Shelby Houlihan wins 1500m from Laura Muir in Lausanne
Shelby Houlihan again kicked to victory in Lausanne as the American powered down the home straight to win a competitive 1500m from Britain's Laura Muir at the Athletissima Diamond League meeting.
In fourth place with 150m to go, Houlihan surged off the final bend to pass British record-holder Muir, who had made a move 250m out, plus Sifan Hassan and Gudaf Tsegay to secure success in a time of 3:57.34 to move to fourth on the US all-time list.
Muir, who won the British 800m title at the weekend, ran a season's best of 3:58.18 to lead a trio of Brits inside 4:02. British 1500m champion Laura Weightman was seventh in 4:01.76 and Eilish McColgan eighth in 4:01.98, while Melissa Courtney was 10th in 4:06.27.
Hassan was third in 3:58.39 and Tsegay fourth in 3:59.07, while world and Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya, who had run 1:54.25 for 800m in Paris, clocked 4:00.44 in sixth.
"I didn't have many expectations coming into the race today and was actually a bit worried as I was not feeling very well," said Houlihan, who also won at the Prefontaine Classic and US championships.
"I had to talk to myself during the race to stay in a comfortable position and the incredible crowd here brought me home during the last 200 meters."
Speaking with Stuart Weir after the race, Muir said: "I was happy with it. I knew it was going to be a fast race, which the girls had asked for. I was happy to sit in on the first half, work hard and use my strength in the second half.
"I nearly got the win so I’m really pleased with that."
There was another American victory a short while later as Noah Lyles stormed to take the 200m in 19.69, equalling his world lead and PB to beat his compatriot Michael Norman with 19.88.
A total of seven athletes cleared 4.72m in the women's pole vault competition which was eventually won by Olympic and world champion Katerina Stefanidi of Greece on count back from Jenn Suhr and Anzhelika Sidorova as all three cleared 4.82m.
Just a single centimetre separated the top two in the men's triple jump as Christian Taylor won with 17.62m ahead of Pedro Pablo Pichardo with 17.61m.
With her final leap, Malaika Mihambo recorded 6.90m to match Ivana Spanovic's leading mark to claim the long jump win on count back. Britain's Shara Proctor was fifth with 6.62m and world leader Lorraine Ugen seventh with 6.48m.
Marie-Josée Ta Lou won the 100m in 10.90 (1.3) from Elaine Thompson with 10.99, while Mujinga Kambundji broke the Swiss record with 11.03 in fifth. Kambundji later helped a Swiss quartet to break the meeting and national record with 42.29 to win the women's 4x100m.
Salwa Eid Naser again claimed a clear 400m win in 49.78, while Martyn Rooney won the 400m B race in 46.17 ahead of under-20 Ricky Petrucciani and Owen Smith.
After his false start in Paris, Sergey Shubenkov ran a 110m hurdles world lead of 12.92 to go equal eighth on the world all-time list in Hungary and he followed that up with another dominant win in Lausanne, clocking 12.95 to finish ahead of Devon Allen in 13.29.
The 46.98 400m hurdles man Abderrahman Samba continued his winning ways as he ran 47.42 for victory ahead of world champion Karsten Warholm. Britain's Jack Green was seventh in 49.52.
Shamier Little powered to victory in the women's race in 53.41 from Janieve Russell with a 53.46 PB.
There was drama in the closing stages of the men's 5000m as Yomif Kejelcha and Selemon Barega clashed on the final bend and Kejelcha started to fall, grabbing the shorts of Barega in front of him on his way. Birhanu Balew pulled away to win in a world-leading PB of 13:01.09 from Barega with 13:02.67.
Chaos on the final bend in the 5000m in Lausanne as Kejelcha and Barega get in a tangle. pic.twitter.com/JIqzB4Hu92
— Jason Henderson (@Jason_AW) July 5, 2018
Francine Niyonsaba claimed 800m victory in 1:57.80 from Ajeé Wilson with 1:58.20 as Britain's Lynsey Sharp was eighth in 2:01.02.
A fifth-round throw of 21.92m secured Tom Walsh the shot put win, while Nikola Ogrodníková claimed javelin victory with her 65.02m throw. Danil Lysenko secures high jump success with his clearance of 2.37m.
Marcel Hug won the 1500m wheelchair race in 3:19.87 as Britain's Richard Chiassaro was fourth in 3:20.75.
On her debut in a Diamond League meeting, USA's Gabrielle Thomas took 200m victory in 22.47 as Britain's Jodie Williams finished fourth in 22.85.
Athletissima action had begun the evening before with the men’s pole vault, which was won by world record-holder Renaud Lavillenie with a clearance of 5.91m.
Full results can be found here.
