Ben Youssef Meite further displayed that his recent form is no fluke as he equaled Côte d’Ivoire’s National Record (NR) to win the men’s 100m at the Paris Diamond League in a time of 9.96s.
Incidentally, that record was set by Meite back at the Rio 2016 Olympics where he made the final of the men’s 100m, etching his country’s name in sprint events just like his female compatriots, Murielle Ahoure and Marie Josee Ta Lou.
Meite has improved tremendously, clocking 10.01s to finish 2nd behind Asafa Powell on Thursday at the Lausanne Diamond League, and now notching up a win to move to second place behind Justin Gatlin on the Diamond Race log with just two points separating them.
Many weren’t looking the way of Meite for a win with Jimmy Vicaut tipped as the favourite, but he finished 6th with a time of 10.12s. South Africa’s Akani Simbine finished 2nd with 10.00s and Churandy Martina 3rd with 10.01s.
Voilà ce que donne un départ du #100m version #boomerang au @StadeFrance ! #MeetingParis #DiamondLeague 💎 pic.twitter.com/c4hwWCobNV
— MEETING de PARIS (@MEETINGPARIS) August 27, 2016
It just shows how far Meite has come since last year when he won the double in Brazzaville and this year in Durban where he won the African title with a time of 9.95s (+2.4).
As expected, Kendra Harrison comfortably won the women’s 100m Hurdles running a time of 12.44s. Dawn Harper-Nelson 2nd with an SB of 12.65s and Cindy Ofili 3rd with 12.66s.
Harrison holds eight of the nine fastest times in 2016, including the World Record of 12.20s which she smashed at the London Diamond League.
Meanwhile in the women’s 200m, Dafne Schippers was back to winning ways as she took victory with a time of 22.13s. The Dutch woman who lost out to Elaine Thompson in Rio was no match for others as she comfortably took the win.
Disappointingly for Ta Lou, she pulled out in the bend after copping an injury. Great Britain’s Desiree Henry ran a new Personal Best of 22.46s to finish 2nd and Jenna Prandini 3rd with a time of 22.48s
In women’s 400m, Natasha Hastings took the win with a time of 50.06s, with Stephanie McPherson 2nd with 50.33s and Christine Day 3rd with 50.75s.
Nicholas Bett followed up his 2nd place finish in Lausanne, running 48.01s to win the men’s 400m Hurdles. Olympic champion Kerron Clement finished 2nd with a time of 48.19s and Yasmani Copello 3rd with 48.24s.
