Shot Put
It was a Kiwi double in the Shot Put Diamond Race this season, as Diamond League legend Valerie Adams and her compatriot Tom Walsh took home the Diamond Trophies. After missing out on most of last season, Adams was back with a bang this year, and her fifth Diamond Trophy in seven years rarely looked in doubt. Victories in Rabat and Rome gave her an early lead, while wins in Monaco and Lausanne consolidated her overall victory in the second half of the season.
Walsh, meanwhile, sprung a surprise late attack on Diamond Trophy holder Joe Kovacs. 12 points behind Kovacs after three meetings, Walsh took his first win in Stockholm to bring himself within a whisker of the American. His Diamond Race dream appeared to be lost when Kovacs beat him in London, but Walsh rallied once more, winning in both Paris and the Zürich final to take the overall prize and make it a clean sweep for New Zealand in the shot put.
Discus
If there is one constant in this crazy world, it is Sandra Perkovic winning Diamond Race meetings. Ever since she first won the Diamond Trophy in 2012, the Croatian has been untouchable as the queen of the Diamond League discus. This year was no different, as she stormed to victory in remarkable style, winning all seven Diamond Race rounds and collecting a maximum of 90 points. An astonishing achievement which only a few athletes have ever realised, Perkovic’s perfect season was the cherry on the cake of her dominance in this competition.
In the men’s discus, there was another familiar face at the top as Piotr Malachowski won his fourth Diamond Trophy. Despite a couple of hiccups – the Pole finished sixth in both Rome and Lausanne – Malachowski’s two early season victories in Doha and Rabat gave him enough of a base from which to build his points tally. A further two wins in Birmingham and Monaco solidified his place at the top, and with his pursuers splitting points between them, Malachowski’s latest triumph was assured.
Javelin
Madara Palameika became only the third athlete in seven years to win the women’s javelin Diamond Race this summer, breaking the monopoly that Barbara Spotakova and Christina Obergföll had previously held over the competition. Palameika took victories throughout the season to stay ahead of the rest of the pack, winning in Rabat, Birmingham, Lausanne and Brussels to become the first Latvian to win the Diamond Trophy.
In the men’s javelin, Jakub Vadlejch denied Thoms Röhler a second Diamond Trophy in three years with an astonishing late surge up the standings. A full 20 points behind Röhler ahead of the Müller Anniversary Games, Vadlejch snatched victory in London and used it as a launchpad for an astonishing finish to the season. Victory in Paris brought him level on points with Röhler, and he pipped him to first place in an incredible final battle in Zürich.