Fabrice Lapierre’s dominant 2016 season has come to a conclusion in Brussels overnight, with the 32-year-old long jumper taking victory in the IAAF’s Diamond Race.
With a leap of 8.17m, Lapierre finished in 2nd place behind Luvo Manyonga (RSA), but the Australian picked up 4 points (double the usual points as Brussels was a final) to finish with 36 points overall and claim the spectacular Diamond Trophy.
In six attempts Lapierre battled his way through and only landed two legal jumps.
The overall victory in Brussels comes only weeks after a disappointing finish at the Rio Olympics, where the 2015 world championship silver medallist failed to make the final in the cut-throat competition.
In the same competition, Henry Frayne finished in 7th place with a final round jump of 7.75m.
In other results, Genevieve LaCaze has redefined improvement once more as she took it up another gear in the women’s 5000m, producing her 17th personal best of the season. Fellow Australians Madeline Hills (12th in 15:04.56) and Eloise Wellings (14th in 15:05.42) finished in front of LaCaze in 15th, as all three Olympic finalists continue to push each other on the world stage.
In the women’s javelin, Kathryn Mitchell had an uncharacteristically poor finish to her productive season in Brussels. Mitchell finished in 7th place with 57.08m in her 6th diamond league appearance this year. Nonetheless Mitchell finishes in 2nd place in the Diamond Race, behind Latvia’s Madara Palameika.
Ryan Gregson capped off his 2016 season with a 3:34.65 run in the men’s 1500m to finish in 11th place. The result solidifies Gregson’s return-to-form in 2016, a season which saw him consistently finish among the world’s best on many occasions.
