Diamond League Final | 4. September 2024
The Swiss athletics aces are now making the leap into the fields of Weltklasse Zürich even without the nationality bonus. A quintet is not only looking to the Letzigrund, but also to the final in Brussels, led by the Kambundji sisters.
Mujinga Kambundji is beaming – soon also at the Diamond League final in Brussels?Fotos: Keystone
Weltklasse Zürich is world class again this year, but it is only a qualifying event as part of the Diamond League. The finals in 32 disciplines will not take place until mid-September in Brussels. This means that the best Swiss athletes will start the final round in Letzigrund, which will send them on holiday via Zurich, Bellinzona next Monday and then Brussels.
What was unthinkable a decade ago now seems to be becoming a reality at Weltklasse Zürich.
With Angelica Moser, Mujinga and Ditaji Kambundji, Simon Ehammer and Dominic Lobalu, a quintet should have enough points to start in just over a week at the highly-prized Diamond League final of the best eight in the world. There has never been such a close-knit Swiss team. It reflects the bullish momentum of a team that returned home from the European Championships in Rome with nine medals and impressed at the Olympic Games with four top-six rankings.
Three women
Pole vaulter Angelica Moser, who took off from Zurich main station on Wednesday evening, was able to book her ticket for Brussels early. The European champion collected most of her points in Marrakesh, Morocco, where she won a Diamond League meeting for the first time, and in Monaco, where she came second with a Swiss record (4.88 meters).
The two Kambundji sisters also regularly make it to the finals in their disciplines at major global events or return from European championships with medals. The Bernese skipped the indoor season this year so that they were ready for the start of the outdoor season in China at the end of April. This paid off in terms of the Diamond League ranking.
Ditaji Kambundji has his sights set on the goal.
Mujinga Kambundji got the necessary points in the 200 meters in Xiamen and Suzhou. The European champion is already set for Brussels in this discipline, as the half lap of the track is not on the program in Zurich. However, the sixth-place finisher at the Olympics is unlikely to be able to do well in the 100 meters. She is currently in ninth place and would probably have to come second in Letzigrund in a field led by Olympic champion Julien Alfred from St. Lucia.
Ditaji Kambundji is still enjoying a strong start to the season. In addition to the points in China, her victory at the Diamond League meeting in Doha in mid-May is also important. The European Championship runner-up in Rome injured her thigh slightly at the end of June and has since been a few tenths behind the Swiss record, which she lowered to 12.40 seconds in Rome. She will now have to deliver again at Weltklasse Zürich, because as sixth in the Diamond League rankings she is in danger of being pushed out by the American Grace Stark and Nadine Visser from the Netherlands. It would be important that she also runs faster than the French Cyréna Samba-Mayela.
Two men
A year ago, Simon Ehammer won the Diamond League final as a long jumper in Eugene, Oregon – and achieved a Swiss premiere. Nothing now stands in the way of his participation in Brussels. The third-place finisher at the European Championships in Rome is currently third in the Diamond League rankings and can no longer be pushed out of the final field in Zurich.
Dominic Lobalu is also allowed to travel to Belgium, health permitting. The European champion is absent from Weltklasse Zürich due to a Covid illness. The runner, who has been eligible to compete for Switzerland since May, is seeded in the 5000 metres in Brussels. This follows his victory in London and second place in Oslo, where he lowered the Swiss record to 12:50.90 minutes and dethroned Markus Ryffel by 17 seconds.
Three absentees
Two sprinters will be missing in Brussels. Timothé Mumenthaler, the European champion over 200 meters, cannot keep up with the athletes from overseas with his top times. Hurdler Jason Joseph, who won European bronze in Italy despite a mediocre performance, did not have the 2024 season he wanted. A year ago he accompanied Ehammer to Eugene. Annik Kälin, who finished fourth at the Olympics, will also have to watch in Brussels. The heptathlon is not a discipline within the Diamond League.
