The first night of the Diamond League Final delivered drama and fast times in Brussels as the Memorial Van Damme celebrated its 50th anniversary in style.

The biggest talking point came in the men’s 1500m, where Jakob Ingebrigtsen’s latest race in his return to competition ended in unusual fashion as he hit the track as he crossed the line in fourth.

At the front, Australia’s Cam Myers held his nerve in a tightly contested battle with Kenya’s Kipkosgei Koech to claim the Diamond League title. Myers edged ahead in the closing stages to win in 3:30.14, with Koech just 0.04 behind in 3:30.18.

Behind them, Ethan Strand took third in 3:30.50, with Ingebrigtsen just two hundredths further back in 3:30.52.

The Norwegian, who is returning from an Achilles injury that kept him out for almost a year, described his finish as “very much a dive.”

The drama continued in the mixed zone, where Ingebrigtsen shared his thoughts on his competitors, as well as pacemaker Christian Jackson, who trains alongside Cole Hocker who finished eighth in 3:30.80.

“It’s feeling a bit more responsive than what it felt in Zurich so definitely improving a little bit. I’m very disappointed in the race and the result, I’m racing against a bunch of cowards. That is what it is.

“It’s only Cameron [Myers] that’s a good racer, everyone else looked like losers, me included.

“We’re trying to win but with Cole, the pacemaker was swapped out for his own teammate. So from now on he is in no position to make any changes or decisions in the 1500m because he fooled us in terms of following the pace. Maybe he was sick or injured, or he didn’t have a good day at all.”

There was also success for Julien Alfred in the women’s 200m, with the St Lucian opting to focus on the longer sprint rather than doubling up across the two days of the final.

That decision paid off as Alfred stormed to victory in 21.79 (0.1), finishing comfortably ahead of USA’s Kayla White, who ran 22.00 for second.

Great Britain’s Amy Hunt completed the podium with a season’s best 22.16, her fourth-fastest time ever over the distance.

“I’m super happy. That was a super strong race from me, particularly the first half. The turn was really really good. I’m not sure how it looks on video but from my feeling the top three were really close.

“I think the season may have caught up to me in the last 60m but I’m really proud of that.  I am running at 10pm and it’s not super conducive to really quick times so to come away with a season’s best is something I think represents a lot of my ceiling in the 200m this year.”

In the men’s sprints, it was the 100m which took place on the first night in Brussels, with world champion Oblique Seville taking the win in 9.90 (0.1). Commonwealth champion Emmanuel Eseme took silver in 9.93, while Kayinsola Ajayi completed the podium in 9.97.

Emmanuel Wanyonyi then produced one of the standout performances of the evening in the men’s 800m, powering away from the field to win in a new meeting record of 1:41.80.

The Kenyan’s victory marked his fourth Diamond League Final title and once again raised the question of just how close he is to David Rudisha’s world record of 1:40.91.

Djamel Sedjati was second in 1:42.71, with France’s Yanis Meziane taking third in 1:42.87. That podium finish also secured Meziane a place at next weekend’s World Athletics Ultimate Championship, with the first two finishers already holding qualification.

Great Britain’s Ben Pattison finished fifth in 1:44.29.

In the men’s 400m, Collen Kebinatshipi produced another statement performance setting a new Botswana national record as well as Diamond League and meeting records.

The world champion dominated the race to win in 43.40, putting himself firmly as the one to watch in Budapest.

Behind him, Jereem Richards also set a national record, running 43.68 to finish second, while Jacory Patterson completed the podium with a personal best of 43.78.

European champion Matthew Hudson-Smith settled with a fifth place finish in 44.23m.

On the field, there was a withdrawal from world record-holder Mondo Duplantis, opening the door for his close rival at the moment, Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis, to take the meeting record.

There had been plenty of excitement building around the pole vault, with anticipation of another competition between the pair, but that was ended when Duplantis suffered “leg tightness” during the warm-up - the same issue he faced at the London Diamond League.

It meant Karalis’ clearance of 6.12m was enough to take down Duplantis’ meeting record of 6.11m, which the Swede had set in Brussels two years ago.

Norway’s Sondre Guttormsen took second with 5.82m, while Australia’s Kurtis Marschall also cleared 5.82m to finish third.

Chase Jackson produced a standout performance in the women’s shot put, setting a new American record, Diamond League record, meeting record and world lead with a throw of 21.14m.

Jackson improved her own American record of 21.02m, set just last week, to further underline her dominance in the event.

Canada’s Sarah Mitton finished second with 20.64m, while Netherlands’ Jessica Schilder took third with 20.57m.

There was a surprise winner in the men’s high jump as Poland’s Mateusz Kołodziejski cleared 2.28m to claim the Diamond League title.

It marked the first Diamond League victory of his career, as well as his first major international win, while three-time champion Gianmarco Tamberi had to settle for fourth.

Tamberi cleared 2.25m but was unable to get over 2.28m or 2.31m, leaving Kołodziejski to celebrate a breakthrough victory on the Diamond League stage.

Slovenia’s Kristjan Čeh added another meeting record to the night in the men’s discus, producing a best throw of 71.29m.
Lithuania’s Mykolas Alekna finished second with 70.14m, while Jamaica’s Roje Stona took third with 68.86m.

There is still plenty more to come in Brussels, with the second and final night of the Diamond League Final taking place tomorrow.

Full results here.