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.
Blake, a bronze medallist at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow earlier this season, continued his fine form lately with 9.96 to win the men’s 100m ahead of South Africa’s Akani Simbine (10.04) and Cameroon’s Emmanuel Eseme (10.11).
Ogando, a 200m finalist at the Paris Olympics last month, won the event in Switzerland comfortably in 20.19 ahead of Canada’s Aaron Brown (20.49) and Switzerland’s William Reis (20.55).
Both Blake and Ogando will be in action at the Wanda Diamond League final from September 13-14 in Brussels.
On the women’s side, Puerto Rican Olympic medallist Jasmine Camacho-Quinn took top spot in the women’s 100m hurdles in 12.52, just ahead of American Grace Stark (12.54). Switzerland’s Ditaji Kambundji ran 12.82 in third.
Camacho-Quinn will also be in action in Brussels.
The Tokyo Olympics 100m silver medalist destroyed a decent field to win 10.78 more than 0.2 seconds clear of Majinga Kambundji, who ran 10.99 and Ajla del Ponte, who clocked 11.11 before their home crowd.
In winning, the Pocket Rocket, who now has 22 times faster than 10.8 seconds, broke compatriot Merlene Ottey’s meet record of 10.95 that was set back in 1996.
Olympic 800m finalist Natoya Goule was also a winner on the night, dominating the field to win in 1:58.20. Goule was more than a second faster than second-placed Chanelle Price of the United States, who clocked 1:59.75 and third-placed Lovisa Lindh, who ran 1:59.94.
Meanwhile, Christopher Taylor ran a decent 45.70 to finish third in the 400m.
Jochem Dobber of the Netherlands won the event in 45.38 while the USA’s Vernon Norwood was second in 45.31.
This comes after a provisional suspension handed to Wilson by Anti-Doping Switzerland was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Wilson, a bronze medalist in the 200 metres at the 2018 European Championships, was handed the mandatory provisional suspension after an out-of-competition sample collected from him on March 15th revealed the presence of a metabolite, trenbolone, an anabolic steroid.
The Swiss sprinter blamed the presence of the prohibited substance on the consumption of contaminated beef he ate at a Jamaican Restaurant in the USA. Wilson then challenged the ruling at the Swiss Olympic Disciplinary Chamber and was successful, as they arrived at a ruling to lift his suspension on July 2nd.
The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), acting on behalf of World Athletics, along with WADA then successfully filed an application against the Disciplinary Chamber’s decision requesting that the provisional suspension be reinstated.
Head of the AIU, Brett Clothier, had this to say about the situation.
“We were not satisfied with the national-level decision to lift the mandatory provisional suspension and so together with WADA we appealed the decision. This case reflects the AIU’s commitment to protecting the interests of clean athletes and ensuring a level-playing field in Tokyo.”
Wilson turned heads in the track and field world at the Georgia Games on July 18th with massive lifetime bests of 9.84 in the 100 metres and 19.84 in the 200 metres.
Williams turned back the challenge of Dutchwoman Lisanne de Witte and Switzerland’s Annina Fahr to win in 50.58, her second fastest time this season, trailing behind her 50.56 to finish second at Jamaica’s National Championships in June.
De Witte and Fahr’s times in second and third were 51.99 and 52.08, respectively.
Richards, the 2017 World Championship bronze medallist and two-time Commonwealth Champion, all in the 200m, won the half-lap event on Tuesday in 20.19 ahead of the Zimbabwean pair Makanakaishe Charamba (20.42) and Tapiwanashe Makarawu (20.48).
The 30-year-old Trinidadian will also compete in the 400m in Paris. He won gold in the distance at the World Indoor Championships in 2022.
Another Jamaican Olympian, Lanae-Tava Thomas, was narrowly beaten by the Ivory Coast’s Jessika Gbai in the 200m.
Gbai’s winning time of 22.57 just beat out Thomas’s 22.60 while Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambundji was just behind in third in 22.61.
Kemba Nelson ran 11.21 to finish third overall in the women’s 100m behind New Zealand’s Zoe Hobbs (11.17) and Kambundji (11.20).
Broadbell ran 13.36 to win the 110m hurdles ahead of Americans Eric Edwards (13.53) and Jamal Britt (13.54). Olympic champion Hansle Parchment was fourth in 13.54.
