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≡ U.S. WINNERS SPEAK ≡
The Diamond League meeting in Rabat (MAR) was a good one for American athletes, with six wins on the day. Maybe the happiest was two-time World Champion Joe Kovacs, who had his best day of 2026 with a win and his longest throw in two years, a world-leading 22.58 m (74-1):
“I would love to know how many Diamond Leagues wins I have, but no, I do not know. My wife and I just built a training facility and I would love to put banners on the walls with all the special results. So maybe I should start counting them because I am pretty grateful for every one of them.
“My first Diamond League was in 2012 so it is good to start the year with a win and a healthy body. You can not just copy the things you did in the past, so this result says that I am able to adapt, that I trust my wife in training and that I do this as a proud dad.
“I think this is one of my best openers ever, it is crazy for me. It shows me that there is always more in the tank and that keeps me going for more. I was not expecting any result; I had no marks in training indicating how far I was going to throw.”
He added, “I love coming to this meet because the weather is always great and somehow the people in the corner love the shot put.”
Kovacs’ first win at a Diamond League meet was in Oslo (NOR) in 2014 and TSX research shows that Rabat was his 16th career Diamond League win! After his breakthrough in 2014, he had three in 2015, 2016 and 2022, then one each in 2023 and 2024, three in 2025 and now a first one in 2026.
Men’s 200 m winner Kenny Bednarek, a two-time Olympic silver winner, was sensational with a 19.69 time in his first race at the distance this season:
“I didn´t expect to run that fast but I knew I had a good sub 20 in me. Being in China running those 100 meters felt easy to me; I was doing a few mistakes here and there, but I learned. I just came out here to my baby and executed the race.
“I will be focusing on both distances this year … Being able to go against the best, I mean I am one of the best, but I like competing so I can´t wait for another year.”
Men’s 400 m winner Jacory Patterson explained that “my main focus is the Ultimate Championship in September, and I am looking forward to do a great performance there,” telling viewers on the FloTrack Athlete’s Lounge telecast that he wants to win the Ultimate Championship so that he has an automatic entry into the 2027 World Championships!
Paris Olympic 1,500 m bronze winner Yared Nuguse won the men’s 1,500 m in 3:30.35 and was overjoyed:
“This result says that I am back. I am back where I was right before. I really wanted to show up this outdoor season and win races, do really good.”
Sprinter Cambria Sturgis powered down the straight to win the women’s 200 m in 22.21 and said after:
“I would give the performance of today a B, I came out of the curve hard and fast, and although I feel I could have been even stronger coming out of it, I stayed composed and pushed through all the way to the finish line. Overall, I am happy with the result.”
Olympic and World Champion Valarie Sion won the discus at 68.75 m (225-6), improving through the rounds and setting a meet record:
“I had to really work to find my groove. Each round I threw a little better, with a meeting record here in Rabat, it´s just amazing. When I came in 2019, it was my first competition on the professional circuit and [Yaime] Perez broke the meeting record. It was the coolest thing, and now it just feels like a full circle moment.
“The women´s discus is quite competitive now. There are many women I feel that are getting momentum. Seventy meters [229-8] is always that mark I am trying to enforce, I can tell I am coming into better competition shape.
“It has been really fun to come to Africa and experience that energetic culture, so I am going to enjoy every moment of it.”
Next up is the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea in Rome (ITA), on Thursday, 4 June, followed by the Bauhaus Galan in Stockholm on Sunday, 7 June.
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