Jamaican sprinter Shericka Jackson and Dutch 400m hurdles star Femke Bol will be among the headline stars at the Wanda Diamond League meeting in Stockholm on June 2nd.

Two of the biggest stars in women's track and field will be in Wanda Diamond League action in Stockholm on June 2nd, with reigning series champions Shericka Jackson and Femke Bol set to compete at the BAUHAUS Galan. 

Jamaican sprint star Jackson is defending both the 100m and 200m Diamond League titles in 2024, having made history with her double victory at the final in Eugene last season. 

Jackson not only joined an elite group of athletes who have won two Diamond Trophies in a single season, but also became only the second woman ever after Colombia's Caterine Ibargüen to win two Diamond League titles on successive days. 

Dutch one-lap ace Bol has dominated the 400m hurdles since in recent years, winning three titles and 20 individual races since she burst onto the scene in 2020. Fresh from her world-record-breaking world 400m indoor title in March, she will be aiming for a fourth Diamond League title and a first ever Olympic gold this summer. 

The Wanda Diamond League is the premier one-day meeting series in athletics. It comprises 15 of the most prestigious events in global track and field. Athletes compete for points at the 14 series meetings in a bid to qualify for the two-day Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels on 13th-14th September.

 

Jamaica’s 200m World Champion Shericka Jackson is among the five finalists for Women’s World Athlete of the Year honours as the countdown to the World Athletics Awards 2023 continues.

Jackson, the second-fastest woman of all time over 200m, won her second World 200m title in Budapest in August, breaking her own championship record of 21.45 when she sped to a winning time of 21.41. She capped her incredible season winning the Diamond 100m and 200m crowns in Eugene, Oregon.

However, she is pitted against athletes who have also been outstanding in 2023. Among them are Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa, the winner of the Berlin marathon and World marathon record holder.

Also among the five finalists is Netherlands superstar Femke Bol, who won the World 400m hurdles title in Budapest and set a new World indoor 400m record during the season.

Faith Kipyegon of Kenya, perhaps the favourite for the award, won World 1500m and 5000m titles in Budapest and set world records at 1500m, mile and 5000m.

Last, but certainly not least is the imperious Yulimar Rojas. The Venezuelan won the triple jump World title for a fourth time in Budapest and was also crowned the Diamond League champion in 2023.

The World Athletes of the Year will be announced on World Athletics’ platforms on 11 December, as part of the World Athletics Awards 2023.

 

Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson is among 11 athletes nominated for Women’s World Athlete of the Year.

The athletes were selected by an international panel of athletics experts, comprising representatives from all six continental areas of World Athletics.

In what has been another memorable year for the sport, the nominations reflect some of the standout performances achieved at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23, one-day meeting circuits, Label road races and other events around the world.

In August, Jackson, 29, won her second 200m title at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest where she also won silver medals in the 100m and 4x100m relay. She capped off her impressive season by winning Diamond League trophies in both 100m and 200m at the season-ending meet in Eugene, Oregon.

The impressive list of nominees also includes Ethiopia’s Tigist Assefa, winner of the Berlin marathon winner and who set the world marathon record this past season.

Femke Bol of the Netherlands won the 400m hurdles in Budapest and set a world indoor 400m record during the season.

The strong favourite to walk away with the award this year is Kenya’s Faith Kipyegon, the World 1500m and 5000m champion, who set world records 1500m, mile and 5000m in 2023.

Japan’s Haruka Kitaguchi is the World champion at the javelin. She is also the Diamond League champion.

Also among the nominees is Yaroslava Mahuchikh of Ukraine who is the World champion and Diamond League champion at the high jump.

Spain’s Maria Perez is the World 20km and 35km race walk world champion, who established a new world record at the 35km race walk.

Ethiopia’s Gudaf Tsegay is the World 10,000m champion, who won the Diamond League 5000m title with a new world record.

The USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson is the newly crowned World champion at 100m and bronze medallist at 200m.

Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas won her fourth consecutive world title at the triple jump and also added the Diamond League title to her extraordinary exploits during the season.

Bahrain’s Winfed Yavi is the 3000m steeplechase World champion, who also won the Diamond League title with a world-leading performance.

A three-way voting process will determine the finalists.

