The Wanda Diamond League is gearing up for its 13th season this summer, with the likes of Karsten Warholm, Elaine Thompson-Herah and Mondo Duplantis looking to defend their titles and make 2022 another unforgettable year.
To celebrate the New Year, we’ve gone back through the Diamond League archives to pick out 20 of the most famous 22s in the history of the series.
I don’t know about you…
…but Kenny Bednarek was probably feeling 22 when he won the Diamond Trophy last September. That’s because he…err…was 22 years old, his first series title coming just over a month before his 23rd birthday. Bednarek’s win in Zurich was his third of the season, after two early-season wins in Doha and Gateshead.
Shot put hotshots
Ryan Crouser picked up his first ever Diamond Trophy last September, a Zurich meeting record of 22.67m seeing him to a comfortable win in the Diamond League Final.
It was success at the umpteenth attempt for the American Olympic champion, who had been repeatedly thwarted in previous Finals. In 2018, he came a disappointing third as New Zealand’s Tom Walsh claimed the title with a then Diamond League record of 22.60m. A year earlier, Crouser had been on course to win at the street event final in Brussels before compatriot Darrell Hill pulled out an astonishing career best of 22.44 in the final round.
It was a 22-metre throw which won the very first men’s shot put title back in 2010, Reese Hoffa landing a then meeting record of 22.16 to seal the Diamond Trophy in Brussels.
It is not just the series final which has thrown up big 22s in the shot put. Three years ago at the Prefontaine Classic, Brazilian star Darlan Romani broke a then Diamond League record with 22.61.
Sprint stars
There have also been some big 22s in the sprints. When Elaine Thompson-Herah won the 100m Diamond League Final in Zurich last September, it was her 22nd individual victory on the Diamond League circuit. That crowned a breathtaking season for the Jamaican double Olympic champion, which had begun with a victory in 22.43 at the second Gateshead meeting in July.
A total of seven male sprinters have run the 200m in exactly 20.22 seconds on the Diamond League circuit, the most recent being Yancarlos Martinez, who finished fourth in Paris last year.
In the women’s 200m, meanwhile, there have been two 22.22 performances: Shericka Jackson (London 2018) and Allyson Felix, whose second-place finish in Brussels in 2015 secured her the Diamond Trophy.
Three-time Diamond League champion Carmelita Jeter, meanwhile, is the only woman to have run exactly 22.20, a time which sealed her victory in Monaco on the way to her second title in 2011.
Two 22s to come
Looking ahead, there may be more 22s to come. Both Czech javelin veteran Barbora Spotakova and Kenyan middle distance star Timothy Cheruiyot picked up their 21st win on the Diamond League circuit last season, and both will be out to make it 22 in the summer of ’22.