As 60,000 athletics fans flocked to the London Olympic Stadium there was great anticipation in seeing some of Britain’s best going against the world elite. And wow did they deliver, with the home crowd treated to some great athletics, at the biggest Diamond League on the calendar, even if we did have to deal with the unpredictable British weather!

However before all that there was plenty for fans to get into the stadium early for, with Under 17 relays, disability and national races. There were also two 4 x 100m relays, with the likes of Dina Asher Smith and Daryll Neita going for the women, whilst the men had a quartet that included Zharnel Hughes and Jeremiah Azu. The women cruised to first, whilst the men placed second behind an impressive Jamaican team.

The Diamond League action on the track started with the women’s 400m hurdles, with the dominant Femke Bol winning in a time of 52.10s.

Quick times continued with one of the most anticipated races of the day, with an Olympic final standard of line-up on the men’s 800m. On the track where David Rudisha broke the world record 13 years ago, it was fellow countryman Emmanuel Wanyonyi who took the win, just passing Marco Arop at the line. A time of 1:42.00 got the Kenyan top spot, however I’m sure his, and many others’, eyes will be eyeing up that world record of 1:40. Great Britain’s Max Burgin ran 1:42.36 for third, making him the third fastest Brit of all time over 800m.

Ethiopia ruled the women’s 5000m, with Eisa Medina 14:30.57 for the win, however British excitement came from the promising Innes Fitzgerald, who ran a European under 20 record of 14:39.56. The nineteen year old moved to fifth fastest Brit of all time over the distance.

While these races were on the field was also providing some top class athletics which started off with the men’s long jump. Two time Olympic champion Miltiadis Tentoglou was one centre-metre behind Wayne Pinnock, with the Jamaican jumping 8.20m, after the Greek was the man who beat Pinnock to the Olympic title in Paris last summer.

Another Olympic final level lineup came from the men’s discus, with world record holder Mykolas Alekna going up against the world’s best, including Paris Olympic champion Roje Stona. The big Lithuanian did not disappoint, producing a Diamond League record of 71.70m to win by nearly three meters from Kristjan Ceh in second.

As we moved back to the track there was British interest in the women’s 800m, with 1500m Olympic bronze medalist Georgia Hunter Bell achieving her second Diamond League win this season in a time of 1:56.74. Jemma Reekie and Laura Muir also ran, finishing 6th and 10th respectively.

The British success continued in the men’s 400m with all eyes on Olympic silver medalist Matthew Hudson-Smith, with the home support hoping for a British win. They got their wish, just not from him. It came from 2024 Diamond League champion Charlie Dobson, who came late to pass the majority of the field and take the win. A personal best for the Brit of 44.14s saw him cross the line first, pipping fellow countryman Hudson-Smith, who came second.

While I’m on the subject of British winners, a great day for Morgan Lake in the high jump ended with her first ever Diamond League win. Anyone who knows her story and her struggles will understand why this win meant so much to so many and British athletics fans will be overjoyed with the result. She jumped a season best equalling 1.96m, beating world record holder and Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh. It’s a massive day for Lake and should give her so much confidence heading into Japan.

Other action in the field came from the women’s pole vault, where Molly Caudery was unable to replicate the results of some of her team mates, coming fifth with a 4.60m jump. Olivia McTaggart took the win with a personal best jump of 4.73m.

The final field event of the day was the women’s long jump, with British interest coming from Jasmine Sawyers and Katarina Johnson-Thompson. They finished 7th and 8th respectively. At the top of the table, Malaika Mihambo took the win by and just like the men’s event, she won by one centre from Italia’s Larissa Iapichino in a distance of 6.93m. The German struggled early on, but that mammoth fifth round jump leap-frogged the whole field and into top spot.

The women’s mile was flooded with records for athletes. The four laps aren’t run too much in the Diamond League so many athletes took the chance to run some fast times and that’s exactly what happened. Gudaf Tsegay produced a gutsy front-run to get the win in the second fastest time of all time, 4:11.88. The only woman faster is Faith Kipyegon after breaking the world record less than a month ago. Jess Hull followed the Ethiopian home for an area record of 4:13.68.

One of the biggest shocks of the day came from the men’s 100m with Olympic champion Noah Lyles going against 200m Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo. It turned out that neither would be the first man past the tape, as Oblique Seville surprised everybody with a 9.86s win, turning back the clock to the days of Bolt and Blake with Jamaica beating USA. Lyles followed in second and GB’s Zharnel Hughes achieved third. Tebogo finished 7th after a poor start.

The sprints continued with the women’s 200m and this time the Olympic 100m champion did come up with the goods, unlike Lyles in the men’s sprint. Julien Alfred breezed to the finish in a meeting record of 21.71s, continuing her good form this season, whilst Dina Asher Smith followed her home in second in a season’s best of 22.25s.

The final event of the day was one of the most exciting of the day and it’s the men’s 1500m. Britain’s Josh Kerr was pushed home by 60,000 fans, however he was just beaten by Phanuel Kipkosgei Koech in a meeting record of 3:28.82. The eighteen year old Kenyan has had a very promising start to the season and could be a threat come Japan and Kerr will be looking for revenge next time they meet, after he wasn’t beaten in his back garden of London.

George Mills also looked promising up until 1300m, before fading fast and ending up falling, taking Cameron Myers and Robert Farken with him. Former world champion Jake Wightman finished fourth in 3:31.58, with his first race at the Olympic Stadium since 2019.

And that ends the biggest Diamond League of the season for 2025 and what a meeting it was. Incredible performances from some of the world’s best and brilliant British wins that sent the fans home happy. British Athletics have created an unbelievable and hopefully we can see it continuing to be the biggest Diamond League of the season.

Same time next year?