisi Ogunleye, Maddison-Lee Wesche and Song Jiayuan will take on two-time world champion Chase Jackson and world indoor champion Sarah Mitton.
Meanwhile, Olympic long jump champion Miltiadis Tentoglou will look to avenge his recent defeat to Olympic silver medallist Wayne Pinnock in Zurich. They’ll be joined by Olympic bronze medallist Mattia Furlani, world indoor heptathlon champion Simon Ehammer and world indoor bronze medallist Carey McLeod.
Paulino, McLaughlin-Levrone and Alfred set to star in sprints
Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino hasn’t lost a 400m race since July last year and she’ll aim to extend that streak in Brussels as she takes on 2019 world champion Salwa Eid Naser, Irish record-holder Rhasidat Adeleke, world indoor silver medallist Lieke Klaver and world bronze medallist Sada Williams.
Marileidy Paulino wins in Eugene (© Matthew Quine / Diamond League AG)
Two-time Olympic 400m hurdles champion Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone will also contest the 400m in Brussels, but she’ll be in a pre-programme invitational race as she hasn’t earned any Diamond League points this season. She has stated that her goal is to improve on her PB of 48.74; if she achieves that, she could also end up taking down the US record of 48.70.
In the women’s 100m, Olympic champion Julien Alfred will clash with world champion Sha’Carri Richardson. While Alfred triumphed in Paris, the latter came out on top recently in Zurich. Dina Asher-Smith and Marie Josee Ta Lou-Smith were a close third and fourth in that race, and they’ll also be back in action in Brussels.
In the men’s sprints, Olympic silver medallist and European record-holder Matthew Hudson-Smith faces Olympic bronze medallist Muzala Samukonga and 2012 Olympic champion Kirani James in the 400m. Botswana’s Bayapo Ndori and Britain’s Charlie Dobson add further depth to the field.
And in the men’s 100m, 2022 world champion Fred Kerley takes on world indoor champion Christian Coleman, South Africa’s Akani Simbine and world indoor bronze medallist Ackeem Blake.
1500m showdown take four
Three of the four leading protagonists in the men’s 1500m will be back in action in Brussels for what could be another unpredictable clash.
USA’s Cole Hocker was the surprise victor at the Olympics ahead of world champion Josh Kerr as Jakob Ingebrigtsen finished outside of the medals. Ingebrigtsen, who won the Olympic 5000m title, went on to win the 1500m in Lausanne, then broke the world 3000m record three days later, but in Zurich last week it was USA’s Olympic bronze medallist Yared Nuguse who came out on top.
Yared Nuguse wins the 1500m in Zurich (© Marta Gorczynska)
Hocker, Nuguse and Ingebrigtsen are all in Brussels for the final big 1500m showdown of the year.
Olympic steeplechase champion Soufiane El Bakkali has had a relatively quiet season to date, even by his standards, with just three competitions to his name. The Moroccan, who won in Silesia at the end of August, will start as favourite in Brussels as he takes on Olympic bronze medallist Abraham Kibiwot, Kenya’s Amos Serem and Ethiopian duo Abrham Sime and Samuel Firewu.
Elsewhere on the track, world champion Mary Moraa stars in a women’s 800m field that also includes Olympic 1500m bronze medallist Georgia Bell, her fellow Briton Jemma Reekie, and South Africa’s Prudence Sekgodiso.
In the men’s 5000m, Olympic silver medallist Ronald Kwemoi takes on world leader Hagos Gebrhiwet, Olympic 10,000m silver medallist Berihu Aregawi, European 10,000m champion Dominic Lobalu, Ethiopia’s Yomif Kejelcha and Kenyan pair Jacob Krop and Nicholas Kipkorir.
In the men’s 110m hurdles, Olympic silver medallist Daniel Roberts takes on compatriot Freddie Crittenden, European champion Lorenzo Simonelli and France’s Sasha Zhoya, winner in Zurich last week.
World record-holder Mykolas Alekna leads a discus field that also includes 2022 world champion Kristjan Ceh, Olympic bronze medallist Matthew Denny and world champion Daniel Stahl. The women’s triple jump, meanwhile, features Olympic silver medallist Shanieka Ricketts, Olympic bronze medallist Jasmine Moore and world indoor silver medallist Leyanis Perez-Hernandez.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
