Brazil's Alison Dos Santos and American Masai Russell each established world records at the Zurich Diamond League athletics competition, headlining a night of exceptional performances in Switzerland.
The Zurich Diamond League meet delivered a memorable evening of track and field competition on Thursday, with favorable weather conditions and a sell-out crowd of 25,000 contributing to several outstanding performances at Letzigrund Stadium.
Brazilian sprinter Alison Dos Santos claimed the headline achievement by running 45.80 seconds in the 400 meters, surpassing the previous world record of 45.94 seconds set by Norway's Karsten Warholm at the Tokyo Olympics. Dos Santos attributed his success to consistent form throughout the season and the ideal conditions in Zurich. Warholm finished second and described the discipline as a "crazy event." Russell also set a world record in her competition, with both athletes receiving $80,000 prize cheques for their respective achievements.
The pole vault provided another dramatic highlight when double Olympic and triple world champion Mondo Duplantis defeated Greek rival Emmanuil Karalis in a closely contested battle. Duplantis cleared 6.25 meters for victory, while Karalis set a personal best of 6.20 meters. Both athletes attempted a potential world record of 6.32 meters, marking the first time in vaulting history that two competitors have exceeded the 6.20-meter mark.
Switzerland's Audrey Werro impressed in the women's 800 meters, posting the third fastest time ever recorded at 1:53.70, approaching Jarmila Kratochvilova's 1983 world record of 1:53.28. In the men's 800 meters, Kenya's Emmanuel Wanyonyi narrowly defeated Algeria's Djamel Sedjati, winning in 1:41.76 with Sedjati just 0.07 seconds behind. World Athletics president Sebastian Coe observed that the evening's performances matched Olympic-level standards.
