World record-holder Wayde van Niekerk made a promising return to his pet 400m event, finishing third behind the triumphant Elián Larregina at Meeting Madrid on Saturday (19 July).
Larregina delivered another breakthrough performance, posting his second Argentine record in as many months with his winning time of 44.53 seconds. The 25-year-old chopped 0.14s off the mark he set in France last month.
Italy’s Edoardo Scotti followed behind him in second place, clocking 44.75s with Van Niekerk finishing third in 44.91s.
Van Niekerk has not competed in the one-lap sprint event since the New York Grand Prix in June 2024, which was also his only 400m last year. He opted to run the 200m at Paris 2024, where he crashed out in the semi-finals.
Three-time Olympic medallist Natalia Bukowiecka brought the curtain down on the competition, posting a meeting record of 50.07s to win the women’s 400m.
Bukowiecka beat Roxana Gomez (50.37s) and Bassant Hemida (50.53s) into second and third place, respectively.
Olympic bronze medallist Djamel Sedjati came first in a blanket finish, crossing the line in a meeting record of one minute, 43.53 seconds (1:43.53). The Algerian middle-distance ace held off Mariano Garcia (1:43.62) and Yanis Meziane (1:43.82).
Sedjati is one of the form two-lap racers after posting the third fastest of 1:42.20 at the Monaco Diamond League meeting last Friday.
In the field, two-time world champion Chase Jackson dominated the women’s shot put competition, landing a heave of 20.27 metres for the crown. The American was the only thrower to reach a distance beyond 20 metres. Sweden’s Fanny Roos claimed second place ahead of Jamaica’s Danniel Thomas-Dodd with a best attempt of 19.60m.
Olympic champion Camryn Rogers towered over the rest of the hammer throw field as she claimed the top step of the podium with a meeting record of 78.09m. Rosa Andreina Rodríguez finished second with a 73.13m throw, followed by Sara Fantini (72.56m) in third.
In the men’s pole vault, Huang Bokai beat some strong competition for the victory after scaling 5.85m. World silver medallist Ernest John Obiena finished second after clearing 5.80m.