Athletics-Wanyonyi storms to Diamond League Final 800m title, Duplantis faces fitness scare

Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi delivered another emphatic statement ahead of next week's World Athletics ​Ultimate Championships, storming to victory in the men's 800 metres at ​the Diamond League Final on Friday. The Olympic and ‌world ​champion glanced up at the King Baudouin Stadium's big screen with 250 metres to go to gauge his lead, but he need not have worried as he pulled away to cross in a blistering one ‌minute 41.80 seconds despite windy conditions.

"Today was all about winning and I knew that I would have to run 1.41 to win and I did," Wanyonyi said. "I win now the Diamond League (final) for the fourth time in a row and that's just fantastic." Algeria's Djamel Sedjati was second in 1:42.71, while ‌Yanis Meziane of France passed Canada's 2023 world champion Marco Arop in the final metres to finish third.

The 22-year-old Wanyonyi continued the rich ‌vein of form which has fuelled speculation that he could soon threaten David Rudisha's world record of 1:40.91, controlling the race before unleashing his trademark finishing speed to leave a world-class field trailing in his wake. Emmanouil Karalis of Greece soared 6.12 metres to win a pole vault competition missing world record-holder Mondo Duplantis.

Sweden's Duplantis withdrew after feeling tightness in his ⁠leg, raising ​questions over his fitness a week ⁠before the inaugural Ultimate Championships in Budapest which will feature the sport's biggest stars competing for a record $10-million prize fund, with individual champions pocketing $150,000 apiece. "We will see if I ⁠can make it to the Ultimate Championships. I don't have the answer right now," he said.

Australia's Cameron Myers timed his finish to perfection to snatch victory in the ​men's 1,500 metres in 3:30.14, surging past Kenya's Phanuel Koech (3:30.18) over the final few strides after the pair had hunted down ⁠long-time leader Jakob Ingebrigtsen over the closing lap. Olympic champion Ingebrigtsen, continuing his comeback after Achilles surgery in February, dictated the pace for much of the race and looked on course for ⁠a ​morale-boosting victory before the effort began to tell in the home straight.

Koech swept past the Norwegian and appeared set for the win, only for the fast-finishing, 20-year-old Myers to edge ahead at the line in a dramatic finish, with Ingebrigtsen fading to fourth. Two-times world champion Chase Jackson ⁠of the U.S. threw 21.14 metres -- the furthest in the world this season -- to win the women's shot put.

"Right now adrenaline is still keeping ⁠me together but when I get ⁠to the hotel I will probably start crying," Jackson said. Saint Lucia's Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred won the women's 200m in 21.79, while reigning world champion Oblique Seville of Jamaica ran away with the men's 100m victory ‌in 9.90 seconds, and ‌world record-holder Ja'Kobe Tharp won the men's 110m hurdles in 13.03.