Wanda Diamond League champions Femke Bol and Noah Lyles made history once again at the World Championships in Tokyo this week.
Bol won gold in the women’s 400m hurdles, clocking a world lead of 51.54 to defend the title she first won in 2023.
Lyles, meanwhile, stormed to his fourth successive world title in the men’s 200m, equalling a record held by a certain Usain Bolt.
Their victories came as no surprise after another dominant and record-breaking season from both athletes in the Wanda Diamond League this year.
Bol hits 30
Few athletes have dominated track and field’s premier one-day circuit like Bol in recent years, and 2025 was another milestone season for the Dutch Diamond League legend.
The 25-year-old headed into this campaign with an unbeaten streak of 24 Diamond League victories and four successive series titles.
She opened her season in typically brilliant form, cruising to meeting records in Rabat and Stockholm before a stunning world lead of 51.95 in Monaco.
After another win in London, she improved her world lead even further in Silesia with an astonishing 51.91 before setting her sights on the Diamond Trophy.
Victory was never in doubt at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich, with Bol gliding to an impressive 52.10 to take her 30th Diamond League win and extend her title hegemony to an impressive five years.
That win made her the joint most successful female track athlete in Diamond League history, drawing level with Jamaican sprint legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Kenyan distance legend Faith Kipyegon on five titles.
All of which was the perfect preparation for Tokyo, where she added another world lead and another World Championships gold medal to her list of achievements.
Lyles smashes six
With his triumph in Tokyo, US sprint sensation Lyles further inked his name into the World Athletics history books.
Having equalled Bolt’s record of four titles, he immediately set his sights on going one better in 2027.
“I can’t wait for 2027 to become the only man to win five 200m titles,” he said.
Lyles has made a habit of hamstering more titles than any other athlete and in 2025, he celebrated another milestone with his sixth Diamond Trophy.
After missing much of the early season due to injury, Lyles returned to Diamond League action with a statement win over Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo in Monaco in July.
Even a handful of narrow defeats in the 100m couldn’t dampen his spirits, and he arrived at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Zurich in high spirits.
He showed exactly why on the track, clocking 19.74 to beat Tebogo again – this time by a fraction of a second – and regain the Diamond League title he had last held in 2022.
It was Lyles’ sixth Diamond Trophy, making him the most successful track athlete in the series’ history.
