Lausanne Diamond League - Athletissima Just a Preview of IAAF World Outdoor Championships

By Adam Kopet, DyeStat Editor

The Lausanne Diamond League - Athletissima took place July 6 in Lausanne, Switzerland. Here are the five takeaways from the meet.

1. Wayde Van Niekerk of South Africa Makes it Look Easy

After Van Niekerk ran the 300-meter world best last week in Ostrava, it was clear he was in shape this season. On Thursday, he put any doubts to rest.

Van Niekerk closed the stagger on the field over the first 300 meters of the race. Entering the homestretch, he was even with Isaac Makwala of Botswana. But no one could stay with Van Niekerk as he pulled away to win in 43.62. That is a world lead, meet record and Diamond League record.

This was Van Niekerk's third-fastest 400 ever. His two faster marks came at the 2015 IAAF World Outdoor Championships and last year's Olympic Games, the latter of which is a world record.

The exciting part is that Van Niekerk is in better shape than he was at this time last year. If the trend of his previous two seasons continues, we could see the world record go under 43 seconds. Van Niekerk has one more race planned before the World Championships next month.

2. Meet Records Galore in Lausanne

There were eight meet records broken in Lausanne. Van Niekerk's run will be most remembered and several others will be mentioned below, but still there were more.

Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia broke the meet record in the mile and also collected an en route 1,500 time. Her winning mile time was 4:16.05. She came through the 1,500 in 3:57.82, good for No. 3 on the world list this year. Dibaba won by nine seconds.

Keeping with the theme of Ethiopian distance runners, Muktar Edris broke the meet record in the 5,000 meters. He ran 12:55.23, taking five seconds off the world leading time. Right behind Edris was 17-year old Selemon Barega in 12:55.58. That makes him the No. 2 U18 athlete of all-time and No. 11 U20 all-time.

The field events came up big in Lausanne and one of those was the women's javelin. Sara Kolak of Croatia, the Olympic champion from Rio, threw a big personal best of 224-6 (68.43m) on her final throw to win.

3. Mariya Lasitskene Attempts World Record in High Jump

Lasitskene dominated the competition in Lausanne like she has all season. The Russian, competing as a neutral athlete while the Russian Athletics Federation is suspended because of state sponsored doping, easily won the women's high jump.

After winning the competition with a second attempt clearance at 6-5 (1.96m), Lasitskene raised the bar to 6-7 (2.01m). She cleared that on her first attempt. Then the bar went to 6-9 (2.06m) -- a personal best height above the meet and Diamond League records. Lasitskene did it on her second attempt.

That was when Lasitskene raised the bar to 6-10.75 (2.10m). The world record is 6-10.25 (2.09m), held by Stefka Kostadinova of Bulgaria from 1987. Lasitskene's best of three attempts was her second, but she did not clear. However, she remains the clear favorite for gold in London next month.

4. Sam Kendricks Continues His Diamond League Winning Ways

Kendricks came into Lausanne with three Diamond League wins to his name this season. On Thursday he made it four. He won with a clearance of 19-5.5 (5.93m), the second best of his career and a new meet record.

This time Kendricks had a little company at the top. Renaud Levillenie of France cleared a season's best 19-3 (5.87m) as he continues to recover from a winter injury. This was the first time Lavillenie used a full approach.

The big surprise came from Pawel Wojciechowski who also cleared 19-5.5, but he finished second to Kendricks on count back, having more misses. It was a personal best and first time over 19-4 since 2011.

Both he and Kendricks passed the next height, moving the bar to 19-9.25 (6.03m). Wojciechowski took all three of his jumps, missing on all three, however, Kendricks appeared to stay in the competition, but did not take any further jumps. Thus Kendricks' card included two fouls at 19-9.25, but he never attempted the height.

While Kendricks has continued to win against top competition, his margins of victory are narrowing. He will have to work hard if he is to win gold in London.

Mondo Duplantis, just out of his junior year of high school in Lafayette, La., made his second Diamond League appearance and placed seventh with 18-9.50 (5.73m). He's still getting the hang of competing at these meets.

5. Ryan Crouser Throws Another Big One

Crouser continued his undefeated season in Lausanne with another massive series of throws. Four of his six throws surpassed 72 feet. He won with a meet record 73-5.5 (22.39m). His two best throws came in the final two rounds, continuing his trend of going big at the end of the competition.

During the press conference on Wednesday, Crouser talked about throwing over 23 meters and getting the world record. While that did not happen in Lausanne, Crouser demonstrated his consistency. He has thrown over 72 feet in all but one competition this year.

This was the second time this season and 12th all-time, that someone threw over 72 feet and did not win. This time the honor went to New Zealand's Tom Walsh. The Olympic bronze medalist finished second with a best of 72-1 (21.97m).

Walsh and Crouser regularly train together, but something will need to change for Crouser to be denied gold next month in London.

Extra: Fast Women's 800 Meters Lead to Big Personal Bests

One event that was great in it's own right, but over-shadowed by all the meet records, was the women's 800 meters. The race lacked the multiple time gold medalist from South Africa, Caster Semenya, but there was still plenty of intrigue.

Francine Niyonsaba of Burundi, the Olympic silver medalist in Rio, won as was expected. Only two athletes have been able to beat Niyonsaba going back to 2016, and neither of them were in the race. However, the race played out well behind her leading to massive personal bests.

Most notably, Charlene Lipsey, a late addition to the field, came up on Niyonsaba's shoulder as the pair came off the final turn. While Lipsey was not able to stay with the winner, she did run a personal best 1:57.38. She is now the No. 6 American of all-time.

Also of note were Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands and Laura Muir of Great Britain. Both stepped down in distance in Lausanne and both ended the day with personal bests. Hassan finished fourth in 1:58.13.

Muir, last year's Diamond League champion at 1,500 meters had not raced since the Prefontaine Classic at the end of May. A stress fracture in her foot had sidelined her training. But she showed no rust, running under two minutes for the first time by finishing fifth in 1:58.69. The Scot will run Sunday at the Muller Anniversary Games, the London stop of the Diamond League series.

All four women should be dangerous at the IAAF World Outdoor Championships next month in London in their respective races.