Pole Vault
Renaud Lavillenie is the undisputed King of the Diamond League, having won six Diamond Race titles before the beginning of this season. It looked like this could be Lavillenie’s toughest campaign yet, however, when Sam Kendricks beat him in Doha on the opening night.
The Frenchman isn’t a champion for nothing, however, and he stormed back into contention with victories in Eugene, Oslo and Stockholm.
A home win in Paris followed Olympic disappointment, and Lavillenie was able to wrap up his seventh Diamond Trophy with a win in Zürich. He remains the only athlete to have won the competition in every year since its inauguration in 2010.
This man is already well acquainted with the #DiamondTrophy , but had another 20 minutes with it at the #StockholmDL press conference yesterday. @airlavillenie #DiamondTrophyTour
In the women’s pole vault, Greece had celebrated in 2015 after Nikoleta Kiriakopoulou narrowly secured the Diamond Trophy. The Greeks had more to cheer about this year, as Katerina Stefanidi stormed to victory in a dominant season.
Though she lost out to Sandi Morris in both the opening and closing nights of the season, four wins in Rabat, Rome, Monaco and London were enough to ensure that Stefanidi kept the women’s pole vault Diamond Trophy in Greek hands for another year.
High Jump
What a year it has been for Ruth Beitia. Crowned Olympic champion in August, the Spaniard also managed to defend her Diamond Race title from 2015.
Beitia was conspicuous by her absence in the opening two rounds of the Diamond Race, but from the moment she notched up her first victory in Oslo, there was no stopping the experienced high jumper.
She moved on to win in Stockholm, London, Paris and Zürich, eventually winning by a whopping 36 points.