Hoey Outruns Emmanuel Wanyonyi In Pouring Rain; Cordell Tinch Leads 1-2-3 American Hurdles Sweep

By Doug Binder, DyeStat Editor

Photos by Diamond League AG

Heavy rains caused havoc at Wednesday's Diamond League meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, but they didn't slow down Josh Hoey.

The fourth-place finisher at the U.S. Championships in the men's 800 meters ran like the best in the world in a downpour, defeating Kenyan Emmanuel Wanyonyi by nearly half a second in 1:42.82. 

The men's 800 meters featured nearly all of the top runners in the world, including Canada's Marco Arop, who was fifth in 1:43.91, Spain's Mohamed Attaoui, who was third in 1:43.38, and Wanyony, who finished second in 1:43.29. 

"I wanted to get out hard, let the leaders take the rain, and then make my move with 100 to go. It felt like being a kid again, playing in the rain," Hoey said. "I've never raced in anything like this before. It reminded me of cross country growing up, where it comes down to being the toughest and the most patient."

If Hoey can beat a field like this at the Diamond League final in Zurich in one week, he could earn a bye to the World Championships in Tokyo. 

Keely Hodgkinson was also unfazed and ran a meet record time of 1:55.69, breaking a Maria Mutola standard from 2002, to win the women's 800 meters by more than a second. American Addy Wiley was ninth. 

Brittany Brown of the U.S. won the women's 200 meters in 22.23 seconds. 

Cordell Tinch led a 1-2-3 sweep for the American men in the 110-meter hurdles with 12.98, defeating Jamal Britt (13.13) and Trey Cunningham (13.19).

In the women's 100 hurdles, Nadine Visser of The Netherlands splashed through in 12.45 seconds and Masai Russell was second in 12.53.

Jamaica's Oblique Seville ran a fast time of 9.87 seconds in the wet conditions as Olympic champion Noah Lyles took second in 10.02. 

Isaac Kimeli of Belgium won the men's 5,000 meters in 13:07.67. Grant Fisher was second in 13:08.51. Eduardo Herrera of Mexico was third with 13:09.50. 

Doris Lemngole of Kenya, the NCAA champion, won the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase in 9:16.36. 

Joe Kovacs was the lone shot putter to go past 22 meters as he won handily with 22.04m (72-3.75) and was pleased to come away not only with the win but a wheel of cheese.

Henriette Jaeger of Norway won the women's 400 meters in 50.09 seconds, with Lieke Klaver of The Netherlands second in 50.17 and Americans Isabella Whittaker third in 50.63 and Alexis Holmes fourth in 50.73. Top overal entry Salwa Eid Naser of Burundi was fifth in 51.08.

Four women managed to get over the bar at 1.91m (6-3.25) in the high jump, but Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikch did not clear the opening height. 

In Tuesday's men's pole vault, without interference by the rain, Emmanouil Karalis of Greece went over the bar at 6.02m (19-9).