Three tries and three wins, that’s the Diamond League results so far this year for Kendra Harrison and Christian Taylor as both kept up their winning ways without too much pressure from second place this weekend. Harrison led a 1-2-3 American top three in the 100m hurdles, the fourth straight time this year the US has swept the top three, as Nia Ali and Queen Harrison both had season best finishes. It’s starting to look like the three Olympic medalists might be decided in Eugene in the US Olympic trials. The US didn’t go 1-2-3 in the triple jump but Chris Carter and Chris Bernard did give the US three of the top four with their third and fourth place finishes.

Those were the only winners for the US but a few other athletes did have good finishes. Kerron Clement finished second in the 400m hurdles as Michael Tinsley pulled up before the final 100m and did not finish and Berhsawn Jackson was DQd. The US took second and third in the long jump as Brittney Reese and Tianna Bartoletta both had strong finishes. Dentarius Locke was the lone American in the 100m and finished fourth missing out on a top three spot on a photo finish. Other Americans finishes included: Charonda Williams (7th in the 200m) and Stephanie Garcia (10th in the 3000m steeplechase).

The next Diamond League event will be after the US Olympic Trials in Monaco on July 15th. The US Olympic Trials are July 1st-10th in Eugene, Oregon.

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Stockholm Preview

Two US athletes will be looking to win their third titles in their respective events as the Diamond League moves to Stockholm Thursday. Kendra Harrison has already set American and Diamond League records in the 100m hurdles while winning in Eugene and Birmingham. She’ll look to make it three in three tries on Thursday after having not participated in the race in Oslo last week. Christian Taylor also did not compete in Oslo, in the triple jump, but won the event in both Doha and Eugene to start the year. Michael Tinsley is also going for a third win this year, in the 400m hurdles, but Tinsley has the distinction of having gone for the same feat last week and finishing third in Oslo. Tinsley is joined in the field by Kerron Clement who was second in Eugene and Bershawn Jackson who was third in Eugene.

Dentarius Locke is the lone American in the 100m after grabbing third in Oslo last week. Brittney Reese (first in Eugene) and Tianna Bartoletta (third in Shanghai) will give the US two of the top competitors in the long jump.

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Oslo Recap

US athletes won a pair of events on Thursday at the Diamond League in Oslo, one on the track and one in the field. Brianna Rollins added to a stellar year in the 100m hurdles as she won for the first time this season. Her previous two finishes had been in second place right behind American record holder Kendra Harrison who was not competing in this event. Even without Harrison the US was able to go 1-2-3 as Dawn Harper-Nelson posted a season best time and a season best finish in second while Jasmin Stowers was third for the second time this year. Also winning for the US was Joe Kovacs in the shot put. Kovacs has now won the last two shot put contests after coming in third in Shanghai to start the year.

For the first time this year Michael Tinsley didn’t win the 400m hurdles. Going for his third straight win Tinsley was only third as the two in front of him posted season best times. Kerron Clement finished right behind Tinsley for the second straight event. Natasha Hastings on the other hand improved her finish for the first time this year in the 400m jumping up to second after two previous third place finishes.

In the 100m the US was missing two-time winner Justin Gatlin but Michael Rodgers nearly kept the title in America losing by just 0.02 seconds. The US had all of the top four spots other than first as Dentarius Locke and Ameer Webb rounded out the top four with Locke tying a season best time. Tianna Bartoletta finished fourth in the long jump while Chris Bernard and Omar Craddock went fourth and fifth in the triple jump. One other US competitor was Whitney Ashley, seventh in the discus throw.

The next Diamond League event is in Stockholm next Thursday.

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Oslo Preview

Not all of the top American athletes are competing in Oslo on Thursday (namely Kendra Harrison and Justin Gatlin) but one who will be there is Michael Tinsley. The 400m hurdles competitor won the event the first two times it was contested earlier this year, in Shanghai and in Eugene, and will be going for three in Oslo. The man who finished right behind him in Eugene, Kerron Clement, will also be taking part. The only other American competing in Oslo who has won an event in the Diamond League so far this season is Joe Kovacs in the shot put. In addition to winning in Eugene Kovacs took third in Shanghai.

Other contenders for the US include Omar Craddock (third in triple jump in Eugene), Tianna Bartoletta (third in long jump in Shanghai), Brianna Rollins (second in 100m hurdles in Eugene and Birmingham), Jasmin Stowers (third in 100m hurdles in Eugene), Natasha Hastings (third in 400m in Shanghai and Eugene), and Michael Rodgers (third in the 100m in Shanghai).

