by Dina Asher-Smith would have liked to have not crossed the finish line of her season yet. The Briton showed her class again on a damp and gloomy evening in Brussels as she took on Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred in the Diamond League final, leaving world champion Sha’Carri Richardson behind.
On a night when another Briton, Charlie Dobson, caused a surprise 80-1 victory in the men’s 400m and Jakob Ingebrigtsen got his revenge on Cole Hocker in the men’s 1,500m, Asher-Smith proved once again that she remains one of the world’s best sprinters. What made the 28-year-old’s performance so impressive was that she didn’t make her usual lightning start. Yet she clung to Alfred like a limpet and forced the Saint Lucian to dig deep to claim victory in 10.88sec, with Asher-Smith second in 10.92sec.
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Far behind, Richardson slowed to eighth, while Asher-Smith left behind a disappointing Paris Olympics – in which she failed to reach the 100m final and finished fourth in the 200m.
Julien then said she was inspired by the negative comments after her loss to Richardson in Zurich last week. “I wanted to prove to myself that I deserved to be here,” she said. “Because after Zurich, I watched the race on YouTube to analyse it – and I read comments that said I was a unique person.”
“These performances give me a lot of courage for next year,” added Asher-Smith. “I’m used to the European climate, but even so, it was cold today.”
82 Olympic medallists gathered in Brussels for the two-day Diamond League final, which marks the culmination of the outdoor season. But physical fatigue, combined with unusually cool temperatures (12°C) and rainy weather, meant that ultra-fast times were not going to be possible.
The conditions certainly appear to be affecting Britain’s Matt Hudson-Smith, who was favourite for the 400m until he stopped on the back straight with what appeared to be cramp.
The race seemed to be on between London 2012 gold medallist Kirani James and American Vernon Norwood. But in the last 50 metres, it was the British Dobson who won in 44.49 ahead of James.
Dobson, who won a silver medal at the European Championships but failed to qualify for the Olympic final in Paris, was understandably delighted. “I never could have imagined winning tonight,” he said. “I’m so happy. I just tried to run my own race and enjoy myself.”
Another Briton, Georgia Bell, also put in a very impressive performance, taking a sparkling second place in the 800m behind 2023 world champion Mary Moraa.
Bell’s favourite event is the 1,500m, in which she won bronze at the Olympics. However, she had enough fire to win the race against Moraa, passing her with just under 200m to go before the Kenyan fought back to win in a season-best time of 1:56.56, almost a second ahead of Bell.
In the men’s 1,500m, Ingebrigtsen edged Hocker, who beat him in the Olympic final, and fellow American Yared Nuguse, who beat him in the sprint last week in Zurich, to win in 3:30.37.
The women’s 400m was won hands down by Olympic champion Marileidy Paulino in 49.45 seconds, almost a second faster than American Alexis Holmes. But the 35,000 spectators at the King Baudouin Stadium were left wondering what could have been.
Because 11 minutes earlier, in an exhibition race, American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone had run 49.11 to go even faster. The race would have been tough between the two. But McLaughlin-Levrone had not been allowed to participate in the official event, having not raced in the Diamond League all season.
“I felt cramping,” said McLaughlin-Levrone, who broke her own 400m hurdles world record en route to gold in Paris. “That’s why I chose to run with long snowshoes, just to be safe. But I felt strong during the race.”
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Mondo Duplantis failed to break the pole vault world record, but he decided to stop after jumping 6.11m due to leg pain. “I had some good jumps tonight and I’m really happy with this performance,” said the Swede.
“It’s time to celebrate my beautiful season. I will certainly drink some good Belgian beers tonight.”
