On new signings, Doris Lemngole and Ezekiel Nathaniel impressed with their debut professional win at the 50th edition of the Athletissima, a 2025 Wanda Diamond League meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland on Wednesday.
Kenyan Doris Lemngole won the women’s 3000m steeplechase in heavy rain, picking up her first-ever Diamond League win with 9:16.36 ahead of Ethiopia’s Sembo Almayew, who settled for second in 9:20.39.
The target pace of 9:00.00 proved to be extremely optimistic as the athletes scamper through the downpour, but Lemngole impressed with some bold frontrunning and is rewarded with a big win.
“Running alone in the rain was tough, but I stayed focused and pushed through to the win,” said Lemngole after the race. “It wasn´t the time I hoped for, but handling adversity like this prepares me well for the rest of the season and World.”
Nigerian Ezekiel Nathaniel also won his first Diamond League race in the non-scoring men’s 400m hurdles. He had to dig deep through the downpour to secure victory in 48.08 ahead of USA’s Trevor Bassitt, who ran 48.14 in second.
Nathaniel, just like Lemngole, had recently signed a professional contract with Swiss sportwear brand On and was running his third Diamond League race of the season.
“It’s been a long season, from NCAA Indoors to Outdoors and now competing at the world stage,” said Nathaniel, who set a national record at the Wanda Diamond League in Silesia on Saturday. “I am proud of how far I have come, and how I have performed here despite the conditions. The diamond league is amazing.”
Reigning Diamond League champion Brittany Brown of the USA claimed her first win of this campaign with 22.23 in the women’s 200m. She crossed the line in 22.23 to hold off Nigeria’s Favour Ofili (22.31) and CIV’s Marie-Josée Ta Lou-Smith (22.37).
Oblique Seville won the men’s 100m. The Jamaican beats World and Olympic champion Noah Lyles for the second time in a month, and this time, it is emphatic.
Seville pulled away from the field and crossed the finish line metres ahead in 9.87 (-0.3m/s). Lyles edged Ackeem Blake to second in a photo finish with 10.02. South Africa’s Akani Simbine finished fourth with a time of 10.05.
Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi slumped to a rare defeat in the 800m. The Olympic champion is comfortable at the front of the pack as he heads into the final 300m, but he lets Marco Arop and Max Burgin sneak past him on the back straight.
However, in the final 50m, Josh Hoey kicked hard to leave all of them behind to clock his first ever Diamond League win with 1:42.82. Wanyonyi finished second in 1:43.29 ahead of Mohamed Attaoui (1:43.38) and Max Burgin (1:43.44).
Nadine Visser landed an unexpected win in the women’s 100m hurdles, clocking 12.45 for victory. The Dutch star quickly got into her stride and surged away from Olympic champion Masai Russell and world record holder Tobi Amusan from Nigeria to claim only the fourth Diamond League win of her career.
Russell came back strong in the last 10m for second in 12.53 ahead of European indoor champion Ditaji Kambundji (12.54), while Amusan settled for fifth place in 12.82.
Meet The Authors
Yomog Meje is a former Nigerian junior athlete and the Associate editor at Athletics Africa.
