Reaction Time: Lausanne and Silesia Diamond League

Let's get into it. 

Silesia Women's 100m:

Big Names in the Race:

Sha'Carri Richardson (USA) - PB: 10.65

Julien Alfred (Saint Lucia) - PB: 10.72

Melissa Jefferson-Wooden (USA) - PB: 10.61

Tina Clayton (Jamaica) - PB: 10.76

Tia Clayton (Jamaica) - PB: 10.82

Kayla White (USA) - PB: 10.84

What's happening: In a loaded field, Melissa Jefferson-Wooden holds off Julien Alfred to win in a season's best time of 10.83.

Callout: This is a big lineup with 4 world champions. That said, Melissa and Julien are the "unstoppable force meets and immovable object" of this season. Melissa remains undefeated in this event and Julien has established her range from the 60-200m. Melissa is now the Goliath in this event!

Silesia Men's 1500m:

Big Names in the Race:

Reynold Cheruiyot (KEN) - PB: 3:29.91

Cole Hocker (USA) - PB: 3:27.65

Jakob Ingebrigtsen (NOR) - PB: 3:26.73

Hobbs Kessler (USA) - PB: 3:29.45

Phanuel Kipkosgei Koech (KEN) - PB: 3:27.72

Isaac Nader (POR) - PB: 3:29.37

Stefan Nillessen (NED) - PB: 3:29.23

Ethan Strand (USA) - PB: 3:30.25

Jake Wightman (GBR) - PB: 3:29.23

What's Happening: Two pacers take the field through a little under 1100m. In a surprise victory, Ethan Strand takes down a loaded field to win in a season's best time of 3:30.77, after two 

Callout: Jakob Ingebrigsten continues to race his way back into shape. Jakob, who holds multiple world/Olympic titles and world records, had not raced in 11 months after dealing with an achilles injury that involved surgery and rehab. His first race back was at the European championships, where he won a tactical 5000m (which means there was a slow start, as we recall). He has only a few weeks of workouts under his belt and is back to 3:31.19 shape with a 4th place finish.

Note how Jakob and Ethan are both way back in the beginning two laps. There is a noticeably slower third lap (~58 seconds) and Jakob and Ethan move up dramatically in position. In the back 700 meters, Ethan goes from 11th place to 1st! 

Let's also note Ethan Strand's victory! This shows he can square up with the best, but he's been operating at a high level for the last two years. Last year, he was setting collegiate records in the mile and 3000 meters, becoming the 7th fastest all-time indoor miler. 

When they show results, you'll see Phanuel Koech and Cole Hocker are labeled as "Photo." That just means they had a photo finish. You'll recall that that means they have to go to the high-speed cameras and go frame by frame. 

Definitions:

"Photo finish" refers to a result that was so close that officials had to use high-speed cameras and go frame-by-frame to figure out who won. They use something called a slit-video system, which essentially takes 1,000's of scans a second at the finish line and stitches together a snapshot of the finish line to determine who won down to the 1/1,000th of a second. It can get THAT close. 

Lausanne Women's 800m:

Big Names in the Race:

Femke Broeders Bol (NED) - PB: 1:55.54

Sage Hurta-Klecker (USA) - PB: 1:55.89

Lilian Odira (KEN) - PB: 1:54.62

Audrey Werro (SUI) - PB: 1:53.80

Addy Wiley (USA) - PB: 1:56.83

What's Happening: A pacer takes the field out a little too fast and then Audrey Werro holds off Femke Bol to win and set a new meeting record with a time of 1:55.33. 

Callout: One thing to notice is that the pacer went out faster than the wavelights and separated quite a bit from Werro and the rest of the field immediately. 

We've noted before how an aggressive start and then controlling the deceleration is more expected for an elite 800m instead of even splits or a negative split. That said, a controlled deceleration usually is in the 2-3 second range and this was more like 5-6 seconds, so this must have been a challenging last lap for Werro. The pacer in ~54 seconds vs ~55 seconds very likely changed the trajectory of this race. 

