Long jumpers Tajay Gayle and Wayne Pinnock and shot-putter Rajindra Campbell have eyes on spots at next week’s Wanda Diamond League final in Brussels, Belgium, after taking podium positions during the Weltklasse Zürich at Letzigrund Stadium in Switzerland.

Women’s 400m hurdles runner Rushell Clayton was among the Jamaican podium finishers at the meet that was the 14th and last stop in the series which began in May.

World record runs by Brazil’s Alison dos Santos, who clocked 45.80 seconds in the men’s 400m hurdles, and American Masai Russell, who timed 12.09 (0.0m/s) in the 100m hurdles, were the undoubted highlights of the day for the 25,000 people in attendance.

Gayle, who was ranked fifth in the Diamond League going into the meet, took second in a competitive men’s long jump with a best of 8.43m (-0.3m/s). He was just behind Greece’s Olympic Games and World Championships gold medalist who won with 8.45m (0.4m/s). Fourth-ranked Pinnock was third with 8.33m (0.4m/s).

Masai Russell (left) crosses the finish line to win and breaks the world record in the women’s 100m during the Diamond League athletics meeting at Letzigrund Stadium on Thursday. Also pictured is Ditaji Kambundji of Switzerland.

Campbell, who was ranked second, was runner-up in the men’s shot put with 22.22m. He had three throws over the 22-metre mark, while improving on his sixth-place finish in Silesia, Poland, on Sunday. American Jordan Geist threw a personal best 22.53m to win the event in Zurich. World leader Leonardo Fabbri of Italy finishing third with 22.16m, ending a run of six straight wins, including the final at the European Championships.

Clayton was third in the women’s 400m hurdles in 53.17, just edged on the line for second by the veteran Dalilah Muhammad of the United States who ran a season’s best 53.16. Another American Anna Cockrell took full advantage of a mishap by Slovakia’s Emma Zapletalova, winning with a world leading 52.13. Cockrell also broke the meet record 52.18 set by Femke Bol of the Netherlands last year.

Two-time World Athletics Championships gold medallist Danielle Williams ran 12.56 (0.0m/s) for fourth in the 100m hurdles, just ahead of compatriot Ackera Nugent (12.69). They were well-placed to witness the masterclass by Russell, who bettered the previous world record of 12.12 set by Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan at the 2022 World Championships. Amusan was second to Russell in a season’s best 12.23, with Nadine Visser of the Netherlands third in a season’s best 12.34.

Tina Clayton may have done enough to book her ticket to the Diamond League final after her fourth-place finish in the women’s 100m with 10.98 (-0.7m/s). Brianna Lyston was sixth with 11.13, while Jonielle Smith was seventh with 11.14. St Lucia’s Olympic Games champion Julien Alfred ran a national record 10.70 to win, lowering the 10.75 she set last year. American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, who was also timed in a season’s best 10.70 for second, was losing a 100m race for the first time since May 2024. Jefferson-Wooden’s compatriot Sha’Carrie Richardson was third with 10.97.

Brazil’s Alison dos Santos celebrates winning and breaking the world record in the men’s 400m hurdles during the Diamond League athletics meeting at Letzigrund Stadium on Thursday.

Lamara Distin was fourth in the women’s high jump with a season’s best equalling 1.96m, as Australia’s Nicola Olyslagers won with a season’s best 2.02m. Iryna Gerashchenko of Ukraine equalled her personal best 2.00m for second, while Marija Vukovic set a Montenegro national record 1.98m for third.

World Championships medallist Bryan Levell, who was racing for the first time in over a month, was sixth in the men’s 200m with 20.32 (-0.4m/s). Kenneth Bednarek of the United States set a world leading 19.62 to take the win, ahead of South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile (19.82), while Canada’s Andre de Grasse was third with 20.03.

Commonwealth Games champion Navasky Anderson, who was making his Diamond League debut, was seventh in the men’s 800m with 1:44.31. Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi won with a world leading 1:41.76, followed by Algerians Djamel Sedjati (1:41.83) and Slimane Moula (1:43.52).

— Paul A Reid