LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi ran the fourth-fastest 800-meter time ever on Thursday at the first major track and field meeting since the Paris Games.
Wanyonyi ran the 800m in 1 minute and 41.11 seconds – 0.08 seconds faster than his winning time in Paris two weeks ago – to equal Wilson Kipketer’s 1997 record, which was a world record at the time. Only Wanyonyi’s fellow Kenyan David Rudisha ran the 800m faster.
“I’m so happy to have run this crazy time here in Lausanne,” said Wanyonyi. “I was really excited by the crowd here.”
The historic Athletissima meeting started early and briskly as the worldwide Diamond League tour resumed after an Olympic break.
Jakob Ingebrigtsen regained his authority in the men’s 1,500 metres – after a shocking fourth place in Paris – and beat Olympic champion Cole Hocker by more than two seconds.
Olympic champion in the men’s 200-meter race Letsile Tebogo stayed in form despite the trip home to Botswana, where he won with a time of 19.64 seconds and crossed the finish line effortlessly.
“It was a great race for me today,” said 21-year-old Tebogo, who said on the eve of the race that he had not trained the previous week.
The outstanding performance was delivered by 20-year-old Wanyonyi, who overtook Marco Arop on the back straight and crossed the finish line 0.61 seconds ahead of the Olympic silver medalist from Canada.
Wanyonyi was 0.20 seconds slower than Rudisha’s world record of 1:40.91, which he set in London in 2012 and with which he won the first of his two consecutive Olympic titles.
Ingebrigtsen’s winning time of 3:27.83 set a competition record in Lausanne, but would only have been enough for fourth place at the Olympic Games.
“For me it was mainly a mental matter to go home, have a few quiet days and then go back to work,” said Ingebrigtsen, who Olympic gold in the 5,000-meter run“Tonight’s race gave me good answers.”
Hocker admitted that it was “a new challenge to be announced as Olympic champion,” although the American’s time of 3:29.85 was the second fastest of his career after his time of 3:27.65 in Paris.
Dina Asher-Smith won the women’s 100m, setting a season’s best time of 10.88 seconds that would have earned her a bronze medal in Paris, but the British star failed to make the final.
“After the Olympics I took some time to refocus and now I’m just enjoying running, feeling fit and injury-free,” said Asher-Smith.
Olympic champions Yaroslava Mahuchikh in the women’s high jump and Miltiadis Tentoglou in the men’s long jump both achieved repeat victories.
Mahuchikh cleared 1.99 metres and Tentoglou finally broke the eight-metre mark on his sixth attempt, clocking 8.06 metres to beat Paris silver medallist Wayne Pinnock, who had led with 8.01.
It was a good evening for the Olympic bronze medalists, who won their victories two weeks later.
In the 110-meter hurdles, Olympic gold medalist Grant Holloway was overtaken near the finish by the onrushing Rasheed Broadbell, who won in 13.10 seconds and thus avenged the result from Paris.
Femke Bol won the women’s 400-metre hurdles in 52.25 seconds after finishing third in Paris behind World record run by Sydney McLaughlin-LevroneJasmine Camacho-Quinn won the 100m hurdles with a time of 12:35 and Mary Moraa won the women’s 800m in 1:57.91.
The men’s javelin climaxed in the sixth and final round with season-best throws for Anderson Peters and Neeraj Chopra, who finished third and second at the Olympics, respectively.
Peters extended his lead with a throw of 90.61 meters, beating Chopra’s final distance of 89.49 meters. Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem did not compete on Thursday.
In the men’s 400-meter race, British Olympic silver medalist Matthew Hudson-Smith stayed under 44 seconds and won with a time of 43.96.
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