World leads for Girma and Sedjati in Stockholm

World-leading marks from Lamecha Girma and Djamel Sedjati, plus three close attempts at a world record from Mondo Duplantis, were the highlights of the Bauhas Galan – a Wanda Diamond League meeting – in Stockholm on Sunday (2).

Girma, who has already set PBs of 3:53.82 in the mile and 12:58.96 over 5000m this season, was contesting his first steeplechase race of 2024 and was keen to send a clear message to arch rival Soufiane El Bakkali, the world and Olympic champion.

In fact, he may have started off a bit too keen, as the early pace (2:36.44 for 1000m) was well inside world record schedule. The tempo eased, though, as the race went on with Girma’s fellow Ethiopians Samuel Firewu and Getnet Wale following him through 2000m in 5:18.27.

Girma started to tire slightly on the final lap, but he’d already done enough to build up a comfortable leading margin over Firewu. The world record-holder went on to win by more than four seconds in a world-leading 8:01.63 – almost eight seconds faster than El Bakkali’s winning mark in Marrakech last month.

Firewu followed in a PB of 8:05.78 and Tunisia’s Mohamed Amin Jhinaoui set a national record of 8:10.41 in third.

Another world lead came at the end of the evening as Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati ran away from the field to win the men’s 800m.

The 2022 world silver medallist positioned himself towards the back of the pack for the first lap as world bronze medallist Ben Pattison tracked the pacemaker in 50.7. Pattison held the lead up to 600m, by which time Sedjati had moved into second. Sedjati hit top gear as he came off the final bend, then opened up a significant gap to win in 1:43.23.

World indoor champion Bryce Hoppel came through to take second place in 1:44.29 with Tshepiso Masalela finishing just ahead of Pattison, both clocking 1:44.44.

He may not have set a world record this evening, but Duplantis’s attempts at 6.25m in the men’s pole vault suggests his next world record could be just around the corner.

The Swedish vaulter enjoyed first-time clearances at 5.60m, 5.80m and 5.90m to hold the lead throughout. By that time, Sam Kendricks was the only other man left in the competition, but he exited with three misses at 6.00m.

Duplantis, meanwhile, once again got over it on his first try, and then moved the bar up to the world record height. His first attempt was solid; his next two were even better. But it will no doubt give him much motivation as he heads into the European Championships and then the Olympic Games in Paris.

There was also an outdoor world lead in a competitive 3000m flat. World 1500m bronze medallist Narve Gilje Nordas timed his kick well on the final lap to overtake Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu on the home straight and win by 0.19 in a PB of 7:33.49. Behind them, there were national records for Sweden’s Andreas Almgren, Djibouti’s Mohamed Ismail and South Africa’s Adriaan Wildschutt.

Dos Santos and Bol win again in Stockholm

One-lap hurdling duo Alison Dos Santos and Femke Bol extended their winning streaks in the Swedish city, notching up their third and fourth wins respectively in Stockholm’s Olympic Stadium.

Three days after his narrow win over world record-holder Karsten Warholm in Oslo, Alison Dos Santos enjoyed an easier path to victory in Stockholm as he won the men’s 400m hurdles by more than a second.

The 2022 world champion from Brazil eased away from world silver medallist Kyron McMaster over the final 150 metres to win in 47.01 – just 0.21 shy of his own meeting record – as McMaster crossed the line in second in a season’s best of 48.05. Dos Santos now owns three of the four fastest times achieved in the 400m hurdles on this track.

Bol was contesting her first 400m hurdles race of the year, which may explain why it took a while for the Dutch hurdler to move into the lead. But once she got there in the home straight, she pulled away from Jamaican trio Rushell Clayton, Andrenette Knight and Janieve Russell to win in 53.07.

Clayton finished second in 53.78, while Knight and Russell set season’s bests of 54.62 and 54.99 respectively.

Olympic silver medallist Laura Muir enjoyed a confidence-boosting win in the 1500m ahead of the European Championships.

Once the field had been paced through 800m in 2:07, Ethiopian youngster Birke Haylom was in control of the race. But Muir, Australia’s Georgia Griffith and Kenya’s Edinah Jebitok moved in on Haylom’s shoulder with 250 metres to go, then Muir burst into the lead with half a lap to go.

The Briton kicked hard and pulled away to win in 3:57.99 – just 0.35 shy of Gudaf Tsegay’s meeting record – with Jebitok smashing through the four-minute mark for the first time in her career to finish second in 3:58.88. Griffith (3:59.17) and Haylom (3:59.84) also finished inside four minutes.

Earlier in the afternoon, Muir’s compatriot Jemma Reekie dominated the non-scoring women’s 800m to win in 1:57.79 from Kenya’s Vivian Chebet (1:58.64).

Wins for world champions Jackson, Mahuchikh and Jackson

Jamaican 200m runner Shericka Jackson, Ukrainian high jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh and US shot putter Chase Jackson won their respective disciplines.

Jackson’s winning mark of 22.69 may be more than a second shy of her lifetime best, but the -2.0m/s headwind suggests there's more to come. And, crucially, the manner of her victory would have given the two-time world champion some much-needed confidence after she lost her two-year winning streak in Oslo earlier this week.

She came off the bend with a clear lead and continued to pull away from the field. Sweden’s Julia Henriksson came through to take second place in 22.89.

Mahuchikh was put under slight pressure in the early stages of the high jump by Germany’s Imke Onnen, who topped out at 1.94m. Onnen then failed at 1.97m, while Mahuchikh got over it on her third try, then went on to clear 2.00m on her second attempt, winning what was her first outdoor competition of the year.

In a close shot put contest, Jackson got the better of world leader and world indoor champion Sarah Mitton, who took an early lead with 19.33m. Jackson responded in the second round with 20.00m, and Mitton improved to 19.98m but neither woman went any further. European champion Jessica Schilder was third with 19.08m.

World record-holder Mykolas Alekna made it six wins out of six starts this year in the discus. The Lithuanian got off to a modest start, but then unleashed a throw of 68.64m in the third round to move into pole position.

He stayed there for the rest of the evening, as Australia’s Matt Denny finished second with 66.75m, moving ahead of world and Olympic champion Daniel Stahl (66.10m) in the final round.

World indoor silver medallist Leyanis Perez-Hernandez continued her unbeaten streak this outdoor season in the triple jump, bounding out to a season’s best of 14.67m (1.4m/s) in round three to finish ahead of Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts (14.40m) and world indoor champion Thea Lafond (14.26m).

In a close women’s 100m, African Games champion Gina Bass got off to the best start and held off a strong challenge from Marie Josee Ta Lou-Smith to win it on the dip in 11.15 (-0.8m/s). Ta Lou-Smth was just 0.01 behind with Brittany Brown taking third (11.18).

Similarly, just 0.03 separated the top three finishers in the men’s event, as Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme won in 10.16 (-1.0m/s) from USA’s Kyree King (10.18) and Italy’s Chituru Ali (10.19).