The London Diamond League meeting is always described with superlatives. Sixty thousand true track fans filled the stadium to the brim, wanting three magnificent hours of global athletics. Spencer Barden, the elite meet director, orchestrates wonderful fields that celebrate British athletics while providing British fans a chance to see some of the finest athletes in the world.
But the secret to Spencer’s success is the British athletes, from Keely Hodgkinson to Dina-Asher-Smith, to Molly Caudery, to Matthew Hudson-Smith!
Then, the secret, secret sauce, finish with a fine performance so fans want to come to another track meet! Ian Stewart did it, and now Spencer Barden does it, and his placement of the Men’s 100 meters, with Noah Lyles, the perfect combination of elite athlete and sports entertainer, delivered, with the crowd going Wow!
I visited the London Diamond League for nearly a decade, and have enjoyed it immensely. I watched it three times on TV as I could not believe how compelling the meet was in 2024!
London Athletics Meet
Olympic Stadium, London (GBR) – 20 July 2024
Men’s 100m – Diamond Discipline
Final Wind: -0.3
1 Noah LYLES USA 9.81 8
2 Akani SIMBINE RSA 9.86 7
3 Letsile TEBOGO BOT 9.88 6
4 Louie HINCHLIFFE GBR 9.97 5
5 Ackeem BLAKE JAM 9.97 4
6 Zharnel HUGHES GBR 10.00 3
7 Jeremiah AZU GBR 10.08 2
8 Yohan BLAKE JAM 10.23 1
Men’s 400m – Diamond Discipline
Final
1 Matthew HUDSON-SMITH GBR 43.74 8
2 Vernon NORWOOD USA 44.10 7
3 Jereem RICHARDS TTO 44.18 6
4 Charles DOBSON GBR 44.23 5
5 Kirani JAMES GRN 44.38 4
6 Christopher MORALES-WILLIAMS CAN 44.90 3
7 Bayapo NDORI BOT 45.03 2
Men’s Mile – Diamond Discipline
Final
1 Oliver HOARE AUS 3:49.03 8
2 Narve Gilje NORDÅS NOR 3:49.06 7
3 Adel MECHAAL ESP 3:49.21 6
4 Niels LAROS NED 3:49.45 5
5 Stewart MCSWEYN AUS 3:49.59 4
6 Cameron MYERS AUS 3:50.16 3
7 Adam FOGG GBR 3:50.48 2
8 Andrew COSCORAN IRL 3:50.49 1
9 Filip RAK POL 3:50.92
10 Jochem VERMEULEN BEL 3:51.00
11 Elliot GILES GBR 3:52.30
12 Vincent CIATTEI USA 3:52.54
13 Archie DAVIS GBR 3:55.07
14 Adam SPENCER AUS 3:55.49
Neil GOURLEY GBR DNF
Callum DAVIES AUS DNF
George MILLS GBR DNF
Men’s 3000m – Diamond Discipline
Final
1 Dominic Lokinyomo LOBALU SUI 7:27.68 8
2 Grant FISHER USA 7:27.99 7
3 Edwin KURGAT KEN 7:28.53 6
4 Telahun Haile BEKELE ETH 7:30.80 5
5 Sean MCGORTY USA 7:32.79 4
6 Cornelius KEMBOI KEN 7:33.56 3
7 Brian FAY IRL 7:34.48 2
8 Emmanuel Korir KIPLAGAT KEN 7:34.59 1
9 Morgan BEADLESCOMB USA 7:36.10
10 Nicholas GRIGGS IRL 7:36.59
11 Mike FOPPEN NED 7:37.12
12 Jack ROWE GBR 7:38.70
13 Melkeneh AZIZE ETH 7:39.13
14 Jonas RAESS SUI 7:40.30
15 Gideon Kipkertich RONO KEN 7:41.76
16 Scott BEATTIE GBR 7:42.78
17 Will BARNICOAT GBR 7:48.12
18 Ellis CROSS GBR 7:48.45
19 Rory LEONARD GBR 7:56.52
Jude THOMAS AUS DNF
Men’s 400mH – Diamond Discipline
Final
1 Alison DOS SANTOS BRA 47.18 8
2 Roshawn CLARKE JAM 47.63 7
3 Ismail Doudai ABAKAR QAT 47.72 6
4 Kyron MCMASTER IVB 47.81 5
5 Wilfried HAPPIO FRA 48.26 4
6 CJ ALLEN USA 48.49 3
7 Gerald DRUMMOND CRC 48.89 2
