SA athletes sparkle in Diamond League

ZURICH: Luvo Manyonga and Caster Semenya were in top form last night, adding IAAF Diamond League series crowns to the world titles they recently won in London.

Long jumper Manyonga and middle-distance runner Semenya both won their specialist disci- plines at the first of two finals in the Diamond League series in Zurich, Switzerland.

Semenya, who lifted the Diamond League season crown last year, secured another convincing victory in the 800m Women’s race, crossing the line in 1:55.84.

Perennial rival, Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi again finished second, completing the two-lap battle in 1:56.71, with Kenyan Margaret Wambui bouncing back to form with a personal best of 1:56.87 in third place.

Manyonga was equally dominant, holding off countryman Ruswahl Samaai, who grabbed second spot.

Samaai took the early lead with a leap of 8.14m in the first round, but Manyonga moved in front in round two with a jump of 8.31m.

Manyonga went on to extend his advantage with a fourthround effort of 8.49m, while Samaai also improved to 8.31m to settle for the runner-up spot.

Former Olympic silver medallist, Khotso Mokoena ended ninth, reaching 7.13m with his only legal attempt.

Manyonga joins Mokoena and Semenya as the only South Africans to have won Diamond League titles.

Akani Simbine stormed to sixth place in the 100m Men’s sprint in 10.10, while in the 400m Hurdles LJ van Zyl (49.92) and 400m, sprinter Pieter Conradie (46.45) settled for seventh position. In the 400m Women’s Hurdles, Wenda Nel finished sixth in 55.86.

Former world champion, Zuzana Hejnova of the Czech Republic won the contest in 54.13.

The 14th and final leg of the series, which will incorporate the season deciders in 16 remaining disciplines, will be held in Brussels, Belgium, on September 1.