Zurich Athletics: Two World Records in One 'Crazy' Night
Theo Al Jazeera English
Alison Dos Santos and Masai Russell set world records at the Diamond League meeting in Zurich, while Armand Duplantis won a historic pole vault duel. The night featured multiple meet records and season-best performances across disciplines.
The Diamond League meeting in Zurich (Switzerland) on September 4 witnessed stellar performances from the world's top track and field athletes. Alison Dos Santos (Brazil) and Masai Russell (USA) both set world records, while Armand Duplantis secured a historic victory in the pole vault.
With 25,000 spectators at Letzigrund Stadium and warm, windless weather, athletes had ideal conditions to shine. World Athletics President Sebastian Coe was present to watch and expressed his satisfaction: "I expected an Olympic Games in two hours."
Alison Dos Santos opened the record-breaking show by winning the men's 400m hurdles in 45.80 seconds, breaking the world record of 45.94 seconds set by Karsten Warholm (Norway) when he won gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Warholm finished second and called the race a "crazy event."
"I've been in great form all season – I'm fast, I'm strong. As soon as I knew I was coming to Zurich, I was excited. The weather is good, the track is amazing," Dos Santos said.
Minutes later, Masai Russell, the American Olympic champion, set a world record in the women's 100m hurdles with a time of 12.09 seconds, breaking the 12.12 mark set by Tobi Amusan (Nigeria) at the 2022 World Championships in Eugene. Both Dos Santos and Russell received $80,000 bonuses for each world record.
The world records were complemented by a thrilling showdown in the pole vault. Armand Duplantis, the Swedish-American, won with a clearance of 6.25m, under significant pressure from Greek rival Emmanouil Karalis, who achieved a personal best of 6.20m. Both attempted a world-record height of 6.32m but failed. This was the first time in history that two athletes cleared 6.20m in the same competition.
"It's not every day you have two guys chasing the world record; it's crazy," Karalis said.
Another highlight was Swiss home favorite Audrey Werro in the women's 800m. She finished first in 1:53.70, the third-fastest time ever, moving closer to the world record of 1:53.28 set by Jarmila Kratochvilova in 1983. Femke Broeders-Bol finished second, continuing to improve after switching from the 400m hurdles.
In the men's 800m, Emmanuel Wanyonyi (Kenya) won a dramatic race against Djamel Sedjati (Algeria) with a world-leading 1:41.76, just 0.07 seconds ahead. Wanyonyi said he hasn't yet broken David Rudisha's world record (1:40.91), but "when I see world records being broken, I know my time will come."
Cole Hocker (USA), the Olympic champion, won the men's 1500m in 3:31.71. Jakob Ingebrigtsen (Norway) finished fifth as he continues his recovery from an Achilles tendon injury.
Anna Cockrell (USA) broke the meet record in the women's 400m hurdles with 52.13 seconds. Parker Wolfe (USA) broke the meet record in the men's 3000m with 7:27.43, surpassing the old mark set by Said Aouita in 1986. Kenny Bednarek (USA) led the world in the men's 200m with 19.62 seconds. Nicola Olyslagers (Australia) won the women's high jump with a season-best 2.02m.