The World Athletics Council and the World Athletics Family will cast their votes by email, while fans can vote online via the World Athletics social media platforms. Individual graphics for each nominee will be posted on Facebook, X, Instagram and YouTube this week; a 'like' on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube or a retweet on X will count as one vote.

 

 

The World Athletics Council’s vote will count for 50 per cent of the result, while the World Athletics Family’s votes and the public votes will each count for 25 per cent of the final result.

Voting for the World Athletes of the Year closes at midnight on Saturday 28 October. At the conclusion of the voting process, five women and five men finalists will be announced by World Athletics on 13-14 November.

The winners will be revealed on World Athletics’ social media platforms on 11 December.

 

In a thrilling contest in the 400m hurdles in Eugene, Oregon on Sunday, Jamaica’s Rushell Clayton and Janieve Russell were third and fourth, respectively, in a race won in a meet record time by world champion Femke Bol of the Netherlands, who added the Diamond League trophy to her collection this season.

Bol, who boasts a personal best of 51.45, clocked 51.98s after shaking off a brief challenge from American Shamier Little, to shatter the previous meet record of 52.77 set by Dalilah Mohammad two years ago.

The American and Bol were neck and neck with three hurdles to go but Bol unleashed her superior speed and strength to pull away from the rapidly fading Little, who finished second in 53.45 just ahead of the rapidly closing Jamaicans.

Clayton, who won her second bronze medal in Budapest clocked 53.56 to just held off Russell, the two-time Commonwealth Games champion, who stopped the clock in a season’s best 53.60.

Janieve Russell and Rushell Clayton finished second and third as Dutch World Champion Femke Bol continued her unbeaten run this season in the 400m hurdles at the Brussels Diamond League on Friday.

Bol started calmly before using her unreal strength to pull away from the rest of the field in the last 100m to come home in a meet record 52.11.

Russell, a two-time Commonwealth Champion and a finalist at the recently concluded World Championships in Budapest, was second in 53.80 while Clayton, who took bronze at those World Championships, was third in 54.10.

Andrenette Knight, who was also a finalist in Budapest, led the field after the first half of the race but faded into sixth in 54.75.

Like she did in Doha in 2019, Jamaica’s Rushell Clayton secured another World Athletics Championships medal, after placing third in the women’s 400 metres hurdles final in Budapest, Hungary on Thursday.

Clayton, 30, who has been holding superb form demonstrated that much, clocking a new personal best 52.81s, just being edged by American Shamier Little, who clocked a season’s best 52.80s for silver.

The event was won by the impressive Dutchwoman Femke Bol, who finally got gold in 51.70s, to go with her bronze at the Olympic Games in Tokyo and silver at last year’s Championships in Eugene.

 Jamaica’s other finalists Janieve Russell (54.28s) and Andrenette Knight (55.20s) were seventh and eighth respectively.

Clayton's performance capped what was an exhilarating night for Jamaica, as her bronze, followed gold medal performances by Antonio Watson in the 400m and Danielle Williams in the women's sprint hurdles, as well as an historic silver and bronze medal winning performances by Wayne Pinnock and Tajay Gayle in the men's long jump finals.

By virtue of that, Jamaica moved to third on the medal standings with two gold, three silver and three bronze medals, heading into Friday's seventh day of competition.

Jamaica missed out on the cut for the final of the Mixed 4x400 metres relay, as they could only manage fifth in heat two of the event on Saturday's opening day of the ongoing World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary.

The Jamaican quartet of Demish Gaye, Natoya Goule-Toppin, Malik James-King and Stacey-Ann Williams, running in that order, struggled from the off and was at the back of the pack for the first two legs.

In fact, it was on the third leg that James King tried to force the initiative and gradually made progress, but faded in the latter stages, leaving Williams with much to do on anchor.

Despite facing an uphill task, Williams showed grit and determination to bring Jamaicans from eighth into fifth and ninth across the two heats in a season’s best 3:14.05.

They finished behind the Femke Bol led Dutch team, who won in 3:12.12, followed by France (3:12.25) and Czech Republic (3:12.52), with fourth-placed Germany taking one of the non-automatic qualifying spots.

United States with a World lead 3:10.41, Great Britain, with a national record 3:11.19, Belgium (3:11.81) and Ireland (3:13.90), are the other finalists.

