Dutch athlete clocks 8:18.49 at Stanford on Sunday as Laura Weightman goes No.2 on UK all-time lists with 8:26.07

A high-quality women’s 3000m at the Pre Classic saw Sifan Hassan and Konstanze Klosterhalfen run inside Gabriela Szabo’s European record as Laura Weightman, in fifth, enjoyed a spectacular PB to go No.2 on the UK all-time rankings behind Paula Radcliffe.

Hassan produced a powerful last lap to clock 8:18.48 as the Romanian Szabo’s 2002 mark of 8:21.42 fell. But with 8:20.07 the US-based German Klosterhalfen also beat the old record, whereas third-placed Letsenbet Gidey also ran a fast time with 8:20.27 – the Ethiopian having earlier forced the pace in the closing stages before being overhauled by Sifan just before the bell.

Genzebe Dibaba, the world 1500m record-holder from Ethiopia, was fourth with a PB of 8:21.29. In fifth, Weightman improved her best from 8:43.46 to clock a huge PB of 8:26.07. It means she moves above Laura Muir, Zola Pieterse, Yvonne Murray, Jo Pavey, Eilish and Liz McColgan on the UK rankings, whereas only Radcliffe has run quicker with 8:22.20 set in the same race as Szabo in Monaco in 2002.

Weightman also took a number of big scalps. They included world cross country champion Hellen Obiri, the Kenyan finishing sixth in 8:27.27, while Almaz Ayana, the world 10,000m record-holder, finished last in her first race since 2017.

“I didn’t think I was going to run 8:18 – that’s a nice time,” said Hassan, who added that she only began her summer season in earnest a fortnight earlier.

The meeting was staged at Stanford, California, rather than its usual venue of Eugene due to the redevelopment of Hayward Field ahead of the 2021 IAAF World Championships. Fine, sunny conditions helped produce a series of good performances and these included the men’s 100m where Christian Coleman ran a world lead of 9.81 (-0.1) to beat Justin Gatlin (9.87) as Britain’s Zharnel Hughes equalled his season’s best of 9.97 in third.

⏱ 9️⃣.8️⃣1️⃣

"Boy, oh boy! That's the fastest time in the world this year!" ?‍♂️?@__coleman absolutely blitzed the 100m ?#StanfordDL #DiamondLeague pic.twitter.com/JKQoE0tIEe

— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) June 30, 2019

British eyes were also on Laura Muir and Dina Asher-Smith but it was not quite their night as they lost their respective races.

Faith Kipyegon took the women’s 1500m in 3:59.04 from Muir (3:59.47) as Shelby Houlihan finished strongly for third place in her first race of the summer.

Asher-Smith, meanwhile, was beaten by an inspired Blessing Okagbare in the women’s 200m as the Nigerian stormed to a 22.05 (1.9) win as Olympic champion Elaine Thompson was second in (22.21) and Asher-Smith third in (22.42).

A lively meeting saw plenty of surprise results, too. Darlan Romani of Brazil was a shock winner of the men’s shot with 22.61m ahead of Ryan Crouser’s 22.17m while Tom Walsh was third.

Romani became the first non-American to win the shot at this meeting and his throw was also a Diamond League record.

A competitive Bowerman Mile was won by Timothy Cheruiyot in a world outdoor lead of 3:50.49 from Ayanleh Souleiman (3:51.22), Filip (3:51.28) and Jakob Ingebrigtsen (3:51.30). Behind, Olympic champion Matt Centrowitz was fifth, world indoor record-holder Samuel Tefera eighth after clashing with Jakob Ingebrigtsen on the final bend and Yomif Kejelcha an underpar 13th.

World record-holder Beatrice Chepkoech front-ran to a 3000m steeplechase victory in a world lead of 8:55.58 and there was drama behind as world champion Emma Coburn fell on a barrier entering the back straight mid-race before getting up to finish a fine second in 9:04.90.

Caster Semenya returned to racing with a commanding win in the women’s 800m in a meet record 1:55.70 ahead of Ajee Wilson.

⏱ 1:55:70 = Meet Record

'World-class' @caster800m eases to a superb victory in the 800m race ? #StanfordDL #DiamondLeague pic.twitter.com/Bla33SOWpm

— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) June 30, 2019

Another high-quality performance came from Rai Benjamin in the 400m hurdles as he took the win in style in a world lead of 47.16, well clear of runner-up Kyron McMaster.

