After two great nights of athletics in Oslo and Stockholm, the Diamond League moved for the third leg of the triple header of European meets, Paris, before heading to Eugene in early July.

Athletics returned to the city of love for the first time since last year’s Olympic Games, with the athletes wanting to continue the impressive form that many have shown over the previous European events.

The action on the track started with an impressive run from Rai Benjamin in the 400m hurdles, with the American achieving back-to-back Diamond League wins, after also winning in Stockholm. This time there was no Karsten Warholm or Alison dos Santos to challenge the American, who came through with a meeting record of 46.93s to take the victory. Abderrahman Samba pushed Benjamin all the way, with the Qatari athlete running 47.09s.

The men’s 800m provided another fast race and with no Marco Arop or Emmanuel Wanyonyi, the field was open for one of the other men to take the Diamond League victory. The win ended up in the hands of the Spaniard, Mohamed Attaoui, in a time of 1:42.73, with America’s Josh Hoey continuing his good form with a second place finish of 1:43.00. Britain’s Max Burgin again ran 1:43 for a solid fourth position.

Arguably, the performance of the night came in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, with Faith Cherotich and Peruth Chemutai putting on a show and running one of the fastest times of all time. The Kenyan came out on top in a final straight sprint and ended up with a time of 8:53, the sixth fastest time of all-time.

The men’s 110m hurdles saw some fast times, but not by the American that you may think. It was Trey Cunningham who ran a Personal Best equalling 13.00s for first, with fellow countryman Dylan Beard right behind him in a Personal best time of 13.02s. Jason Joseph equalled the Swiss national record of 13.07s for third, however the big shock was seeing the Olympic Champion, Grant Holloway, in fifth. 

Though this result might have been expected in the American’s camp, with the indoor world record holder coming back from injury that has frustrated him since April. However, with a late World Championships this year, Holloway still has time to get himself back to his best before the major races take place.

The Paris crowd was in for a treat when the women’s 400m came around, as the two best athletes in the world, Marileidy Paulino and Eid Salwa Naser, were going head-to-head in an enticing race. However, it was the athlete from the Dominican Republic who came through, just pipping Naser to the win. The time was 48.81s for a new meeting record.

Home favourite Azeddine Habz produced something really special in the men’s 1500m. The Frenchman won the race to the delight of the home faithful, whilst also running a

meeting record, world lead and national record of 3:27.49. Young Kenyan Koech broke the world under 20 record with a time of 3:27.72 for second and Britain’s George Mills ran 3:28.36, which is only second to Josh Kerr in the British all time rankings. What a race.

Other results on the track included a gutsy run from Yomif Kejelcha in the men’s 5000m, who was on for a world record at one point, however dramatically slowed with two to go, but the Ethiopian still took the win.

Grace Stark took the win in a quick 100m hurdles, with the American running 12.21s for a meeting record and Personal Best. She was followed home by world record holder Tobi Amusan, who ran 12.24s, her quickest run for a couple of years.

The final race of the night was won by Nelly Chepchirchir in the women’s 1500m, running 3:57.02. Sarah Healy ran a Personal Best of 3:57.15 for second.

There was plenty of action on the field as well, with the standout performance being from Nicola Olyslagers in the women’s high jump. The Australian beat her rival and Olympic Champion, Yaroslava Mahuchikh, to take the win in a height of 2.00m.

The women’s pole vault was dominated by America. Katie Moon triumphed over fellow American Sandi Morris, with both jumping 4.73m and the Olympic silver medallist winning on countback. Emily Grove was third in a jump of 4.63m, before being unable to match her country counterparts.

Valaire Allman proved once again why she is such a champion. The American waited until the last throw to produce her biggest, moving her into top spot right at the death. Definitely the sign of a champion, throwing 67.56m to win it.

Finally, Neeraj Chopra again proved his quality, beating a world class javelin field with a distance of 88.16m

Another exciting and successful Diamond League in Paris comes to an end, with athletics’ best moving to Eugene, America, next.

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