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Birmingham Recap

Last week in Eugene Kendra Harrison set a new American record and a new Diamond League record in the 100m hurdles. This week in Birmingham, England she only set a new meet record with a time of 12.46. After leading an all-American top five last week Harrison was only the first of four Americans atop the standings this time. Brianna Rollins was once again in second place but this time third place went to Kristi Castlin and fourth went to Dawn Harper-Nelson, up from eighth in Eugene and posting a season best time. Harrison wasn’t the only American to win for the second time in the Diamond League this year as Tia Brooks rebounded in the shot put with a personal best 19.73m to win after a fifth place finish in Rome. Jillian Camarena-Williams was fifth for the US.

Marquise Goodwin got his first win of the year in the long jump with an 8.42m jump that bested fellow American Michael Hartfield. Goodwin has now gone third-second-first over the last three meets. Another first time winner was Cassandra Tate, who had been second in the 400m hurdles in Rabat but finished fourth in that event in Rome. Tate’s season best time of 54.57 just barely won on a photo finish. The top two were followed by Georganne Moline and Dalilah Muhammad as they finished third and fourth. Another improved finish for the US came from English Gardner in the 100m. Gardner was second in Rome but jumped up to win this week posting the same top time of 11.02 in both a heat and the final. Tianna Bartoletta was third for the US in the event.

Sean McLean finished third in the 200m for his first top three finish of the year and Ameer Webb couldn’t grab his third top-two finish as he came in fifth. Vernon Norwood also finished a season best third in the 400m while Erik Sowinski did the same with a personal best in a non-Diamond League 600m race. Another non-Diamond League race that was held was a 100m race that didn’t feature Justin Gatlin but did see Michael Rodgers finish second with fellow Americans McLean and Isiah Young in fourth and fifth. Erik Kynard finished second for the second straight time in the high jump as a season best jump of 2.35m was only good enough for second.

In the pole vault Katie Nageotte finished sixth clearing 4.50m. Sixth was also where Brittany Borman finished in the javelin throw. Rodney Brown was slightly better finishing fifth in the discus throw while Chanelle Price was another sixth place finisher in the 800m despite a season best performance.

The next Diamond League event will be Thursday in Oslo with another in Stockholm a week later. That will wrap up the initial eight events in six weeks portion of the Diamond League with just six more remaining. There will be two in July, three in an eight day span to end August and begin September, and then one last one in Brussels September 9th.

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Birmingham Preview

As the Diamond League heads to Birmingham, England attention will turn to Kendra Harrison who competes in the 100m hurdles on Sunday. Harrison set a new Diamond League record last week in Eugene and leads a field that features two of the other Americans who finished as part of an all-USA top five that day. Brianna Rollins was the closest to Harrison and is back along with Nia Ali who finished fourth. Other previous winners competing in Birmingham will be Ameer Webb in the 200m, Tia Brooks in the shot put, and Erik Kynard in the high jump. All three won in Doha but have been beaten since then. In the shot put Brooks will also have to compete against Brittany Smith, third in Rabat.

Other previous top-three finishers who will be competing in Birmingham include Cassandra Tate, second in the 400m hurdles in Rabat, and Marquise Goodwin, already with a third and second place finish in his two long jump competitions so far this year.

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Rome Recap

Justin Gatlin continued his hot start to the 2016 Diamond League winning the 100m for the third straight event as he posted a season best time of 9.93, besting fellow American Ameer Webb by just 0.01 seconds. Webb himself set a personal best in the event. Gatlin was the only American to win an event in Rome but there were some other good finishes for the US. Marquise Goodwin had a season best second place finish in the long jump as he continues to round into form before the Olympic Trials. Michael Hartfield finished fifth in the same event. Webb also finished strong in the second event he took part in, a second place finish in the 200m to match his 100m finish. Going second and third in the women’s 100m were English Gardner and Barbara Pierre.

Also finishing in the top five were Vernon Norwood, fifth in the 400m, Cassandra Tate, fourth in the 400m hurdles, Stanley Kipkoech Kebenei, fifth in the 3000m steeplechase with a personal best, Katie Nageotte, fifth in the pole vault, and Tia Brooks, fifth in the shot put. Ajee Wilson was 11th in the 800m and Brittany Borman also finished 11th in the javelin throw.

