Rudisha back to his best at Sainsbury’s Glasgow Grand Prix

The grand finale of a great weekend’s athletics at the Sainsbury’s Glasgow Grand Prix was a fitting end to meet nine of the fourteen meet Diamond League season, as David Rudisha returned to his usual dominant self with a commanding 800m victory.

The Kenyan made his intentions clear from the gun, settling in behind the pacemaker, and as they passed 400m in a touch under 50 seconds, he already had a lead over the rest of the field. This continued to grow throughout the second lap as the Olympic champion and world record holder took victory in 1.43.34 to equal the world lead. This was Rudisha’s first race in the UK since his record breaking exploits at the London 2012, and afterwards he commented:

“I’m happy – I’m getting back into shape and I expected to run a season’s best time despite the conditions not being the best for a perfect time.”

“It’s a great feeling to come here to test the field and the track ahead of the Commonwealth Games so it’s a great experience for me. I will be looking for another good race there; the track is fast and with good weather and perfect everything, it could be another good run. The Glasgow people have been great cheering us on and I love that support, it’s fantastic.”

The pick of the day’s field events was arguably the men’s triple jump, where Olympic champion Christian Taylor overhauled Diamond Race leader Will Claye with the final jump of the competition. Taylor, who still trails Claye in the Diamond Race after this meeting, hopped, stepped and jumped his way to a crowd pleasing 17.37, with Claye settling for second with 17.27.

“It’s nice to get the win” said Taylor post meet. “It’s been a long time coming. I started off slow but my aim’s always to jump over 17 metres as consistently as I can. It was a good competition between me and Will, and I just wanted to put on a good show. I’m now excited to compete in Monaco and then in London at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games.”

Dutch multi-eventing sensation Dafne Schippers had a day that she’ll remember for a long time to come, setting national records over both 100m and 200m with 11.03 and 22.34 clockings respectively. She won the 100m ‘B’ race early in the programme, but it was the 200m where she really showed her class, beating a world class field to secure maximum Diamond League points. That victory came over Allyson Felix and Blessing Okagbare, with GB & NI’s Jodie Williams setting an impressive 22.60 personal best in fourth.

The women’s 3000m steeplechase saw another thrilling final lap, as Hiwot Ayalew and Emma Coburn fought tooth and nail over the final 400m, with the Ethopian needing a world lead and meeting record to beat the American. Coburn was still pleased with second though, as her 9.11.42 clocking, to Ayalew’s 9.10.64, was a new American record.

Queen Harrison continued her good form in the women’s 100m hurdles, beating a stellar field with a 12.58 clocking. Her compatriot Lolo Jones took second in 12.68, with Olympic champion Sally Pearson third in 12.87 on her return from a hamstring injury. GB & NI’s Tiffany Porter was one thousandth further back in fourth.

There was a surprise winner in the men’s javelin as Germany’s Thomas Rohler threw a massive lifetime best of 86.99m to push Diamond Race leader Vitezslav Vesely into second, with his best effort being 85.23m. There were routine Diamond League victories for Diamond Race leaders Fabiana Murer, who cleared 4.65m in the women’s pole vault, and Blanka Vlasic, who went over 1.96m in the women’s high jump.

In the non-Diamond League events, there were world class times in the women’s 800m and men’s 1500m, where Ajee Wilson and Silas Kiplagat took victory in 1.59.68 and 3.32.84 respectively. Both races contained a handful of Commonwealth Games bound Scottish athletes, with Chris O’Hare and Jake Wightman setting new 1500m personal bests of 3.35.06 and 3.35.49 in fifth and sixth.

Like on Friday there was a very popular GB & NI 4x100m victory, with a male quartet of Richard Kilty, Harry Aikines-Aryeety, James Ellington and Danny Talbot combining to win easily in 38.39.

There were also three Paralympic events included in the programme, with double world and Paralympic champion Hannah Cockroft the most convincing winner, speeding out the blocks to establish an early lead, winning the T34 100m in 18.06.

The men’s T44 100m more than lived up to expectations as Great Britain & Northern Ireland’s Paralympic champion Jonnie Peacock battled to the line against US world record holder and rival Richard Browne. With a great start out the blocks, Peacock had the edge on the American, but with 40m remaining Browne pushed hard and dipped over the line to win with a season’s best 10.96. Peacock, who also clocked a season’s best one hundredth of a second behind, can’t wait for the pair to go head-to-head in London in a week’s time at the Sainsbury’s Anniversary Games.

“Today was a great competition and it was great to come down and compete in such a cool stadium and one that is going to be used for the Commonwealth Games. Congratulations to Richard Browne for beating me. Hopefully next weekend at the Anniversary Games, I’ll be able to take that back. It’s always great to race him, we’ve got a really great rivalry and it brings out the best in both of us.”

Paralympic silver medallist and Scotland’s Commonwealth Games hopeful Libby Clegg was the best of the Brits in the women’s 100m T11-13, clocking a season’s best 12.40 as she clinched third place after a strong finish from Germany’s Katrin Mueller and South Africa’s Ilse Hayes.