Nafi Thiam participated for the first time in the Diamond League meeting in Birmingham. Thiam was entered in the Long Jump to anticipate on her duel with Briton Katharina Johnson-Thompson in the Heptahtlon at the World Championships. Ahead of the meeting this duel was presented as one of the highlights of the Birmingham meeting and – my God – Thiam lived up to the expectations and she did even more than that. She was just outstanding ! In her second attempt Thiam floated to 6,74m to take the lead in the competition while improving her national record by 7cm.
Thiam showed great form and knocked out pre event favourite Ivana Spanovic from Serbia by sailing to massive 6,86m in the third round. Her national record had gone again and what is more : Thiam now ranks 9th in the world in that event. She has now qualified for the World Championships and for the Olympic games in both the individual High Jump and Long Jump events which is unprecedented in recent athletics history. As a multi eventer Thiam won a Diamond League meeting in the Long Jump, leaving Spanovic and Johnson-Thompson behind in second and third by just 1cm. Spanovic is the reigning World Indoor Champion and already won Olympic and World bronze medals.
A world class field gathered in the Women’s 200m. Shaunae Miller-Uibo from the Bahamas emerged as a winner in 22,24. The 400m is Miller-Uibo’s favourite distance, but regarding her dominance on the lower distance she may well double at the World Championships in Doha. Miller-Uibo said that she still has to make up her mind and decide what is the best for her. Dina Asher-Smith (22,36), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (22,50), Dafne Schippers (22,81), Blessing Okagbare (22,83) and Marie-Josée Ta Lou (24,18) were defeated by the tall Bahamian. Jamaican Elaine Thompson did not compete in Birmingham.
Weather conditions with gusty winds and rain hampered performances on the track. Still two meeting records were broken. Konstanze Klosterhalfen set a national record for Germany and a meeting record on the Mile: 4:21.11. World record holder Beatrice Chepkoech cruised to a meeting record of 9:05.55 in the 3,000m steeple.
<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QezR27o3hlY" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