The next Diamond League event is in Birmingham, England on Sunday.

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Rome Preview

Justin Gatlin has been one of the stars of the Diamond League so far this year winning the 100m in both Shanghai and Eugene to start the year. Gatlin will lead a large US contingent in Rome as he goes for his third straight win in the event in a field that may see his best challenger be fellow American Ameer Webb. Webb himself will be looking to back up his 200m win in Doha when he runs in that event. Another American looking to defend a previous win is Tia Brooks who won the shot put in Doha and did not participate in the event in Rabat. Over in the women’s 400m hurdles Cassandra Tate already has two top-five finishes including a second place finish in Rabat, while Marquise Goodwin is coming off a third place long jump finish in Rabat.

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Eugene Recap

A strong second day of the Diamond League event in Eugene, Oregon featured seven more Americans winning events and giving the US nine overall winners in the two day event. Several of the winners, including Christian Taylor in the triple jump, won for the second time this season. Taylor’s jump of 17.76m was a world leading mark and also a meet record. Will Claye’s season best 17.56m and Omar Craddock made it an American sweep of the top three spots. Michael Tinsley in the 400m hurdles was another one winning for the second straight event. Followed closely by Kerron Clement and Bershawn Jackson all three registered season best marks in another American sweep of the top three spots. The final American to win his second event of the year was Justin Gatlin in the 100m. Gatlin was the only one to break 9.9 and beat Asafa Powell of Jamaica by 0.06 seconds with a time of 9.88. Tyson Gay finished third in his first Diamond League race of the year. Michael Rodgers was fourth, just 0.01 seconds behind Gay, to follow up his third place finish from Shanghai.

The highlight of the day though was probably Kendra Harrison dominating the 100m hurdles and setting a new American and Diamond League record of 12.24. Harrison led five Americans who topped the event (six of the eight in the field were Americans). Season best times led to second, third, and fourth place finishes for Brianna Rollins, Jasmin Stowers, and Nia Ali. Shakira Nelvis was the fifth American in the top five. It was the same six-of-eight-are-Americans story in the 200m and Tori Bowie won with a world leading time for her first win of the year. Jenna Prandini had a season best time in fourth while Joanna Atkins rounded out the top five.

Also grabbing his first win, in the 800m, was Borris Berian who posted a season best time as he held off three competitors less than a second behind him. The final winner was Chaunte Lowe who grabbed her first win of the year in the high jump as the only one to clear 1.95m. Vashti Cunningham was fifth as part of a group of five jumpers who cleared 1.92m but no higher.

Francena McCorory took second in the 400m with a season best time and Natasha Hastings posted a season best of her own to finish third. In the 3000m steeplechase Emma Coburn set a new American record of 9:10.76 but finished third as Ruth Jebet of Bahrain set a new Diamond League record at 8:59.57. Leah O’Connor put up a personal best time to finish sixth. Sam Kendricks was unable to follow up on his pole vault win from Shanghai with another first place finish but did manage to finish third in the event.

The other events failed to provide top three American finishers but still had some good results. Jenny Simpson had a season best time and a season best finish of fourth in the 1500m. It was fifth in the javelin throw for Cyrus Hostetler and sixth in the 5000m for Hassan Mead.

The next Diamond League event will be Thursday in Rome.

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Eugene Preview
Eugene Day One Update

The first day of the Diamond League event in Eugene, Oregon saw two Americans grab first place in the three events contested. Joe Kovacs won the shot put for the first time this year with a world leading 22.13m after a third place finish in Shanghai. The Americans went first-third just like in Shanghai but this time Reese Hoffa jumped up to third. Jordan Clarke and Ryan Crouser finished fifth and sixth. The other victory for the US came in the women’s long jump where Brittney Reese had a season best performance and grabbed the top spot. Janay Deloach finished sixth in the event to give the US two in the top six for the second straight contest. Finally in the discus throw Whitney Ashley did improve from her sixth place finish in Shanghai but her 62.03m throw was only good enough for fifth.

Saturday will feature the rest of the events including previous winners Justin Gatlin in the 100m, Michael Tinsley in the 400m hurdles, Sam Kendricks in the pole vault, and Christian Taylor in the triple jump. The other previous top three finishers who will be in the field are Michael Rodgers in the 100m (third in Shanghai) and Natasha Hastings in the 400m (third in Shanghai).

Previous Diamond League Coverage:
Eugene Preview