Botswana’s Busang Collen Kebinatshipi stole the spotlight at the Meeting de Paris, storming to victory in the men’s 400 metres and setting a blazing new meet record of 43.54 seconds.
The 22-year-old sprinter dominated the one-lap event, holding off world-class competition including Great Britain’s Matthew Hudson-Smith, who finished fourth. The exceptional performance adds massive momentum to Kebinatshipi’s season as regional athletes fine-tune their form ahead of upcoming major championships.
The track action at Stade Charléty was heavily modified due to dangerous weather conditions. Extreme heat forced organisers to adapt the schedule, cancelling all amateur and secondary events to allow only the professional fields to go ahead.
The high-temperature conditions did not slow down the middle-distance fields. In the men’s 800 metres, Canada’s Marco Arop claimed a dominant victory in a world-leading time of 1:41.84, while Britain’s Ben Pattison crossed the line in fourth.
The women’s 1500 metres saw a three-way battle at the finish line. Great Britain’s Georgia Hunter Bell powered to her second Diamond League victory of the season, clocking a season’s best time of 3:55.63. She narrowly held off a fierce challenge from Ethiopia’s Freweyni Hailu, who finished a close second in 3:55.92, while local favourite Agathe Guillemot of France secured third in 3:56.24.
–ChannelAfrica–
