Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse secured his fifth spot in the Diamond League Final after finishing the 200-meter race in 20.03 seconds at the Weltklasse Zürich meet. He placed behind Kenny Bednarek of the United States, who set a world-leading time of 19.62, and South Africa’s Sinesipho Dambile, who finished in 19.82. De Grasse’s performance marked his return to the 200-meter event since his victory in Zagreb, Croatia, with a time of 19.95. He had earlier won in Botswana with a time of 19.84 before finishing fifth in the Rabat Diamond League.

De Grasse, the Canadian record holder with a time of 19.62 from the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, will be aiming to become the country’s first Diamond League champion since Sarah Mitton’s victory in women’s shot put two years ago in Brussels. The upcoming Final in Belgium will feature top contenders in the men’s 200-meter race, including Dambile, Letsile Tebogo of Botswana, Bednarek, Makanakaishe Charamba of Zimbabwe, Courtney Lindsey of the United States, Reynier Mena of Cuba, and Jose Figueroa of Puerto Rico.

In other events, there were record-breaking moments in the hurdles as Alison dos Santos and Masai Russell set new world records in their respective races. Dos Santos broke the men’s 400m hurdles record with a time of 45.80 seconds, while Russell set a new record of 12.09 seconds in the women’s 100m hurdles. The pole vault event also saw intense competition between world champion Mondo Duplantis and emerging star Emmanouil Karalis, setting the stage for thrilling finals at the Diamond League and World Athletics Ultimate Championships.