by Stuart Weir
Stuart Weir wrote this piece on day 2 of the Weltklasse in Zurich. It is the Diamond League Championship, two day meet on 7-8 September 2022.
Diamond League Final Part 2
The Wanda Diamond League Final part 2, the historic Weltklasse in the equally historic Letzigrund stadium, certainly provided value for the spectators with 26 finals in a four-hour program. The Weltklasse traces its history back to 1928. Following the six titles which were settled in the street event the previous night, the culmination of the Diamond League series took place on the Letzigrund track and field. The pre-program consisted of five field events supported by five youth relays, two wheelchair races, and two non-diamond races. Again, great for the kids to get to run as part of this event.
While the purists might say that the 2022 Diamond League series has suffered from the early date of the World Championships, meaning that a number of top athletes have opted out of the Diamond League Final or indeed the Diamond League in its entirety, the quality of the competition was high.
The first track race set the scene with the Dominican Republic 1-2. Marley Paulino won in a national record, world leading 48.99 from Fiordaliza Cofil. And in the last event of the evening, Noah Lyles ran 19.52 to win the 200, with the heir apparent Erriyon Knighton only fourth.
In between, Mondo Duplantis, Faith Kipyegon, Tobi Amusen, Grant HollowayShelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Emmanuel Korir, Neeraj Chopra and Jakob Ingebrigtsen, etc all won. Shericka Jackson won the 200m after finishing second in the 100m just over an hour earlier.
