by Stuart Weir
This is the first article on the Lausanne Meeting, called the Athletissima Meeting, which was held on June 30, 2023.
Athletissima
A Diamond League is a series of track and field events – races jumps, and throws in which Femke Bol wins the 400h, Ryan Crouser wins the shot, Katie Moon the pole vault, and Jakob Ingebrigtsen wins the 1500m. There are other disciplines that are less predictable.
The Lausanne event takes place in the Stade Olympique de la Pontaise, high above the city of Lausanne, affording a spectacular view of Lake Geneva. With the headquarters of the IOC located here, Lausanne refers to itself as the Olympic capital. With Lausanne and Zurich in the program, Switzerland is now the only country with two Diamond Leagues. Athletissima Was first held in 1977 in Pierre de Coubertin stadium before moving to its current home in 1986.
The day before the event, there was glorious sunshine. The event day turned cold with s constant threat of rain. The main event was 14 Diamond events preceded by a two-hour program for mainly Swiss athletes. Nicola Olysagers had won the high jump, a street event, the previous evening with 2.02, her third 2-meter jump in June. Intriguingly, the program started with a women’s 800 and ended with a men’s 1500
Ryan Crouser told me it was a frustrating evening as he struggled with his technique. He still produced five 22m throws – no one else managed one! I must try and watch him sometime on a good day!
There were surprises: Olympic champion, Miltiadis Tentoglou, jumped 8.07, which was only worth second place to LaQuan Nairn’s 8.11.
The race of the night was the men’s 5000, with Ethiopian Berihu Aregawi running a PR/WL of 12:40.45, just holding off Joshua Cheptegei. Incidentally, it is great to see the 5K back in the Diamond League program after being dropped for being too long.
The world record holder, Beatrice Chepkeoch, won the 3000-meter steeplechase in 9:05.98 – some distance from her 2018 world record of 8:44.32, but it’s great to see her coming back to form. Marie-Josee Ta Lou won the women’s 100 in 10.88 – to add to her consistent season of 10.75. 10.78. 10.82 and now three 10.88s.
Jasmine Comacho-Quinn took the 100m hurdles in 12.40 from Tobi Amusen (12.47).
Mary Moraa won the 800m – see separate post.
