Seville, Alfred win at Diamond League finals, Duplantis hit with injury

In Brussels, sprint stars Oblique Seville and Julien Alfred emerged victorious on the first day of the Diamond League finals. However, the evening's excitement was overshadowed by the withdrawal of Armand Mondo Duplantis due to a tightness in his leg that resurfaced at the previous week's meet in Zurich. Duplantis admitted he pushed through the discomfort during his warm-up, stating he would not jump if he felt the irritation.

It remains unclear if he will be fit enough to compete in the inaugural season-ending World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest next week, where a prize money pot of $10 million is on the line. Greek rival Emmanouil Karalis claimed the pole vault title with a meet record of 6.12m, narrowly beating the previous best set by the Swedish athlete in 2024.

In contrast, Seville overcame a poor start to win the 100m race in 9.90 seconds, followed by Cameroon's Emmanuel Eseme. Jamaican world champion Oblique Seville expressed satisfaction with his victory, stating that his winning strategy clearly worked and that next season he aims to extend his title and dominate the Diamond League.

St Lucia's Olympic champion Julien Alfred dominated the women's 200m race, winning in 21.79 seconds ahead of American Kayla White. In the evening's track events, Botswana's world champion Busang Collen Kebinatshipi set a meet record in the 400m with a time of 43.40 seconds, shattering the previous best by 0.23 seconds. Kenyan world and Olympic 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi claimed his fourth consecutive Diamond League title, while Kenya's Faith Cherotich won her third consecutive Diamond League title in the 3,000m steeplechase.

Australian Cameron Myers emerged victorious in the 1,500m, and American Chase Jackson set a new record in the women's shot put, while Ja Kobe Tharp won the 110m hurdles. Jamaica's Tajay Gayle secured a season's best in the long jump, while Slovenia's Kristjan Ceh set a meet record in the men's discus. American Valerie Sion's five-year winning streak in the discus came to an end as Feng Bin became the first Chinese athlete to win the Diamond League championship since 2019.