Zurich Diamond League to feature showdowns between Olympic rivals
Canada's Alysha Newman and Charles Philibert-Thiboutot will be looking for Canadian records in Switzerland, while world champions Mondo Duplantis and Karsten Warholm complete their 100m dual
Photo by:
Kevin Morris
With the Diamond League Final in Brussels just over a week away, time is ticking for world-class athletes looking to secure their spot in the competition. The Zurich Diamond League marks the last chance for athletes to qualify for the final (they must be in the top six for field events, top eight for 100m to 800m and top 10 for distances of 1,500m and above). The 14th Diamond League meeting of the 2024 track season will take place in Zurich on Thursday, Sept. 5.
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Two of Canada’s Olympians are set to take on the world stage: Canadian record holder and Olympic bronze medallist Alysha Newman will compete in the women’s pole vault taking place on Wednesday to kick off the meeting. The London, Ont., native’s season’s best and national record jump of 4.85m ties her for a third place seeding–she is ranked fourth in the league overall, and needs to hold off competitors from bumping her down the list to ensure her spot in the final.
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Quebec’s Charles Philibert-Thiboutot will be competing in the men’s pre-program 3,000m (not a Diamond League event). The 1,500m Olympic semi-finalist from Paris has shown dominance over the atypical 3,000m distance, having broken the Canadian record at the Paris Diamond League in July. His record of 7:35.73 was broken again in late August by Moh Ahmed, who clocked 7:31.96 at the Silesia Diamond League.
Men’s 1,500m Olympic rematch
A well-awaited rematch between the men’s 1,500m Olympic podium–Cole Hocker, Josh Kerr and Yared Nuguse–with Norwegian star and world leader Jakob Ingebrigtsen is set to be the main event of the evening in Switzerland. A massive upset in Paris left gold-medal favourite off the podium entirely, but Ingebrigtsen re-established his dominance since then, beating Hocker by more than two seconds at the Lausanne Diamond League and smashing the 3,000m world record at the Silesia Diamond League just three days later. The showdown between the top four athletes in the world is not to be missed.
Women’s 100m showdown
World champion and TV series Sprint star Sha’Carri Richardson will be seeking redemption against Olympic champion Julien Alfred of Saint Lucia, after Alfred made history by taking home her nation’s first-ever Olympic gold by edging out Richardson in Paris.
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Men’s 110m hurdles clash
Team USA’s Olympic champion Grant Holloway is returning from his first defeat of the season by Olympic bronze medallist Rasheed Broadbell of Jamaica at the Lausanne Diamond League. The 110m hurdles duo will be facing off again in Zurich.
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Duplantis versus Warholm 100m dual
Sweden’s pole vault king Mondo Duplantis will follow through on his dual against world record hurdler Karsten Warholm of Norway in a 100m sprint. The challenge will take place on Wednesday, Sept. 4, the evening before the main Diamond League event.
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“I’m not saying I’m going to kick Karsten’s butt, but I think I will give him a good run for his money,” Duplantis said in a YouTube video. Warholm said he has more at stake in this race, because his event involves more sprinting than the pole vault. Warholm’s best over 100m is 10.49 seconds, a time he set in 2017. Duplantis clocked 10.57 seconds in his last year of high school, in 2018. Both athletes believe they are faster now than they were six or seven years ago.
You can follow results from the event here or catch all of the action live on Thursday on cbcsports.ca, starting at 10:00 a.m. ET. For more information on the Zurich Diamond League schedule, click here.
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