dpMasai Russell and Alison Dos Santos each set a world record while Mondo Duplantis won a historic pole vault on a frenetic Thursday night in Zurich.
The Letzigrund Stadium had a raucous sell-out 25,000 crowd and the still, balmy weather conditions helped the athletes no end.
Brazil’s Dos Santos was the first to make a mark, clocking a sensational 45.80 seconds in the 400m hurdles to beat the previous mark of 45.94sec set by Norway’s Karsten Warholm in the final of the Tokyo Olympics.
“I have been showing great form throughout the season – that I am fast, I am strong,” said Dos Santos, with Warholm finishing second and dubbing their discipline a “crazy event”.
“As soon as I knew I was coming here, I was excited. The weather’s good, the track’s amazing,” the Brazilian added.
Then came US star Russell, the Olympic champion, timing 12.09sec in the 100m hurdles to beat the previous best of 12.12sec set by Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan at the Eugene world championships in 2022.
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Dos Santos and Russell will leave Zurich with a cheque each for $80,000 for having broken their respective records.
The world records were punctuated by a scintillating competition in the pole vault, eventually won by double Olympic and triple world champion Duplantis. The US-born Swede came under real pressure from Greek rival Emmanouil Karalis, who vaulted a personal best of 6.20m. Duplantis cleared 6.25m for victory, while both vaulters tried a possible world record 6.32m, in a truly thrilling showdown that gripped the stadium’s attention.
It was the first time in vaulting history that two athletes had gone beyond the 6.20m mark.
“It’s not every day two people go for the world record, so that was nuts,” said Karalis.
The icing on the cake came in the women’s 800m, with the star attraction Switzerland’s own Audrey Werro. Werro also did not disappoint, registering the third fastest time ever in the two-lap race, 1:53.70, as she edged ever closer to Jarmila Kratochvilova’s Cold War world record of 1:53.28 set in Munich in 1983.
“It was crazy, I am very proud. Thank you everybody!” the 22-year-old said.
Femke Broeders-Bol finished second as she continues to improve in her transition from the 400m hurdles in which she was twice a world champion.
“Being in a great event with a great time – amazing,” the Dutch athlete said.
Kenya’s world and Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi held off Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati for a nail-biting victory in the men’s 800m.
Wanyonyi has said that going for David Rudisha’s world record of 1:40.91 is like running a marathon under two hours, and the mark once again proved elusive as he timed a world lead of 1:41.76 for the win. Sedjati was just 0.07sec adrift.
“When I see the world records being broken, I know my time will come. There is time for everything,” said Wanyonyi.
