Nugent, the second-fastest woman in the world this year over the 100m hurdles and Jamaica's sole finalist at the Paris Olympics Games, is set to face an exceptional field in what promises to be one of the most anticipated races of the meet.
Among her competitors are Olympic bronze medallist Jamine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico and compatriot Danielle Williams.
Nugent, 22, has been a standout athlete this year, capturing the spotlight after a dominant win at the national senior trials in a blistering personal best of 12.28 seconds. The mark is also a new stadium record and the ninth fastest time in history over the distance.
Her notable achievements include reaching the finals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she failed to finish after hitting the first hurdle.
Nugent looks forward to making her Diamond League debut.
"I'm incredibly grateful to finally have the opportunity to compete on the Diamond League circuit," Nugent said.
"It's a huge step as I transition into a full-time professional athlete. The Diamond League is where I see myself competing for the foreseeable future, so I’m ready to embrace everything that comes with it," she added.
Nugent is also slated to compete at the Silesia Diamond League in Poland this Sunday, August 25, and the Rome Golden Gala on Friday, August 30.
The former Vere Technical star, who also has 400m bronze medals from the 2016 Olympics, 2015, and 2019 World Championships, finished ahead of double Olympic Champion Elaine Thompson-Herah who ran a season’s best of her own with 22.25. 2019 World 200m Champion Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain also ran a season’s best of 22.27 to finish third.
Puerto Rican Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn maintained the stellar form she's shown so far this season by running a meet record and new world-leading 12.37 to win the Women’s 100m hurdles. Jamaican Britany Anderson was right there with Camacho-Quinn up until clipping the final hurdle and stumbling over the line to run 12.50 for second while American 2019 World Champion Nia Ali was third in 12.71.
Grenadian 2011 World and 2012 Olympic 400m Champion Kirani James was also in winning form, running 44.54 to prevail in the Men’s 400m ahead of the USA’s Vernon Norwood (44.81) and Michael Cherry (45.24).
Olympic and World Championship finalist Janieve Russell ran 54.18 for second in the Women’s 400m hurdles behind Dutch Olympic bronze medallist Femke Bol’s season’s best 53.02. Ukraine’s Anna Ryzhykova was third in 54.50.
Thompson-Herah blitzed a field that included World Championship silver-medalist Marie-Josee Ta Lou, to stop the clock at 10.87 seconds. Although slightly slower than the 10.85 recorded in Rome last week, it maintained an impressive run of form for the sprinter. The time was the fifth sub-11 mark for the athlete this season.
The Jamaican, whose 10.85 seconds is the fastest time in the world this season, also owns four of the top six times in the world with compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce having the second and third best times.
The athlete, who has been plagued by Achilles issues in recent years, had a fair start before seizing control of the field before the midway point of the race and later pulling clear down the stretch. Talou was a distant second behind Thompson, stopping the clock at 11.21, with American Kayla White finishing third in 11.25.
In the men’s 200m, Julian Forte ran a season's best 20.39 seconds to place second in the men's 200m. The race was won by the Ivory Coast’s Arthur Cisse who ran a new national record 20.33 seconds, France's Christophe Lemaitre was third in 20.68 seconds.
The time put her ahead of compatriot Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s 10.86 set last month.
Thompson-Herah, who went into the meet with the second-fastest time in the world this year, 10.88 at the Velocity Fest meeting in Kingston on August 8, was in complete control from the start pulling away mid-race to seal an impressive win.
The USA’s Aleia Hobbs was miles behind in a season-best 11.14 while Marie-Josee Ta Lou turned him her best run this year for third in her season-best of 11.14.
Thompson-Herah’s MVP teammate Anthonique Strachan was eighth in 11.42.
Meanwhile, South Africa’s Akani Simbini won the men’s equivalent in 9.96 ahead of Arthur Cisse of the Ivory Coast, who crossed the finish line in a season-best 10.04.
Filippo Tortu of Italy claimed third in 10.09.
Julian Forte stumbled at the start and never recovered finishing sixth in 10.15.
Meanwhile, Armand Duplantis set a world outdoor best of 6.15m erasing the mark held by Ukraine’s Sergei Bubka since 1991.
Karsten Warholm, the metronome, set a new meet record of 47.07 in the 400m hurdles. He has now set four of the 11 fastest times in history this season.
Thompson-Herah ran a world-leading 10.85s in a dominating performance at the Diamond League meeting in Rome. She was metres clear of the USA’s Aleia Hobbs (11.12) and the Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou, the bronze medallist from last year’s 100m final at the World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
Thompson, who finished fourth in Doha in 10.93, said her performance on Thursday told her all she needed to know.
“I leave here with the world-leading time, I'm super excited,” she said.
“This tells me where I am at the end of this season, and tells me how I can prepare for next year. I am super excited.”
The Covid-19 pandemic enforced a lot of changes to the track season and Thompson-Herah admitted that it has been challenging. However, she has managed to find the motivation she needs while looking forward to the Olympics where she intends to defend her Olympic double from Rio 2016.
“This year required more adjusting, and my goal was to push back and to motivate myself,” she said. “I am a double Olympic champion, so I want to be in my top form next season. We had some competitions in Jamaica, but obviously, the field was not as strong as it is here.”