The 22-year-old Broadbell has now won his last five races, including a personal best 12.99 to win at the Lausanne Diamond League last Friday.
In the B-final, Jamaica’s National U-20 record holder Damion Thomas was third in 13.71 behind Japan’s Izumiya Shunsuke (13.61) and American Robert Dunning (13.55).
In the Women’s 100m hurdles, Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn of Puerto Rico ran 12.86 for second behind the USA’s Tia Jones (12.78). Jones’ teammate Tonea Marshall was third in 13.04.
Gayle, who set a national record of 8.69m while winning gold in Doha last year, was unable to break 8m, leaping out to 7.99m, a mark exceeded by South Africa’s Rushwal Samaai, who managed an 8.04m jump for second place.
Finland’s Kristian Pulli won the event with his mark of 8.08m.
The 7.99m was Gayle’s worst performance of the disrupted season.
He produced a wind-aided mark of 8.52 at Jamaica College on July 11. A week later, he had a winning mark of 8.13m. Then, on August 29, he was again over 8m, recording a mark of 8.04m at the National Stadium in Kingston.
Also at the meet, 2016 Olympic champion and world record holder Wayde van Niekerk returned to competition winning the 400m in 45.58.
Jochem Dobber of the Netherlands was second in 45.78 while Karol Zalewski of Poland was third in 46.03.
Thompson-Herah, who has endured a season riddled with injuries, took the win ahead of Great Britain’s Imani Lansiquot (10.99), her first time below 11 seconds, and Gambia’s Gina Bass (11.12).
This was only Thompson-Herah’s second 100m race since finishing fifth at the Jamaican trials in July. She ran 11.00 for second at the Zurich Diamond League on August 31.
The 31-year-old was a member of Jamaica’s silver medal 4x100m team at the recently concluded World Championships in Budapest where she ran in the heats.
On the men’s side, Oblique Seville ran 10.01 to take the win ahead of Kenya’s Ferdinand Omanyala (10.04) and South Africa’s Akani Simbine (10.12).
Seville narrowly missed out on a medal in Budapest, finishing fourth in 9.88, the same time credited to bronze medallist, Zharnel Hughes.
Another 100m finalist in Budapest, Ryiem Forde, was seventh in 10.28 on Monday.
Natoya Goule-Toppin rebounded from a sub-par showing in Budapest to take the 800m in 1:57.53, a new meet record.
The USA’s Addison Wiley ran a personal best 1:57.64 in second while Switzerland’s Audrey Werro ran a national record 1:58.13 in third.
Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who was upset by Danielle Williams in Budapest, came out on top with a meet record 12.56 in the 100m hurdles. The Netherlands’ Nadine Visser ran a season’s best 12.61 in second while the USA’s Nia Ali ran 12.63 in third.
Shashalee Forbes, a member of Jamaica's silver-medal winning 4x100m team in Budapest, ran 22.74 for second in the 200m behind the USA's Tamara Clark (22.64). Italy's Dalia Kaddari ran 22.86 for third.
Orlando Bennett ran 13.40 for third in the men’s 110m hurdles won by Switzerland’s Jason Joseph in 13.18. Senegal’s Louis Francois Mendy was second in 13.29.
In the field, 2019 World Championship silver-medallist Fedrick Dacres threw 66.19m for third in the discus behind World Champion Daniel Stahl (67.24m) and Kristjan Ceh (67.15m).
Walcott produced a best throw of 84.82m in the fifth round to take the win ahead of Latvian Patriks Gailums (83.30m) and Curtis Thompson of the USA (82.87m).
Bahamian Anthonique Strachan won the Women’s 200m in 22.66 ahead of Aminatou Seyni of Niger (22.71) and Jenna Prandini of the USA (22.82).
On the Men’s side, recently crowned NACAC champion Andrew Hudson of Jamaica was second in 20.47 behind the USA’s Kyree King (20.40). Charlie Dobson of Great Britain was third in 20.52.
Commonwealth Games champion Janieve Russell ran 55.25 for second in the Women’s 400m hurdles behind American Dalilah Muhammad (54.57). Finland’s Viivi Lehikoinen was third in 55.41.
