Diamond League: 10 things to know about Zurich Finals

Bengaluru, September 10: Armand Duplantis retained his Diamond League pole vault title in Zurich as he went clear at 5.91M to see off the rest of the field while Serbian long jumper Ivana Vuleta banked her fourth career Diamond League title while Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra achieved yet another historic feat when he became the first Indian to win the prestigious title.

Chopra began with a foul but jumped to the top spot with a throw of 88.44M - his fourth career best - in his second attempt, and that turned out to be his winning effort.

He had 88.00M, 86.11M, 87M and 83.60M in his next four throws. Olympic silver medallist Jakub Vadlejch of Czech Republic finished second with a best throw of 86.94M which he registered in his fourth attempt. Julian Weber of Germany was third with a best of 83.73m.

Chopra had made a spectacular return from the one-month injury lay-off by winning the Lausanne-leg of the Diamond League series on August 26 which helped him qualify for the Zurich Finals.

As curtains came down on the Diamond League 2022 season, with World Athletics Media inputs, myKhel.com looks at 10 major highlights of the season-ending event.

1. Duplantis has enjoyed a banner year with his first gold medals at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade and World Championships in Eugene as well as a second European Championship title in Munich.

2. The 22-year-old also continued raising the men's pole vault world record with a 6.20M clearance in Belgrade and then a phenomenal 6.21M outdoor clearance in Eugene on his way to the world title.

3. In the 2022 Diamond League season, Duplantis picked up victories in Doha, Eugene, Oslo, Stockholm, Silesia and Lausanne heading into the Swiss final where he went up against six other vaulters.

4. He entered the competition at 5.62M with a first clearance and then again at 5.81M as Norwegian Sondre Guttormsen, American Christopher Nilsen and Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie also went clear.

5. Guttormsen went clear in his third attempt at 5.86M for a new national record, however he failed in his three attempts at 5.91M as did Nilsen and Lavillenie with Duplantis easing over the bar to win.

6. Even though he failed his first attempt at 6.07M, he went clear at the second try to bank a meeting record and his second Diamond League title following five meeting victories in his victorious 2021 campaign.

7. Elsewhere, Vuleta also defended her Diamond League title after her opening jump of 6.97M saw off Sweden's Khaddi Sagnia (6.55m) and American Quanesha Burks (6.54M).

8. The 32-year-old now has four Diamond League titles after her previous 2016, 2017 and 2021 wins to add to her two World Indoor Championship titles and two European Championship gold medals.

9. Portuguese Pedro Pichardo just missed out in the men's triple jump as Cuban Andy Díaz's opening jump of 17.70M beat out Pichardo's first leap of 17.63M with Cuban Jordan Diaz placing third (17.60M).

10. The women's high jump saw Ukrainian Yuliya Levchenko leave the competition at 1.88M to finish sixth, the same place as men's high jump world champion Mutaz Essa Barshim ended in the final.