Dina Asher-Smith and Laura Muir sent out statements in Stockholm as both claimed gold in the third Diamond League meeting of the season.
Triple European champion from 2018 Asher-Smith shaved her own world-leading time down to 22.18 to beat the rest of the field and claim her second 200m Diamond League victory of the season after winning in Doha.
The 23-year-old Londoner was a cut above the rest as she finished almost half a second ahead of reigning double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson (22.66) and two-time 200m World Champion Dafne Schippers (22.78).
“I am happy with that because my aim was to come, win and run my own race which is very important in a race of that calibre,” said Asher-Smith.
“I was very happy to win but I didn’t expect to run that kind of time as it is quite cold out and late at night.
“I’m glad it stopped raining. I didn’t know my mum would be here – she tends to just turn up so when I saw her I was so happy.”
Meanwhile Muir finished a full four seconds ahead of the rest of the 1500m field in 4:05:37 to beat Moroccan Malika Akkaoui and Swede Yolanda Ngarambe who set a personal best in front of the home crowd.
Ngarambe’s performance denied Brits Jemma Reekie and Sarah McDonald a podium finish as they came home fourth and fifth respectively while Amy Griffiths was eighth.
There was another reason to celebrate in the 5000m as Eilish McColgan and Melissa Courtney, who finished seventh and eighth respectively, both earned qualification for the World Championship in Doha.
Courtney, shaved ten seconds off of her personal best to bring it down to 14:53:82 while McColgan finished just over a second ahead of her compatriot in 14:52:40 – and both were forced to hurdle over fallen runners on their way to the finish.
“I’m happy with that because the race was so messy, you can see that two Kenyans went down, and when that happened it really slowed it and obviously that made Gabriela, Eilish and I really close in, which was good, but I kept clipping people´s heels as it was really slowing down,” said Courtney.
“I felt really controlled the whole way, I’m just annoyed I didn’t quite have it at the end. It is just learning though.
“I can´t complain, I really wanted under that 14:50:00 barrier but there´s still time, it’s only my second season in the event so I’ve got a lot to learn.”
And 2012 European Champion from Helsinki Lynsey Sharp dug in deep to produce a seventh-placed finish in the 800m in 2:03:52 while Sebastian Rodger and Jacob Paul came home fourth and sixth respectively in the 400m hurdles. Sportsbeat 2019