 

You can catch live action of the 2023 World Athletic Championships by downloading the Sportsmax App.

The World Championships start in Budapest on Saturday – just a year after the rearranged 2022 edition in Eugene.

Here, the PA news agency looks at the four international stars to watch in Hungary.

Shericka Jackson (Jamaica)

Jackson continues to impress and is the fastest in the world this year after clocking 10.65 seconds over 10 metres at the Jamaican championships.

It put her joint fifth on the all-time list, 0.16 seconds off Florence Griffith-Joyner’s 35-year-old world record.

Jackson won silver in the 100m at last year’s Worlds and will be gunning for Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce’s title this time around.

Wayde Van Niekerk (South Africa)

The 2016 Olympic and 2017 world champion has fought back from a ruptured ACL, which he suffered playing a charity touch rugby game in 2017.

His 400m time of 44.17secs puts him second on the list this year, behind Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga.

He missed the 2019 World Championships and failed to reach the 400m final at Tokyo 2020 but finished fifth in the final at last year’s Worlds.

Mondo Duplantis (Sweden)

The Swede broke his own world pole vault record at last year’s Championships in Eugene, clearing 6.21 metres, and registered 6.22m earlier this year to increase the mark.

Duplantis, who was born in the United States, is also the reigning European outdoor and indoor champion to hold all the major titles available to him.

It would be a major shock if the 23-year-old was beaten in Budapest.

Femke Bol (Netherlands)

A world-leading time of 52.30secs in the 400m hurdles has the 23-year-old clear favourite for the title.

With Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone having withdrawn from the competition, the path is clear for Bol to improve on last year’s silver.

A bronze in Tokyo and last year’s European gold in Munich marks Bol as one of the world’s best.

By all indications, the women’s 400m hurdles at the upcoming World Athletic Championships in Budapest, Hungary, would appear to offer one key question – how much faster can Femke Bol go?

Following Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone’s decision not to defend the world title she won in her home setting of Oregon last year, when she left her Dutch rival halfway down the finishing straight as she improved her world record to a staggering 50.68s, Bol’s pathway has now been cleared.

The Tokyo Olympic bronze medallist prepared for the 400m hurdles in spectacular fashion during the indoor season, as she worked on her speed over 400m flat. To such effect that on February 19, she broke the longest standing athletics track record in the book when she clocked 49.26s to win the Dutch indoor title, eclipsing the mark of 49.59s set in 1982.

The high point of her season so far occurred in front of a sell-out 50,000 crowd at the London Stadium on July 23, as she ran a European and Diamond League record of 51.45s.

"I've been wanting to run a 51 ever since Tokyo. I had a feeling I could do it but I still can't believe I've done it," said the 23-year-old.

Her time was one-hundredth of a second faster than McLaughlin-Levrone ran to win the Tokyo Olympic title in a race where Bol finished third behind the defending champion Dalilah Muhammad.

It was only four-hundredths of a second slower than the world record McLaughlin-Levrone set at last year’s US trials in Oregon. But it was the best part of a second slower than the current world mark of 50.68s run by her rival at last year’s World Athletics Championships.

Such is the measure of the challenge for this amiable Dutch athlete.

While McLaughlin-Levrone will be absent from the event – and indeed the championships because of a late knee issue – her predecessor as world and Olympic champion, Muhammad, will be present, albeit that the 33-year-old’s season’s best of 53.53s only has her at fifth place in this season’s world list.

Muhammad’s US colleague Shamier Little, whose 2021 personal best of 52.39s has her at fifth place in the all-time list, will also be a medal contender, as will the Jamaican trio of Andrenette Knight, who has clocked 53.26s this season; Janieve Russell, with a 2023 best of 53.65s; and Rushell Clayton, who has clocked 53.79s.

Look out too for Britain’s Jessie Knight, who has run a personal best of 54.09s this season, and Viktoriya Tkachuk of Ukraine, who has a best of 53.76s.

Janieve Russell, Natoya Goule-Toppin and Shericka Jackson made the podium in their respective events at the London Diamond League meeting on Sunday.

In what was the last Diamond League meet before the 2023 World Athletics Championships in Budapest next month, Femke Bol produced the performance of the day with a record-break run in the 400m hurdles and Noah Lyles emerged victorious from stern battle with Letsile Tebogo in the 200m.

