2021 was a record-breaking year in the Wanda Diamond League, as the world's best athletes continued to push the limits of what is possible with historic performances in an Olympic season.
Karsten Warholm delivered the highlight of the season by conquering a decades-old world record in Oslo, but there were also 47 national records and 13 area records set in a rip-roaring Road To The Final in 2021.
The glistening array of historic performances also included nine new Wanda Diamond League records, with seven athletes going further and faster than anyone had ever been before in track and field's most prestigious season-long series.
Yomif Kejelcha - Oslo
Ethiopian star Kejelcha was the first athlete to break a Diamond League record in 2021, as he cruised to victory in the men's 3000m in Oslo at the beginning of July. The 24-year-old clocked 7:26.25, shaving less than half a second off Jacob Kiplimo's previous record from the Golden Gala in Rome a year before. The win would prove to be Kejelcha's only victory on the Diamond League circuit this year, as his compatriot Berihu Aregawi claimed the 3000m/5000m Diamond Trophy in Zurich.
Karsten Warholm - Oslo
Kejelcha's brilliant 3000m performance was only the second-best moment of the meeting on an unforgettable night in Oslo, as local boy Karsten Warholm finally broke Kevin Young's 29-year-old world record in the 400m hurdles. Having closed in on Young's mark for much of the last two to three years, Warholm picked his moment perfectly to finally make history, clocking 46.70 to send the home crowd into ecstasy. The fastest time in hurdles history was also around a fifth of a second faster than Warholm's own previous Diamond League record of 46.92.
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Femke Bol - Stockholm
After a breakthrough year in 2020, Dutch star Femke Bol established herself as one of the biggest global stars of the women's 400m hurdles this season, winning six of a possible eight Wanda Diamond League races on her way to a first career Diamond Trophy in September. She began the season with four back-to-back wins in June and July, the best of which was a series record of 52.37 in Stockholm.
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Elaine Thompson-Herah - Eugene
After completing a historic double-double at the Tokyo Olympics, Jamaican sprint star Elaine Thompson-Herah turned her attentions to the Wanda Diamond League in August, setting her sights on a first Diamond Trophy in four years. She began her title charge in style with a breathtaking 10.54 in the women's 100m in Eugene. Just half a second off Florence Griffith-Joyner's world record, which was long considered unbeatable, Thompson-Herah's performance sparked fresh hope that she could still become the fastest woman in history.
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Ryan Crouser - Eugene
While Thompson-Herah's Diamond League record could well last for years to come, others are more shortlived. In Eugene, Ryan Crouser brought his formidable form onto the circuit with a bang when he broke the series record with his first throw in the men's shot put. The new Diamond League record of 22.95m lasted a matter of minutes, however, as the American Olympic champion went even further in round four, his effort of 23.15 making him the first man to clear the 23-metre mark on the Diamond League circuit.
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Yulimar Rojas - Lausanne
Crouser was not the only athlete to break the Diamond League twice in one competition this season. Just days after the American's shot put heroics, world record holder and Olympic champion Yulimar Rojas did exactly the same thing in the triple jump in Lausanne. The Venezuelan smashed Colombian rival Caterine Ibargüen's seven-year-old Diamond League record with a third round jump of 15.42m, before adding another 10 centimetres to mark 15.52 in the next round.
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Anzhelika Sidorova - Zurich
What could be better than winning the Diamond Trophy with a Diamond League record? After picking up a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics, Anzhelika Sidorova was hoping to crown her season with a first Wanda Diamond League title. With four-time winner and reigning champion Katerina Stefanidi out of sorts, and Olympic champion KAtie Nageotte suffering a surprise early exit in Zurich, the path was clear for Sidorova to take the crown. She did so with aplomb, clearing 5.01m to become only the second woman in history to go higher than five metres in the Diamond League.
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