Diamond League: Hudson-Smith, Asher-Smith and Neita in Action

Diamond League final in Brussels this Friday features Olympic 400m silver medallist Matthew Hudson-Smith leading the British athletes. The 29-year-old will compete in the 400m final against Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga, who secured third place at the Paris 2024 Olympics and London 2012 champion Kirani James. Fellow Briton Charlie Dobson will also run in the same race.

In the women’s 100m, Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita will compete against St Lucia’s Julien Alfred and American Sha’Carri Richardson, who finished first and second at the summer Olympics. The 1500m race will be without Britain’s Josh Kerr but it will feature Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen, along with Americans Cole Hocker and Yared Nuguse, who won gold and bronze in Paris. Britain’s Elliot Giles will also race in this event.

In the 200m, Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo of Botswana faces strong competition from American sprinters including Kenny Bednarek. Meanwhile, Sweden’s Armand Duplantis might attempt to break his own pole vault world record which he has set three times this year. Britain’s Molly Caudery will aim to rebound from a disappointing Olympic performance in the women’s pole vault.

British athletes Melissa Courtney-Bryant will compete in the women’s 1500m, and Ben Pattison will face Kenyan Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi in the 800m. Georgia Bell will run both the 800m and 1500m with Jemma Reekie joining her in the shorter race. Neita and Amy Hunt will also run the 200m on Saturday. The final lineup for each race is determined by qualifying points accumulated over the season.

Winners of the Diamond League final will receive a trophy and £24,000 in prize money. Notably, American Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, who has chosen a low-key pre-Olympic build-up will compete in invitational 200m and 400m races with a potential aim to break Sanya Richards-Ross’ American 400m record.