ZURICH :Olympic champions Noah Lyles and Julien Alfred stormed to statement victories in the Diamond League Final on Thursday, two weeks before the world championships in Tokyo.
American Lyles became the first track athlete to win six Diamond League Final titles by beating Letsile Tebogo of Botswana in the 200 metres, and St Lucia’s Alfred put injury concerns behind her with a dominant win in the women’s 100m.
Lyles, three-times world 200m champion, trailed Tebogo coming off the corner before reeling in his rival to cross the line in 19.74 and win by 0.02 seconds.
“Six in a row, the most in track!,” Lyles said. “It is pretty nice to have that. I saw Letsile lean on the finish line and I leaned on the finish line but I knew I won.”
Tebogo said Lyles has become humbler since he beat the American to win the 200m at the Paris Olympics.
“You have to let the legs do the talk, because the more you are talk and you cannot prove it, it means you only talk, you do not prove yourself,” Tebogo said.
“But for me, I do not talk, I just let the legs do its thing. I think now, Lyles is humble. He knows what can happen in this sport. He wins today, tomorrow, he can lose it. I believe since Paris, he has been humble, he has not been talking so much.”
Alfred, the Olympic 100m champion, cruised to victory in 10.76 in her first race in more than a month. She had withdrawn from two Diamond League meets due to what organisers said was an injury.
“I am surpassing the questions about my injuries,” Alfred said. “It is my first race back in five weeks so it is one step forward to me. I am not thinking about the time.
“I feel like I want to add another gold in my collection. The season has been long, but when I compare myself now and at the beginning of the season, I am much fitter than before and also mentally, I am on the right place where I want to be.”
Tia Clayton of Jamaica was second in 10.84 and Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith third in 10.94.
WEBER JAVELIN KING
German Julian Weber unleashed a world-leading javelin throw of 91.51 metres, beating world and Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra of India by more than six metres.
American Christian Coleman outleaned Akani Simbine of South Africa and Jamaican Ackeem Blake on the line to win the men’s 100m in 9.97. Simbine clocked 9.98 and Blake 9.99.
“This victory feels amazing. Let’s keep winning,” Coleman said. “In America we have five, six guys that should be in the final in Tokyo, so if I should get the opportunity, I want to come home with a medal.”
American Brittany Brown won the women’s 200m in a season’s best 22.13, while Asher-Smith took second (22.18), and Marie-Josee Ta Lou-Smith, who was disqualified from the 100 for a false start, finished third.
Norwegian Karsten Warholm, three-times world champion and world record-holder, pulled away to win the men’s 400m hurdles in a meet record 46.70, while double world champion Femke Bol of the Netherlands also broke the Zurich record to triumph in the women’s 400m hurdles in 52.18.
Niels Laros pulled away over the final 100m to easily win the men’s 1,500 in a Dutch record 3:29.20, a perfect tune-up for the world championships for the 20-year-old.
“I know that I have a good kick and I relied on that,” Laros said. “I am excited. I am going into Tokyo with a lot of confidence. I am dreaming about the podium.”
Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya won the men’s 800m in 1:42.37, just ahead of Britain’s Max Burgin and Marco Arop of Canada.
Athletes competed for points at the 14 previous Diamond League meetings in a bid to qualify for the two-day finale in Zurich. The winners were presented with a diamond-shaped trophy and a $50,000 cheque.