In the men’s pole vault, Mondo Duplantis beat Sam Kendricks in an enthralling clash with a best of 5.93m.

Marie-Josee Talou won the women’s 100m in 11.02 (0.3) as a strong field failed to put up a challenge, epitomised by Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce – the Jamaican sprints legend finishing eighth in 11.39.

Most exciting finish of the day, meanwhile, came in the men’s two miles when Joshua Cheptegei, the world cross-country champion from Uganda, held off the fast-finishing Paul Chelimo of the US to win in 8:07.50 as Selemon Barega of Ethiopia wound up a close third.

Elsewhere, Mariya Lasitskene was in imperious high jump form again with a 2.04m win, Orlando Ortega took the men’s 110m hurdles in 13.24 (0.3), Lijiao Gong of China won the women’s shot put with 19.79m and Mike Norman was the only man to break 45 seconds in the 400m as he clocked 44.62.

The Carolina Hurricanes have swapped goalies by acquiring James Reimer in a trade with the Florida Panthers.

Florida acquired goalie Scott Darling and immediately placed him on waivers with the intention to buy out the remaining two years of his contract. The Panthers also acquired a sixth-round pick in the 2020 draft in the trade made Sunday, a day before the start of the NHL's free-agent signing period.

Reimer helps address the Hurricanes' immediate need at goalie with co-starters Petr Mrazek and Curtis McElhinney eligible to become unrestricted free agents.

Reimer, 31, had a 13-12-5 record and a .900 save percentage in 36 games with the Panthers last season. Overall, Reimer has a 144-120-19 record in 338 games, including stops in Toronto and San Jose.

For Florida, the trade amounted to the team freeing up space under the salary cap in dealing Reimer and buying out Darling's contract.

The Panthers do have a need at goalie with Roberto Luongo retiring after 19 seasons on Wednesday. Florida, however, is considered the front-runner to sign Columbus starter Sergei Bobrovsky in free agency.

Darling, 30, had a 2-4-2 record in his second season with Carolina last year. He was unhappy over being demoted to the American Hockey League and had been granted a leave of absence in February. He has five years' experience and a 54-42-18 record in 126 games with Carolina and Chicago.

LYON, France -- England Women manager Phil Neville hailed U.S. star Megan Rapinoe as "world class" and said he knew of her competitiveness to his own cost after she inadvertently destroyed his watch during a game last year.

Rapinoe has been one of the stars of the Women's World Cup, scoring all four goals in the U.S.'s two knockout matches to help them into the semifinals.

She and her teammates now face England in Lyon on Tuesday, and Neville said he knew how hard it would be to curb her influence.

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"I remember in my first SheBelieves [Cup match against the U.S. last year] when there was a ball bouncing on the touchline and I went to catch it and her studs came right through my Apple watch," he said. "She's not paid me back for that.

"What I liked about that was that she didn't say sorry, she just got on with it.

"She's a winner. I like the individuality in her, both on and off the field, and I think she's a world class footballer."

Neville praised the work Rapinoe has done to promote equality off the field, but focused on Tuesday's game as he challenged his players to keep the threat of her and Crystal Dunn down the left at bay.

The manager has hinted that England right-back Lucy Bronze could be played as a makeshift midfielder -- a ploy he used against the U.S. in the SheBelieves Cup.

"It might be Rachel Daly up against Rapinoe," Neville said. "You never know, as Daly did really well in SheBelieves against her, and the ability of Lucy Bronze to step into midfield is why we did that. We have a decision to make there, as Rachel's in fantastic form.

"If you think about the left-hand side of the USA and the right-hand side of England, I don't think you'll get many better left and right sides in women's football.

"The U.S. are the reigning champions and the ones everyone wants to beat."

Neville backed Bronze to win this year's Ballon d'Or, saying: "I do believe she's the best player in the world because she's unique in everything she does.

"Her athleticism, ability to defend one vs. one -- she's fearless in everything she does. She always rises to the big occasion.

"We've seen a player that's developed a lot in the last 18 months and, even though she plays full-back and sometimes in midfield, the qualities she possesses make her one of the most outstanding players in the world.

"Even though she plays at full-back, that needs recognising. When we do ballots and polls, sometimes defenders are special as well and we have a few."

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- When it comes to team-building, U.S. men's national team manager Gregg Berhalter is not above thinking out of the box. Or, in a recent case, out of the pan.

