Diamond League: Dina Asher-Smith edges 200m win before world title defence

Diamond League: Dina Asher-Smith edges 200m win before world title defence

Great Britain's Dina Asher-Smith held on to claim a morale-boosting 200m win in the Diamond League on Thursday.

But Asher-Smith, 26, ran 22.364 seconds in Stockholm to edge out Switzerland's Mujinga Kambundji (22.367).

Lorraine Ugen was GB's other winner in the Swedish capital, with a season's best of 6.81m in the women's long jump.

That was enough to finish ahead of Ukraine's Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk (6.76m) and Sweden's Khaddi Sagnia (6.74).

Denmark's Ida Karstoft (22.90) was third in the women's 200m, as Asher-Smith claimed her first win over the distance in 2022, having previously come third at the Diamond League events in Doha and Rome.

Fellow Tokyo 2020 medallist Keely Hodgkinson came second in the women's 800m, with Kenya's Mary Moraa winning in a time of 1 minute 57.68 seconds.

Hodgkinson, the 2021 Diamond League champion, ran 1:58.18, while Australia's Catriona Bisset was third in 1:58.54.

With Olympic champion Marcell Jacobs a late withdrawal for the 100m, Britain's Reece Prescod also had to settle for second place after running 10.15, with South Africa's Akani Simbine taking the win (10.02) and Jimmy Vicaut of France third (10.19).

Olympic champion Armand Duplantis gave the home crowd something to cheer as the Swede won the men's pole vault with 6.16m - an outdoor world record.

The record came on his second attempt and bettered by 1cm his previous outdoor best, set in Rome in September 2020.

The 22-year-old Olympic champion holds the overall world record of 6.20m, set at the world indoor championships in Belgrade in March.

On the outdoor record, Stockholm-based Duplantis said it felt "quite amazing... but really wasn't that much of a surprise for me".

"There's better things that I can do," he added. "I felt really good jumping today but it wasn't like I did everything so perfect that I don't think I can do any better.

"It's extra special when you're jumping on the track where you train. I live about 10 minutes away so you want to defend your home territory first and foremost."

Elsewhere, Brazil's Olympic bronze medallist Alison dos Santos won the men's 400m hurdles in a world-leading time of 46.80.

India's Olympic javelin champion Neeraj Chopra threw a national record of 89.94m, but still finished behind Anderson Peters of Grenada (90.31m).

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