As the world’s best athletes take a well-earned break following the summer season, we’re taking a look back at the best moments of the 2022 Wanda Diamond League campaign. In part two of our season review, it’s Rabat, Rome and Oslo in the spotlight. <\/p>\n
The fourth meeting of the season began with an earthquake in the men’s 400m hurdles, as reigning Diamond League champion and world record holder Karsten Warholm pulled up just in front of the second barrier clutching his hamstring. The blow would prove a major setback for Warholm in a season in which he lost both his world and Diamond League titles to Brazil’s Alison Dos Santos. With Warholm out at the first bend, the USA’s Khallifah Rosser stormed to his first ever Diamond League win with a meeting record of 48.25.<\/p>\n
Rosser was not the only one to pick up his first victory on the circuit in Rabat, as Ethiopia’s Hirut Meshesha also did so with a personal best of 3:57.30 in the women’s 1500m. His was also not the only meeting record at the Stade Prince Moulay Abdallah, with Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah cruising to an impressive 10.83 in the women’s 100m. <\/p>\n
The star of the show, however, was home hero Soufiane El Bakkali, who brought the home crowd to their feet with a brilliant victory in the 3000m steeplechase. The Moroccan held off Lamecha Girma to clock a world lead and meeting record of 7:58.28 before collapsing to the floor draped in his country’s flag on the finish line. It was El Bakkali’s second win of the season, and a crucial step towards what would eventually be his first ever Diamond League title. <\/p>\n