Jamaica’s Jordan Scott and the Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino emerged victorious, while other Caribbean contenders found themselves just shy of the podium or battling to rediscover their best form, as mixed fortunes defined their Wanda Diamond League outing in Paris on Friday.
The Caribbean’s golden girl of the quarter-mile, Paulino, was once again in a class of her own. The reigning Olympic champion underlined her dominance in the women’s 400m by storming to a meet record of 48.81 seconds, as she obliterated her own previous mark of 49.12s set last year.
Running from lane five, Paulino kept her composure as American Lynna Irby-Jackson set a blistering pace from lane eight. She then surged past Bahrain’s Salwa Eid Naser on the final bend, using her trademark late kick to cross the line first in one of the fastest times this season. Naser finished a close second in 48.85s, with Chile’s Martina Weil third in a national record of 49.83s.
While Paulino celebrated, Jamaican Ackera Nugent and Bahamian Devynne Charlton were left to reflect on missed opportunities in the women’s 100m hurdles, as American Grace Stark stole the spotlight with a stunning meet record and personal best of 12.21 seconds.
Nugent, always a fierce competitor, hit her stride late and clawed her way into third in 12.30s, just behind Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan (12.24s). Charlton, who has struggled to recapture her early-season form, faded to sixth in 12.53s, as she never quite found her rhythm.
In the men’s triple jump, Scott once again showed why he is quickly becoming a force on the Diamond League circuit. The Jamaican opened with 17.11m, but saw his confidence waver after a series of fouls and one pass. However, while sitting in third heading into the final round, Scott dug deep and produced a clutch leap of 17.27m to snatch victory from Hugues Fabrice Zango (17.21m) of Burkina Faso and France’s Thomas Gogois (17.11m).
Elsewhere in the field, former Olympic javelin champion Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago and Grenadian Anderson Peters showed flashes of form but ultimately finished fourth (81.66m) and fifth (80.29 m), respectively. The strong field was topped by India’s Neeraj Chopra, who launched the spear to 88.16m. Germany’s Julian Weber (87.88m) and Brazil’s Luiz Mauricio da Silva (86.62m) rounded out the top three.
In the men’s 400m hurdles, American Rai Benjamin, son of former West Indies cricketer Winston Benjamin, continued his world-class season with a powerful display, as he clocked a meet record of 46.93 seconds. He eclipsed the previous record of 46.98s held by Qatar’s Abderrahman Samba—who once again played second fiddle in 47.09s. Another American, Trevor Bassitt (48.14s), completed the podium.