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Parting Thoughts From The 2024 London Diamond League

By David Melly

July 24, 2024

With the London edition of the Diamond League circuit now in our rearview mirror, we hit pause on the glitzy invitational portion of the 2024 track season. For the next few weeks, nothing matters in athletics besides the Olympics.

But until the Diamond League circuit starts back up later in August, we’ll fill our days poring over results from London and trying to divine what they might mean for those same athletes when they make it across the Chunnel in a few weeks.

Gabby Thomas Hates Losing 200s

Something we – this newsletter, sports fans, people in general, etc. – don’t do enough is appreciate what we have until it’s gone. And in the case of Gabby Thomas, what we have is an athlete absolutely perfectly suited to their event. Sure, she can pop off a respectable or even world class time in the 100m or 400m. But to watch her over 200m is a near transcendent track and field experience.

Even after a frankly crappy start in London, she was able to summon the will and the legs over the final 50m and run down Dina Asher-Smith and Julien Alfred, the latter of whom ran a season’s best that put her in third on the year’s 200m top list. Thomas’s time – 21.82 – established a new meet record, which is incredible, because we cannot stress enough how crappy her start was. (Seriously. Watch the replay. Even knowing she’ll win, you won’t believe Thomas will win until she somehow does.)

The only thing that gives us more confidence than the world leader having a great race in their final tune-up… is her having a sort of bad one but still managing to beat some really fantastic athletes. We’re all in on Thomas at this point.

Men’s 100m Is A True Toss-Up

On the morning of the men’s 100m final in Paris, inside of Chris Chavez’s cluttered hotel room there will hang a large sheet of cardboard with a spinning arrow crudely affixed to it, serving as the team’s highly-sophisticated modeling technology for whether Kishane Thompson or Noah Lyles is the favorite.

Coming into this past weekend, even oddsmakers outside of Jamaica were beginning to favor Thompson. After winning his country’s Trials in commanding fashion in 9.77, Thompson traveled to Hungary and posted a very easy-looking 9.91 into a -0.6m/s headwind. He has been “on one,” to put things simply.

Right now, however, the arrow is pointed straight into the air, not leaning so much as a centimeter in the direction of either man. A true toss-up, after Lyles stormed to victory in a PB in London – 9.81 into a -0.3m/s headwind – we were forced to reign in our Thompson enthusiasm.

This is going to be a phenomenal race, any way you slice it. We can’t wait to overreact to how each man looks as they navigate the rounds, and probably fail to properly pay attention to any number of very viable spoiler candidates.

The Men’s 400m Looks Like a 2-3 Person Race

Two weeks ago it was Quincy Hall who broke the 44-second barrier at a Diamond League meet to rocket to the top of the world list for 2024. This past weekend it was Matthew Hudson-Smith’s turn. In front of the home crowd, MHS put about a quarter of a second on the field to set a new world lead time of 43.74.

That means there are now two men who have dipped under 44 this season. The next closest is Canadian Christopher Morales-Williams, who looks to now be feeling the fatigue of a long NCAA indoor and outdoor campaign. This isn’t to say Hall and Hudson-Smith are a lock for the top two podium spots in Paris – Olympic champ Steven Gardiner hasn’t run nearly as fast, but he also hasn’t lost a race all year. But it’s looking like it will take either a significant leap from one of the other men in the field, a falter from one of our two favorites, or some combination of the two for things to get truly shaken up.

The Men’s Shot Is Gonna Be Fun, Perhaps Unpredictable(?!)

Don’t get us wrong. Leonardo Fabbri has been having a phenomenal season. We just didn’t expect him to come out and trounce the three Americans, especially when Joe Kovacs owns the longest toss in the world this year, Ryan Crouser looked to be rounding back into top form at the U.S. Trials after an injury plagued buildup, and Payton Otterdahl had been one of the most consistent men in the ring all season.

But here we are. The Italian heaved it 22.52m in the fifth round to leapfrog past all three Americans. Each Yank only mustered three legal throws, and though Crouser didn’t foul in the sixth round, he didn’t manage to match Fabbri, let alone his own chuck from the preceding round.

Does this make Fabbri the favorite heading into Paris? We’re not ready to go there just yet. He had a strong showing, to be clear. Kovacs and Crouser also had what we assume to be off day – Crouser, in particular, logged his shortest performance in over a year. Given that the Oregonian has won the last three straight global championships, he’s probably still the favorite, but Fabbri’s threat will certainly add an element of intrigue to what could’ve been a fairly predictable event.

The UK’s 800m Stars Make a Statement

In front of a packed home stadium that can only be described as “going berserk,” Keely Hodgkinson (1:54.61), Jemma Reekie (1:55.61), and Georgia Bell (1:56.28) went 1-2-3 in commanding fashion. What a result. The top-three finishers from London also yielded the three fastest times run in the world this year.

Keely Hodgkinson wins the London Diamond League 800m in a British record of 1:54.61.Keely Hodgkinson wins the London Diamond League 800m in a British record of 1:54.61.

Keely Hodgkinson wins the London Diamond League 800m in a British record of 1:54.61. (Photo by Jacob Gower / @jacob_gower_)

Hodgkinson was already a podium – if not gold medal – favorite. Reekie is always a factor on the international stage, but this feels like a performance that announces she’s reached a new level. And Bell isn’t even racing the 800m in Paris! She’s on the 1500m squad, and now has to feel mighty confident about her chances in a kicker’s race. The third member of the UK’s 800m contingent is Phoebe Gill, who took Reekie down at the British Trials. Say what you will about the transitive property, but we’re inclined to believe Gill’s as likely a medalist as Reekie.

Non-Brits who’ve run in the 1:56-57 range this year, like Mary Moraa, Natoya Goule-Toppin, Rénelle Lamote, and Nia Akins, all should have a thing or two to say about this new presumed pecking order. A sweep is far from likely, but multiple medals – one of them gold – appears to be possible, maybe even likely.

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David Melly

David began contributing to CITIUS in 2018, and quickly cemented himself as an integral part of the team thanks to his quick wit, hot takes, undying love for the sport and willingness to get yelled at online.