Also worth noting that Femke also almost caught Werro at the end, closing the gap to 0.08 seconds! You'll recall that this Femke's first year at the distance and she not only setting Dutch national records but is also right with the best of the best. It will be interesting to see her trajectory in the coming years. 

Lausanne Men's 5000m:

Big Names in the Race:

Birhanu Balew (BRN) - PB: 12:47.73

Khairi Bejiga (ETH) - PB: 13:06.45

Graham Blanks (USA) - PB: 12:48.20

Santiago Catrofe (URU) - PB: 12:59.26

Grant Fisher (USA) - PB: 12:46.96

Kuma Girma (ETH) - PB: 12:46.41

Eduardo Herrera (MEX) - PB: 12:58.57

Cornelius Kemboi (KEN) - PB: 12:56.02

Mathew Kipchumba Kipsang (KEN) - PB: 12:58.61

Laban Kiptoo Kosgei (KEN) - PB: 12:57.32

Jakob Krop (KEN) - PB: 12:45.71

Edwin Kurgat (KEN) - PB: 13:01.47

Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu (SUI) - PB: 12:50.87

Parker Wolfe (USA) - PB: 12:49.45

Nico Young (USA) - PB: 12:45.27

What's Happening: After the pace prematurely slows down and the pacers drop out, Nico Young leads a pack of American men for a few laps and then Bejiga takes the lead and injects some pace. Then it comes down to a fast last lap kick. Birhanu Balew wins in a time of 12:57.55. Parker finishes second in 12:58.20 and leads 3 American men under 13:00.

Callout: This is another messy situation with the pacers. They are already off pace by the 2000 meter mark, a good few meters behind the wavelights. If you listen to the announcer, he's a bit surprised by Nico Young's visible strain, but Nico always has that look on his face regardless of whether his race is going well or not. 

This is a big race for the American men, even though they did not secure a victory. Graham Blanks has himself now run under 13:00 4 times this season and we've seen 4 different US men run 13:00 (including Grant Fisher who ran 12:54 to win the Paris Diamond League). That's great depth. If only this meet had team scoring!

Definitions: "Inject pace" just means to make a surge and change rhythm in a race. You'll see this when an athlete moves to the lead after the pace noticeably slows down. 

Lausanne Women's 200m:

Big Names in the Race:

Anavia Battle (USA) - PB: 21.95

Brittany Brown (USA) - PB: 21.89

Fabienne Hoenke (SUI) - PB: 22.46

Amy Hunt (GBR) - PB: 22.08

Shericka Jackson (JAM) - PB: 21.41

Favour Ofili (NGR) - PB: 21.96

Léonie Pointet (SUI) - PB: 22.69

Kayla White (USA) - PB: 21.92

What's Happening: Kayla White wins in a surprise victory from lane 7 with a time of 22.18 (+0.3). Shericka Jackson pulls up at the halfway point with an injury. 

Callout: What an upsetting day for Shericka Jackson and her fans! She's struggled with on and off injuries for the past few years, but we've seen her be very consistent this season. It is also worth mentioning that she has been grieving the loss of her former long-time coach Stephen Francis, who passed away last month. Hopefully, this injury allows for a speedy recovery and she can get to a happier and healthier place. 

White's victory didn't just happen because Shericka got injured. She also successfully held off Amy Hunt, who is a world silver medalist! While her individual victory was a bit of a surprise, she's been competing at a high level consistently. She was also on the US women's 4x100m relay that won the 2025 world championship, for example. That said, it might be time to keep her on your radar!

Definitions: Recall that times with a (+) added refer to tail winds, which are assisting wind that boosts performance. Since it is less than or equal to 2 meters/second, it's "legal." 

What's Next

If you want to catch the next meet, it will be in Zurich on Thursday, August 27th. You can stream it on FloTrack and it will also be on Prime Video. If you want to follow along with more track and field observations or bad puns between now and then, you can follow me at @predamame on Twitter. See you then!