The Diamond League final in Brussels witnessed some unexpected results with some of those tipped to win left licking their wounds as the underdogs claimed the bragging rights.
The Diamond League final witnessed some shocking results as some of the stars who came with a big reputation failed to live up to expectations.
With $30,000 plus a shiny diamond trophy to win, a lot was at stake at the season finale in Brussels but there are a number of giants who met their waterloo despite, a great season, while some underdogs claimed the bragging rights.
Pulse Sports highlights the winners and losers from the Diamond League final.
Winner: Faith Cherotich
World bronze medallist Faith Cherotich stunned Olympics and world champion Winfred Yavi to claim the 3,000m steeplechase title in Brussels.
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21:30 - 14.09.2024
Faith Cherotich stuns Olympics champion Winfred Yavi to claim steeplechase Diamond League title
Faith Cherotich outpaced Olympic champion Winfred Yavi in a thrilling race to claim the Diamond League steeplechase title.
With Yavi and former Olympics champion Peruth Chemutai of Uganda in the race, few gave Cherotich a chance at victory but she proved everyone wrong.
The 20-year-old timed her jumps at the water barriers to perfection while keeping Yavi in check, and at the final hurdle, she had already managed a good gap which she held on to win her first-ever Diamond League title.
Loser: Winfred Yavi
In a season when she was so dominant, Winfred Yavi was the hot favourite to claim the Diamond League title in Brussels but things did not go to plan.
Yavi was beaten by Kenya’s Faith Cherotich who ran a tactical race to outwit her at the final water barrier and despite showing a great kick, she could not outsmart the Kenyan.
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11:00 - 15.09.2024
Faith Cherotich shares tactics behind her stunning Diamond League win over Olympic champion Winfred Yavi
Faith Cherotich claimed her first-ever Diamond League victory in the women's 3000m steeplechase, defeating Olympic champion Winfred Yavi.
It was a disappointing end to her season after winning Olympics gold in a new Olympics record and coming a mere seven hundredths of a second to breaking the world record in Rome.
Winner: Kenny Bednarek
America’s Kenny Bednarek had played second fiddle for most of the season but reigned supreme when it mattered most at the final.
Bednarek had a great start in the men’s 200m and never relinquished the lead despite Olympics champion Letsile Tebogo breathing down his neck.
King Fu Kenny had been second in Zurich and third in Silesia post-Olympics but returned to his early season form that saw him notch wins in Doha and Eugene.
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22:15 - 14.09.2024
Kenny Bednarek stuns Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo to claim men's 200m Diamond League trophy
Kenny Bednarek had a great start off the blocks, something that paid off well for him with Letsile Tebogo's poor execution costing him a win.
Loser: Letsile Tebogo
Botswana’s Olympics champion Letsile Tebogo paid the prize for featuring in many events post-Olympics as he ran out of steam at the final.
Tebogo had won four races before the final, three in 200m, and was seen as the man to beat. However, he could not stop Kenny Bednarek with his body unable to match the pace of the American, as he had done a week before, to lose out on the Diamond League crown.
Winner: Julien Alfred
Olympics champion Julien Alfred asserted her authority as the 100m queen of 2024 when she claimed her maiden Diamond League title in Brussels.
Having lost to world champion Sha’Carri Richardson in Zurich, Alfred was keen for revenge and she served it cold as the American finished eighth while she claimed victory in emphatic style.
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17:04 - 14.09.2024
Sha’Carri Richardson makes shocking decision at Brussels Diamond League after 100m flop
World 100m champion Sha’Carri Richardson will not be the star attraction in the 200m at the Diamond League Final in Brussels after pulling out of the race, a day after her 100m flop.
Loser: Sha’Carri Richardson
The women’s 100m was a battle between Richardson and Julien Alfred and the St Lucian made light work of her US rival.
Richardson saved the worst for last as she lacked enough to compete with the rest of the field, finishing in a shocking eighth position, and she would even pull out of the 200m altogether to exit the final on the wrong footing.
Winner: Amos Serem
Kenya’s Amos Serem delivered a shocker as he beat Olympics champion Soufiane El Bakkali in a thrilling 3,000m steeplechase race.
Serem clocked 8:06.90 to take home the Diamond League trophy, with El Bakkali settling for second in 8:08.60. Tunisia’s Mohamed Jhinaoui followed closely in 8:09.68 to complete the podium.
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22:23 - 13.09.2024
Amos Serem stuns Olympics champion Soufiane El Bakkali to claim steeplechase Diamond League title
Amos Serem was in a class of his own as he obliterated a stacked field including Olympic champion Soufiane El Bakkali to claim the 3000m steeplechase title at the Diamond League Meeting final in Brussels.
Few had given Serem a chance of winning considering El Bakkali is the reigning Olympics and world champion but he ran a dominant race to floor the Moroccan at the final.
Soufiane El Bakkali
Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali must have felt that the steeplechase title was his for the taking when he came to Brussels but it was not to be.
Kenya’s Amos Serem made a great statement of intent ahead of next year’s World Championships as he shook off his challenge to claim the win.
Having pushed the Moroccan to the limit during their previous clash at the Silesia meet, where both clocked 8:04.29 but El Bakkali was awarded the win after a photo finish, Serem got his revenge in Belgium.
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08:30 - 16.09.2024
Marco Arop gives credit to Emmanuel Wanyonyi in heartfelt message
Marco Arop is in awe of Emmanuel Wanyonyi's exploits as he predicted when David Rudisha's world record might be broken.
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