Russell continued her solid form this season after coming in second in the 400m hurdles at the London Diamond League on Sunday. However, her performance was overshadowed by the massive lifetime best performance of Bol of the Netherlands.

Russell, who won at the Jamaican trials earlier this month, clocked in a smart time of 53.75 but she was more than two seconds behind Bol, who joined the pantheon of two women who have run the event in under 52 seconds.

The European champion smashed her previous best of 52.03 when she stormed across the finish line in a world-leading 51.45. Only world record holder Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Dalilah Mohammed have run faster.

The world-leading time was also an Area Record, Diamond League record and National Record.

Shamier Little of the United States was third in 53.76 with Rushell Clayton fourth in a blanket finish where 0.02s separated second, third and fourth.

Goule-Toppin has been consistently fast over 800m this season and she showed that again Sunday with a new season’s best time of 1:57.61 for a second place finish in the 800m. She managed to hold off Uganda’s Halimah Nakaayi for set a new national record of 1:57.62 in finishing in third place.

Jemma Reekie of Great Britain won the keenly contested event in a new meet record of 1:57.30, a season’s best for the 25-year-old Briton.

An obviously fatigued Shericka Jackson, running her third race in a week, finished third in the 100m dash in which Marie Josee Ta Lou stormed to a new meet record of 10.75. Dina Asher-Smith took the runner-up spot in 10.85 with Jackson laboring through the line in 10.94 for third.

The men’s 200m was electrifying with Lyles just managing to hold of Letsile Tebogo to win in a new meet record and world-leading time of 19.47. Tebogo ran a brand new personal best of 19.50 for second place. It was a new lifetime best and African Area record for the youngster. In third was Zharnel Hughes who ran a new British record of 19.73.

Holloway, the two-time defending world champion, sped to a 13.01 clocking to win the 110m hurdles. Japan’s Shunsuke Izumiya was close behind in 13.06 while Jamal Britt of the USA crossing in 13.25 to edge out Olympic champion Hansle Parchment (13.26) for third place.

World-record holder Wayde van Niekerk won a close battle in the 400m over Bryce Deadmon and Vernon Norwood. The South African clocked 44.36 to edge Deadmon who came in second in 44.40 with Norwood not far behind in 44.46 for third place.

 

 

 

 

Femke Bol stormed to a sensational time of 49.26* to break the world indoor 400m record at the Dutch Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn on Sunday (19).

The 22-year-old dipped under 50 seconds for the first time indoors with 49.96 in Metz last weekend but in Apeldoorn she took 0.7 off that mark to better the world indoor record of 49.59 set by Jarmila Kratochvilova on 7 March 1982.

It’s not the first time that Bol has made history. The world and Olympic 400m hurdles medallist set a world 300m hurdles best of 36.86 in Ostrava last year and in her first race of this season she ran a world indoor 500m best of 1:05.63 in Boston.

Now she has a world record on her CV, too, having broken one of the longest-standing records on the books.

In Apeldoorn, Bol got a typical strong start and went through 200m in 23.63 before surging over the finish line in 49.26, chased by Lieke Klaver who was second in 50.34.

"It was because of all the fans here that I ran this record," Bol said after her race at the Omnisport arena. "Never have I ever seen that many people here. When I c

Panama’s Gianna Woodruff and Jamaica’s Janieve Russell were second and third as The Netherlands’ Femke Bol took the win in the women’s 400m hurdles at the Diamond League final in Zurich on Thursday.

Bol, the double European Champion in the 400m and the 400m hurdles, produced a measured race to win in a time of 53.03 while Woodruff and Russell, the Commonwealth Games gold medallist, ran times of 53.72 and 53.77, respectively.

Former World Champion and world record holder Dalilah Muhammad was fourth in 53.83 while Jamaican Rushell Clayton was fifth in 54.25.

In the women's 800m, Jamaican World Championship and Olympic finalist Natoya Goule ran an excellent race to finish second in 1:57.85 behind Kenyan Commonwealth champion and World Championship bronze medallist Mary Moraa (1:57.63). American Sage Hurta was third in 1:58.47.

Olympic 100m bronze medallist Shericka Jackson ran a season’s best and meet record 21.91 to win the Women’s 200m at the Rome Diamond League at the Stadio Olimpico on Thursday.

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.

 

 

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