Daryll Neita pips Dina Asher-Smith at an event hit with heavy rain and climate protestors during Karsten Warholm’s 400m hurdles race

A few days before she defends her titles at the UK Championships in Manchester, Daryll Neita enjoyed a confidence-boosting victory over Dina Asher-Smith and the in-form Ivory Coast sprinter Marie-Josee Ta Lou.

On a rain-soaked night at the BAUHAUS-Galan meeting in Stockholm, Neita clocked 22.50 into a 0.6m/sec headwind as Asher-Smith clocked 22.58 with Spain’s Jael Bestue in 22.59 and Ta Lou fourth in 22.70.

“That was a very strong field and I couldn’t let weather and excuses stop me today,” said Neita, who won her first ever Diamond League race. “I took the win. My coach just told me to go out there and have fun. He believes the 200m is my best event.”

Asher-Smith said: “I’d rather have won and I was hoping for a bit of a quicker time as well as I’m definitely in better shape than this. But with the weather conditions it is what it is and you have to roll with it. Overall I’m genuinely pretty happy. I’ve been training really hard and it bodes well for me at the World Championships.”

Karsten Warholm had to deal with damp, cool and blustery conditions – and also climate protestors at the end of his 400m hurdles race, which he won in 47.57.

Three protesters from A22 Network jumped on the track when the race started and knelt on the track with their backs to the athletes about 10 metres from the finish line, stretching a banner across six lanes and forcing most of the field to run through it.

“It is permissible to protest, but this is not the way to do it,” said Warholm, who joined in with the crowd as they booed the incident. “It is disrespectful to those who are here to do a good job. I must honestly admit that I’m p****d off.”

Protestors on the track at the Stockholm Diamond League race in the 400m hurdles.

Runners in lanes 1-6 couldn’t avoid them in the final 100m.

? @stuartweir pic.twitter.com/Zpz4gPcdnC

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) July 2, 2023

Ethiopians dominated the women’s 1500m as Freweyni Hailu won in 4:02.31 from Diribe Welteji (4:02.79) and Hirut Meshesha (4:03.01). Laura Muir was found wanting a little in the latter stages as she clocked 4:03.83 in sixth and she was caught and passed in the final metres by Ireland’s Ciara Mageean and in-form Brit Melissa Courtney-Bryant, who ran 4:03.81.

With torrential rain hitting the meeting as it began, the men’s pole vault was postponed but when the weather cleared Armand Duplantis won with 6.05m and had three attempts at a world record of 6.23m too as the crowd stayed on after the rest of the meeting had ended to watch the Swedish star in action.

Elsewhere, Beatrice Chebet produced a sub-60sec last lap to win the women’s 5000m in 14:36.52.

World 100m hurdles record-holder Tobi Amusan won in 12.52 (0.9) ahead of Ireland’s Sarah Lavin, who ran a PB of 12.73 and also won the B race earlier in the day with 12.89 (0.6).

A top-quality women’s long jump line-up saw Larissa Iapichino of Italy win with 6.69m (0.4) ahead of Malaika Mihambo (6.66/0.2) and Ivana Vuleta (6.58/1.1).

The men’s 100m was won by Akani Simbine of South Africa in 10.03 (1.0) as Britain’s Reece Prescod was runner-up in 10.14, while the men’s 800m saw Djamel Sedjati of Algeria win in 1:44.59 as Olympic champion wound up a distant eighth in 1:48.96.

In the men’s discus, world champion Kristjan Ceh of Slovenia won with 69.83m ahead of Daniel Stahl (67.57m) and Andrius Gudzius (67.19m).