Brussels will host the opening day of the Diamond League final on Friday, with some of the world’s biggest athletics names chasing one last major title of the season.
Kenyan Olympic and world champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi leads a stacked men’s 800 metres field. Sweden’s Armand “Mondo” Duplantis will look to extend his dominance in the pole vault, while Jamaica’s world champion Oblique Seville headlines the men’s 100 metres.
Duplantis faces another test in the pole vault
Duplantis has spent much of the season rewriting the record books. The Olympic champion and three-time world champion has already set 15 world records.
But his latest challenge is coming from Greece.
Emmanouil Karalis pushed Duplantis hard in Zurich last week. Duplantis won with a clearance of 6.25 metres, while Karalis produced a personal best of 6.20.
The Swedish star admitted afterwards that he could not afford to relax.
“This is the highest level of competition that there’s ever been,” Duplantis said. “Manolo’s jumping is amazing right now, so I have to jump my A-game.”
Karalis, meanwhile, believes their rivalry could develop into a long-running battle.
“Hopefully, in the future we are going to have amazing battles,” he said. “Hopefully, I can get a win one day.”
Seville leads a fast 100m field
Oblique Seville arrives in Brussels with confidence after winning the 100 metres in Silesia.
The Jamaican clocked 9.83 seconds, beating Americans Kenny Bednarek and Christian Coleman. All nine finalists broke 10 seconds in a remarkable race.
Bednarek will focus on the 200m in Brussels, leaving Coleman and Trayvon Bromell among Seville’s main challengers in the shorter sprint.
Nigeria’s Kayinsola Ajayi, Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme and South Africans Gift Leotlela and Akani Simbine will also line up.
Seville is aiming to keep his winning run going.
“There are great things ahead of me,” he said. “For the rest of the season I would like to keep winning and the next win should be in Brussels.”
Alfred returns for the women’s 200m
Julien Alfred will be the woman to beat in the 200m.
The Olympic champion arrives after a statement victory in the 100m in Zurich, where she finished ahead of world champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden.
Jefferson-Wooden will not compete in Brussels, but the United States still has a strong presence in the race.
Anavia Battle, Jenna Prandini, Cambrea Sturgis and Kayla White are all in the field.
European champion Amy Hunt will also be looking to challenge Alfred.
For Alfred, the target is straightforward.
“My only goal is to win on Friday and lift that Diamond League trophy,” she said. “I want to win as many titles and trophies as possible in my career.”
Wanyonyi takes aim at another big 800m victory
For Kenyan fans, the men’s 800m is likely to be the highlight of the night.
Wanyonyi enters the final after producing one of the fastest races of his career in Zurich. He won in 1:41.76, finishing ahead of Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati.
The performance suggested that the 22-year-old is finding his best form at the right time.
“This result shows that my body is coming up,” Wanyonyi said.
He is also aware of the record standing in front of him.
David Rudisha’s world record of 1:40.91 has stood since the Kenyan legend set it while winning Olympic gold in London in 2012.
Wanyonyi has previously spoken about his ambition to challenge that mark. But he knows the task will require exceptional preparation and execution.
“When I see the world records being broken, I know my time will come,” he said. “There is time for everything.”
The Brussels field will provide a serious test. Wanyonyi will face Sedjati, Marco Arop of Canada and France’s Gabriel Tual, among the fastest active 800m runners in history.
Ingebrigtsen faces another 1,500m test
The men’s 1,500m brings together another group of elite runners, led by Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen.
The Olympic champion is still working his way back after Achilles surgery. His return to Diamond League 1,500m competition has been gradual.
He finished fourth in Silesia and fifth in Zurich. Those results were not typical of the Norwegian’s dominant years, but they showed he is becoming increasingly competitive again.
The Brussels field will be unforgiving.
American Olympic champion Cole Hocker will line up alongside Yared Nuguse, Hobbs Kessler and Ethan Strand, who shocked the field by winning in Silesia.
Ingebrigtsen has won 20 Diamond League races between 2020 and 2024. Brussels offers another chance to measure his progress against the world’s best.
With titles on the line and the season approaching its final chapter, Day 1 in Brussels promises a mix of established champions, emerging challengers and several races that could go down to the final metres.
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