With some free time ahead of the Americans' Gold Cup group-stage match against Trinidad and Tobago in Minneapolis, former U.S. international Tony Sanneh was sought out for some ideas on potential activities in the Twin Cities. Through his Sanneh Foundation, the former defender has long worked in areas of leadership and community engagement around the world.

In this instance, he partnered with the culinary school at St. Paul College and local chef David Fhima to set up their own version of the TV show "Iron Chef." The U.S. players were divided into four teams and, with the help of other local culinary experts, were charged with preparing a meal.

"Some guys had no clue about cooking," said midfielder Cristian Roldan. "Other guys were chefs in their own ways. I was in the middle, but Omar Gonzalez, he was pretty detail-oriented when it comes to cooking."

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Great hosting @usmnt with @thesannehfoundation @david_fhima and @saintpaulcollegemn chef Ross chef pierre chef hadj Fun to see the smile and energy. The winner goes to team @omar4gonzalez and @jozyaltidore

A post shared by Tony Sanneh (@tonysanneh) on Jun 15, 2019 at 9:16pm PDT

The team of Gonzalez, Jozy Altidore, Nick Lima, Daniel Lovitz and Tyler Boyd prevailed, though defender Tim Ream was not impressed, insisting the scales were tipped against his side.

"When it's Wagyu steak against a piece of salmon, we all know who's going to win that battle," he said with a wry smile on his face.

But as with most team-building endeavors, there was a broader message to be driven home, with Gonzalez acknowledging the bigger takeaways of preparation and collaboration.

"This was one of the coolest things I've ever done with the national team; the fact that we all had to work together," he said following Wednesday's 1-0 win over Panama. "Gregg and his staff talk about preparation a lot, and he finds ways to bring that into play. We talked to the chef, and he explained what his daily life is like and how preparation is key to what he does."

Berhalter's detail-oriented approach means he leaves nothing to chance. When first pondering doing the cooking activity, for example, he spoke with Fhima for 30 minutes to make sure the respective messages were aligned. The same was true earlier this year when the team was in Houston and visited NASA.

"It's building understanding with your teammates," Berhalter told ESPN FC. "It's not only fun activities. We've done strenuous activities as a group outside of the field where you have to really bond with each other, really fight for each other, you have to dig for each other. Then there's others where you have to communicate with each other and work collaboratively. If we talk about our game being a collective game model where we need everyone working together, activities like this bring us closer together.

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"We think it's very important for us to build the team culture and build togetherness," the U.S. coach continued. "We know that because we don't have a lot time together, we have to take advantage of the time we do have. It's programming things like that and giving the guys the ability to be together outside of the field. We know that as we build this cohesion, we're going to be stronger on the field."

By the time of the Gold Cup final on July 7 -- assuming the U.S. makes it that far -- some members of the team will have been in camp for six weeks. As such, there seems to be a concerted effort by players to interact, beyond any generational or positional divide. Crossword puzzles are still a thing, and video games have even begun to creep their way into some older elements of the squad.

"It's just been natural. It's not been anything that we've tried to do," said Ream about the way the team has come together. "Everyone is easy, everyone is easygoing. It's a good mix of personalities, and it's just kind of happened organically. Guys are into their video games, the older guys are not, so we're kind of interested in how all that works. Omar and myself have watched it a little bit. But it's just sitting at tables and at meals and just hanging out."

That cohesion appears to be manifesting itself on the field, where all three group games were won, with 11 goals scored and zero conceded. While it is easy to dismiss matches against Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Panama as a series of glorified scrimmages, in terms of the eye test, the U.S. looks like it is coming to grips with the system Berhalter has been implementing since his first camp in January.

The next test is a tricky, if unlikely, quarterfinal encounter in Philadelphia on Sunday. Curacao's national team was formed only in 2011, after the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles, and is ranked 79th by FIFA, but its roster is full of players with experience in the Dutch first and second tiers. Some, such as Cardiff City's Leandro Bacuna and Everton defender Cuco Martina, have played at even higher levels.

"[Curacao] are a dangerous team," said Berhalter in his prematch news conference. "They make a lot of flexible movements offensively. They get into high positions with their fullbacks. The wingers are tucking inside overloading the field. They have good players."

The U.S. can have no excuses and enter the match as heavy favorites. Berhalter's side is in good form, as well as being healthy and rested after the entire starting XI was rested for against Panama, but its first official competition since failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, is not in a position where it can look past any team.

With three games standing between them and Gold Cup glory, it is time for the U.S. players to find a trophy-winning recipe.