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≡ SCENE & HEARD ≡
The Wanda Diamond League has concluded for 2024, at the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels, where the winners were happy, some were looking forward to 2025 and everyone seemed to be tired at the end of a stressful, Olympic season.
At the top of the happiness list had to be American Valarie Allman, who won the women’s discus to finish the season at 10-0, with wins at the Paris Olympic Games and in Brussels:
“I feel so happy, I really dreamed of a season like this, I really didn’t think it would be possible to have an undefeated season.
“I just fought really hard and I have such an amazing team and we just made the most of every opportunity. I just have so many great memories of this season. Brussels was the last one and it was the hardest one to prepare for, you know the Diamond League is a set of competitions that we really focus on and value and I got my fourth trophy and I´m just so happy. I knew the competition would be intense being only six competitors.
“And now off season! I really can´t wait for your fries, waffles and chocolate!”
Allman should have a new competitor for U.S. and worldwide honors in 2025 as 2019 World Champion Yaime Perez – the world leader in the women’s discus in 2024 at 73.09 m (239-9) – is in line to become eligible after her defection from Cuba in 2022.She finished third in Brussels and said afterwards:
“It was a good competition, but I didn’t get the result that I wanted. Now I have to get back to training and try to be even stronger and better next season. It was really sad that I couldn’t participate in the Olympics [not yet eligible], because I was in excellent shape and I knew that I could get a good result there.
“Unfortunately it was out of my hands and I couldn’t do anything about it. Mentally it wasn’t easy, but hopefully I will be able to be at the Olympics in L.A. My next goal is now the World Championships next year and after that we will see.”
At the other end of the spectrum was two-time World Champion Chase Jackson of the U.S., who finished second in Brussels:
“It wasn’t a really good competition. The pole vault guys were too close and there was a lot of yelling: Still my performance in these circumstances was OK. I thought that I could throw further, but it didn’t happen.
“It´s the end of the season and I´m really tired. I´m going to take a break now and just do nothing.”
She wasn’t the only one looking forward to time off:
● Kirani James (GRN), the London 2012 Olympic men’s 400 m champion and second in Brussels:
“When I came into the home straight I thought that I was going to win, but Charles Dobson [GBR] finished really strong. Congratulations to him.
“Considering the [cold] weather and the fact that it´s the end of the season, I´m satisfied with the result I got tonight. At the end of the season it´s always a little bit difficult to keep the focus, but I always find a way to stay motivated. Now it´s time to rest and not to think about track and field.”
● Shanieka Ricketts (JAM), the Paris 2024 Olympic women’s triple jump silver medalist and second in Brussels:
“My performance tonight was not the best. I was hoping to jump further, but still to finish second in the Diamond League final is a good result and a huge accomplishment.
“It was really cold and that made it difficult to keep going during the competition. I was happy that I could hold on to my second place. It was a long season and I felt every muscle and joint in my body.
“Now I will get some rest and go to the beach for a while.”
● Olympic men’s long jump champion Miltiadis Tentoglou (GRE) – third in Brussels – was looking ahead, but maybe to quitting altogether:
“I lost today, but I´m not mad. I wasn’t feeling my legs today and the cold is not for me. It´s impressive that Tajay Gayle [JAM] was able to jump that far in these conditions, so I´m not mad that I lost from him.
“But Simon Ehammer (SUI), he is a great athlete but a decathlete. So it hurts to lose from a multi-eventer. Now we start the preparations for the indoor season, unless the change the rules about the board. If so, then I´m quitting long jumping.”
Tentoglou was referring to a proposal being experimented with to replace the solid, 20 cm deep long jump take-off board with a 40 cm take-off “zone.” from which jumps would be measured from the take-off point, not the end of the zone. It’s not coming in soon, having only been tried once in a high-level meet.
Some won’t get much rest, like Olympic men’s shot winner Ryan Crouser, who finished second in Brussels:
“I threw pretty well. It was a very solid performance. Five times over 22 meters. I just did not that big throw in me like the one Leonardo Fabbri had. He threw a lifetime best so it was a big throw from him.
“The level in the shot put was never this high. I definitely pushes me to throw better. I know that when I have an off-day, someone is going to beat me. It keeps me throwing at a high level.
“This was my last competition of the season. Unfortunately there is no vacation waiting for me. I have a lot of obligations with the media and so on.”
One of the big winners in Brussels was Olympic men’s 200 m silver medalist Kenny Bednarek, who defeated gold medalist Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, 19.67 to 19.80:
“I’m feeling great. It´s been a really long season: I got the silver medal in Paris, I had a few wins during the season, also a few losses: But being able to end the season with a victory in the Diamond League Final, gives me a lot of confidence for next year.
“I think execution-wise, I did what I needed to do and I´m happy with the performance. This year I shocked a few people with how fast I was running. I knew that I had it in me, but the last couple of seasons I had some injuries here and there.
“This season, people saw a glimpse of what I can do. It´s not a breakout year, this is something that I was supposed to be doing. Next year I will even be faster and more dangerous.”
While hardly pressed in her women’s invitational 400 m and 200 m wins, American star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was thrilled by being offered warm Belgian waffles and Belgian chocolates post-race in the tunnel; check out the priceless video here!
She took a bite of a waffle and said to the camera, “This is the best meet ever!”
McLaughlin-Levrone was also on the mind of principal rival Femke Bol (NED), who won the women’s 400 m hurdles easily in 52.45, then saying afterwards:
“It was really fun tonight. It was a little cold to run, but with the atmosphere in the stadium I forgot all about that. I really enjoyed my race and to be able to win my fourth Diamond League trophy is just amazing.
“Last week, I was a little bit ill. I wasn’t sure if I would compete in Brussels, because it was a really long season and it was a sign of my body that I needed some rest. However, running in Brussels feels like running in front of my home crowd and I didn’t want to miss that.
“Now I am looking forward to a two-week holiday in Sicily.
“I´m really happy that Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone was here to run, even though it was in some side events. I would have preferred running against her on the 400 m hurdles, because she´s such an amazing athlete and I can learn so much from her. Maybe the races in Brussels convinced her now to run more Diamond Leagues next season. It would be great to race against her.”
Next year.
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