Brussels Diamond League: No more long distance races this year, confirms Sifan Hassan

The Brussels Diamond League 2021 was all about records and three athletes. Armand Duplantis, Sifan Hassan and Michael Cherry topped the charts in their respective events and broke Diamond League meeting records in an exhilarating performance.

Armand Duplantis pole vaulted 6.05m, just shy of the world record of 6.18m. Sifan Hassan won in 4:14.74s, an improvement by two seconds from Faith Kipyegon's 2015 meeting record and best world year performance.

Sifan Hassan came a little short of breaking her own world record of 4:12.33. The Ethiopian-born Dutch middle- and long-distance runner has confirmed that there are no more long-distance races for her this season. She said she will be participating in the 1,500m in the final Diamond League meeting in Zurich.

Later, Michael Cherry set a new Diamond League meeting record in 400 meters. The American won gold in Tokyo in the 4x400 meters. He has now clocked 44.03s, three-hundredths of a second faster than the previous Diamond League meeting record, set by the legendary Michael Johnson in 1998.

Sifan Hassan, after breaking her own record, said her goal was to run as fast as she could without taking any records into account. She added:

“I am happy with the time. After Tokyo, I was so tired so I just wanted to run the short distance. My goal was to run fast here tonight (Brussels Diamond League) and that's what I did. It's a beautiful time. I was not thinking about the world record, although I knew I was on world record pace in the beginning. But in the middle, it slowed down a bit. It doesn't matter.”

The runner confirmed that her participation in long distance races this season has ended. She said:

“I am not running any long distances anymore this year. In Zurich Diamond League I will run the 1500m.”

Duplantis, Cherry eye more Diamond League records

Armand Duplantis, meanwhile, wasn’t bogged down on missing the world record and insisted that he will break the record in the near future. He said:

“I felt good. I was close to the world record. That height demands perfection from you. It is a game of centimeters and today I lost the game, but one of these days I am going to take it. That's for sure.”

The Diamond League meeting record has inspired Michael Cherry to better it the next time he is on the track. He said:

“I am very happy with my win and a good personal best of 44.03. It felt so good to race here. The crowd was amazing, the weather was nice, I had good competition and also, getting that Diamond League meeting record here. I still have a few races to go so no vacation for me yet, I still have to focus and try to be better each time.”