Richard Thompson sprints to Norway glory


The Trinidad and Tobago sprinter registered his first points of the season with a time of 10.02 seconds on Wednesday, which sees him leap to within four of leader Justin Gatlin.

Jimmy Vicaut could have moved even closer to the American had he crossed the line in first place, but the Frenchman was 0.02 seconds too slow and now sits fourth.

Great Britain’s Adam Gemili picked up the single point for third.

Ayanleh Souleiman of Djibouti claimed the spoils in the traditional Dream Mile to move a point clear of Kenya’s Silas Kiplagat at the top of the men’s 1500m standings.

Experienced Dutch pacemaker Bram Som made the early running, before Geoffrey Rono made a break for the front.

Rono then dropped out with a lap to go, prompting Souleiman to push hard and cross the line in three minutes and 49.49 seconds, ahead of Nick Willis and Homiyu Tesfaye.

Fourth-placed Henrik Ingebrigtsen set a new national record for Norway with a time of three minutes and 50.72 seconds.

Olympic 200m champion Allyson Felix continued her recovery from an injury-plagued 2013 by topping the timesheets in Norway.

The three-time world champion was crowned IAAF World Athlete of the Year in 2012, only to be severely hampered by a hamstring problem last year.

However, the American was relatively comfortable in beating Great Britain’s Jodie Williams to the maximum four points, which see her go second in the overall standings.

World and Olympic decathlon champion Ashton Eaton’s development as a 400m hurdler continued as he posted a time of 49.16 seconds to beat a field of event specialists to the finish line.

The American was making his first appearance in the event at a Diamond League fixture, though the race did not count towards the competition’s standings.

Elsewhere, Pascal Martinot-Lagarde posted a world lead time of 13.12 seconds as he extended his lead in the men’s 110m hurdles, while Yenew Alamirew stretched his advantage in the men’s 5,000m.

In the field events, Kenya’s Julius Yego missed out on javelin glory by just a centimetre to Tero Pitkamaki of Finland – both athletes posting a season’s best – while Tianna Bartoletta set a world-leading distance of 7.02m to win the women’s long jump.

Olympic triple jump champion Christian Taylor showed signs of a return to form by registering a season’s best of 17.15m, finishing second to compatriot Will Claye.

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