8 Alastair CHALMERS GBR 49.52 1
Men’s High Jump – Diamond Discipline
Final
1 Hamish KERR NZL 2.30 8
2 JuVaughn HARRISON USA 2.26 7
3 William GRIMSEY GBR 2.22 6
4 Jan ŠTEFELA CZE 2.22 5
5 Thomas CARMOY BEL 2.22 4
6 Norbert KOBIELSKI POL 2.18 3
Mutaz Essa BARSHIM QAT DNS
Men’s Shot Put – Diamond Discipline
Final
1 Leonardo FABBRI ITA 22.52 8
2 Ryan CROUSER USA 22.37 7
3 Payton OTTERDAHL USA 22.13 6
4 Joe KOVACS USA 22.03 5
5 Jacko GILL NZL 21.11 4
6 Tom WALSH NZL 21.06 3
7 Scott LINCOLN GBR 20.71 2
8 Roger STEEN USA 20.15 1
Men’s 4x100m – Promotional Event
Final
1 Japan JPN 38.07
2 Australia AUS 38.31
3 Great Britain & NI B GBR 38.32
4 Canada CAN 38.35
5 Netherlands NED 38.55
6 France FRA 38.56
Great Britain & NI GBR DNF
Women’s 200m – Diamond Discipline
Final Wind: -0.9
1 Gabrielle THOMAS USA 21.82 8
2 Julien ALFRED LCA 21.86 7
3 Dina ASHER-SMITH GBR 22.07 6
4 Daryll NEITA GBR 22.20 5
5 Rhasidat ADELEKE IRL 22.35 4
6 Tamara CLARK USA 22.59 3
7 Jenna PRANDINI USA 22.93 2
8 Amy HUNT GBR 22.96 1
Women’s 400m – Diamond Discipline
Final
1 Nickisha PRYCE JAM 48.57 8
2 Natalia KACZMAREK POL 48.90 7
3 Lieke KLAVER NED 49.58 6
4 Amber ANNING GBR 49.63 5
5 Laviai NIELSEN GBR 49.87 4
6 Lynna IRBY-JACKSON USA 50.71 3
7 Victoria OHURUOGU GBR 50.76 2
8 Talitha DIGGS USA 52.47 1
Women’s 800m – Diamond Discipline
Final
1 Keely HODGKINSON GBR 1:54.61 8
2 Jemma REEKIE GBR 1:55.61 7
3 Georgia BELL GBR 1:56.28 6
4 Natoya GOULE-TOPPIN JAM 1:56.83 5
5 Rénelle LAMOTE FRA 1:57.06 4
6 Halimah NAKAAYI UGA 1:57.26 3
7 Allie WILSON USA 1:57.52 2
8 Laura MUIR GBR 1:57.63 1
9 Catriona BISSET AUS 1:58.12
10 Elena BELLÒ ITA 1:58.89
Erin WALLACE GBR DNF
Women’s 400mH – Diamond Discipline
Final
1 Femke BOL NED 51.30 8
2 Shamier LITTLE USA 52.78 7
3 Rushell CLAYTON JAM 53.24 6
4 Andrenette KNIGHT JAM 53.69 5
5 Jessie KNIGHT GBR 54.15 4
6 Cathelijn PEETERS NED 54.50 3
7 Shiann SALMON JAM 54.50 2
8 Lina NIELSEN GBR 54.65 1
Women’s Pole Vault – Diamond Discipline
Final
1 Nina KENNEDY AUS 4.85 8
2 Alysha NEWMAN CAN 4.75 7
3 Molly CAUDERY GBR 4.65 6
3 Sandi MORRIS USA 4.65 6
5 Eliza MCCARTNEY NZL 4.65 4
5 Angelica MOSER SUI 4.65 4
7 Roberta BRUNI ITA 4.65 2
8 Katie MOON USA 4.50 1
Olivia MCTAGGART NZL NH
Women’s Long Jump – Diamond Discipline
Final
1 Malaika MIHAMBO GER 6.87 -0.1 8
2 Agate DE SOUSA POR 6.75 +1.1 7
3 Larissa IAPICHINO ITA 6.70 -0.2 6
4 Milica GARDAŠEVIĆ SRB 6.58 +0.7 5
5 Katarina JOHNSON-THOMPSON GBR 6.54 +0.5 4
6 Tiffany FLYNN USA 6.50 +1.4 3
7 Yanis DAVID FRA 6.28 +0.9 2
8 Tiffany YUE HKG 6.24 +0.2 1
Women’s Javelin Throw – Diamond Discipline
Final
1 Mackenzie LITTLE AUS 66.27 8
2 Adriana VILAGOŠ SRB 65.58 7
3 Maggie MALONE-HARDIN USA 62.99 6
4 Haruka KITAGUCHI JPN 62.69 5
5 Tori PEETERS NZL 60.43 4
6 Victoria HUDSON AUT 60.35 3
7 Līna MŪZE-SIRMĀ LAT 60.33 2
8 Bekah WALTON GBR 52.19 1
Women’s 4x100m – Promotional Event
Final
1 Great Britain & NI GBR 41.55
2 France FRA 42.10
3 Great Britain & NI B GBR 42.46
4 Australia AUS 42.48
5 Netherlands NED 42.50
6 Switzerland SUI 42.71
Canada