With the race to the final now well and truly on, a number of athletes are looking to extend their leads in the overall rankings, whilst others are rounding into their best form and hoping to provide a late challenge.
One such athlete is London 2012 Olympic champion Jenn Suhr, who sits fifth in the pole vault standings. Suhr hasn’t competed at an overseas Diamond League for three years, but did win on home soil in Eugene. In Lausanne she talked about how close she came to retirement and her new found love for the sport.
Can you believe there hasn’t been a women’s pole vault at @athletissima since 2006! @JennSuhr is doubly excited as it’s her first overseas Diamond League for 3 years#DiamondLeague #RoadToTheFinal #LausanneDL pic.twitter.com/tLnPEuNhSi
— IAAF Diamond League (@Diamond_League) July 4, 2018
That women’s pole vault is set to be one of the highlights of the meeting, with the likes of Sandi Morris and Katerina Stefanidi also in the line-up, the former sitting pretty at the top of the standings. The women’s pole vault hasn’t featured in Lausanne for some 12 years, and Stefanidi believes that Yelena Isinbayeva’s meeting record could well be under threat.
Will the #LausanneDL women’s pole vault meeting record be broken tomorrow night? @KatStefanidi certainly thinks so #DiamondLeague #RoadToTheFinal pic.twitter.com/pree4mH6cv
— IAAF Diamond League (@Diamond_League) July 4, 2018
After going beyond 17.80m to win the triple jump at a meeting in Budapest on Monday night, Christian Taylor proved that his jumping is still going exceptionally well, despite running a number of 400m races earlier this season. He is still chasing his goal of a sub 45 second clocking however, for which he blames his friend Ashton Eaton.
.@AshtonJEaton has messed me – he gives me the drive to go under 45 seconds!#DiamondLeague #RoadToTheFinals #LausanneDL pic.twitter.com/URk8oTnG8L
— IAAF Diamond League (@Diamond_League) July 4, 2018
Another athlete on fire in Budapest was Sergey Shubenkov, who after false starting in the 110mH final in Paris set a stunning 12.92 world lead in Hungary. That was a personal best and just two hundredths shy of the European record, which he admits he would like to challenge this season, if not in Lausanne.
After his stunning 12.92 world lead on Monday Sergey Shubenkov (@s_shubenkov_EN) is aiming to lower his time by a further two hundredths of a second and take the European record#DiamondLeague #RoadToTheFinals #LausanneDL pic.twitter.com/QK2f0PXmeO
— IAAF Diamond League (@Diamond_League) July 4, 2018
On the track, Abderrahman Samba stole the show once more in Paris, as he became the second fastest 400m hurdler in history with a sub 47 run. It wasn’t the perfect race however, so he believes he can go even faster – a scary proposition!
After becoming the second fastest 400m hurdler in history at the #ParisDL Abderrahman Samba (@almbrek96) knows he can go even faster#DiamondLeague #RoadToTheFinal #LausanneDL pic.twitter.com/FX5dibC9f2
— IAAF Diamond League (@Diamond_League) July 4, 2018
Another race to watch out for on Thursday evening is the men’s 200m, featuring the fastest man in the world this year over both 100m and 200m, Noah Lyles. With two Diamond League victories out of two this season in Doha and Eugene, the American hopes to write his name into the record books.
Here’s what he had to say when asked if he could perhaps be the next Usain Bolt…
When asked whether he can be the next Usain Bolt, @LylesNoah said he wants to break world records! #DiamondLeague #RoadToTheFinals #LausanneDL pic.twitter.com/hI8zNGvRKh
— IAAF Diamond League (@Diamond_League) July 4, 2018
Want to watch the full press conference? Click below.