Bol delivers; Duplantis flirts with record finish

STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) — Femke Bol marked her outdoor debut ahead of the Paris Olympics with victory in the 400-meter hurdles while Armand “Mondo” Duplantis went close to bettering his own pole vault world record at the Diamond League meet in Stockholm on Sunday.

The Dutch hurdler, who set a world record when winning the 400m flat in the world indoors in Glasgow in March, was pushed early on by Jamaica’s Rushell Clayton and Andrenette Knight, in a field featuring five athletes from the final at last year’s world champs in Budapest.

But she held her form to easily pull clear down the home stretch, although her time of 53.07 seconds was slightly off the world lead of 52.70 seconds set by American rival Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone on Friday.

Duplantis made sure the vociferous home crowd had lots to cheer for in the men’s pole vault.

The US-born Swede wrapped up the competition with a winning height of 6.00m, but then had three very close attempts at 6.25m, one-centimeter higher than his own world record set at the Xiamen Diamond League six weeks ago.

Arguably, Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati produced the performance of the meeting in the Swedish capital, the seventh on the 15-meet Diamond League circuit.

Sedjati, the 2022 world silver medallist, scorched to victory in the 800m in one minute and 43.23 seconds, the fastest time of the season so far.

There was an improved showing in the 200m by Jamaica’s two-time world champion Shericka Jackson after a disappointing outing at the Oslo Diamond League meet on Thursday in which she finished fifth.

Jackson clocked a season’s best of 22.69 seconds, but again looked slightly labored.