Muir & Reekie claim wins at Stockholm Diamond League

Britons Laura Muir and Jemma Reekie both claimed victories at the Stockholm Diamond League, as Swedish pole vault star Armand Duplantis went close to setting another world record on home soil.

Olympic silver medallist Muir, 31, showed an impressive turn of speed as she burst clear in the final 200m to win the women's 1500m in three minutes 57.99 seconds.

"To be running what I am now and knowing that I have a couple more months of training before the Olympics is very exciting going forward," said Muir, who began her outdoor season by running 3:56.35 for fourth place in Eugene last week.

"It is all about August this year. That is when I need to be at my best."

While not an official Diamond League race - meaning no points were on offer as athletes look to qualify for September's final - Muir's fellow Scot Reekie, 26, controlled the women's 800m to win in 1:57.79.

Olympic and world champion Duplantis sought to break the men's pole vault world record for the ninth time as he was cheered on by his home crowd.

After claiming victory as the only athlete over 6.00m, the 24-year-old went agonisingly close but failed to go clear in three attempts at 6.25m.

British world bronze medallist Ben Pattison finished fourth in the men's 800m in a season's best 1:44.44. Elliot Giles was sixth in 1:45.10, while former 1500m world champion Jake Wightman clocked 1:45.35 for eighth as he continued his return to fitness following an injury-disrupted 2023.

Revee-Walcott-Nolan was sixth in the women's 1500m in a personal best 4:00.77.

Jamaica's world champion Shericka Jackson ran a season's best 22.69secs to win the women's 200m as Britain's Amy Hunt finished third in 22.92secs.

Elsewhere, Dutch world 400m hurdles champion Femke Bol posted her fastest ever season opener in 53.07 seconds.

The seventh stop of the Diamond League series in Stockholm marked the halfway stage in the road to the final in Brussels on 13-14 September.

Only three Diamond League meetings remain before the athletics programme begins at Paris 2024 in August, with Paris, Monaco and London each hosting crucial opportunities for athletes to finalise their preparations before the Olympic Games.

Lausanne, Silesia, Rome and Zurich offer the last stages for athletes to earn points as they seek to qualify for the final, where trophies and prize money will be up for grabs.

The series began in April with a double-header in China, where Duplantis opened his season in spectacular fashion by breaking the pole vault world record in Xiamen, before Briton Daryll Neita made an exciting start to her season by beating world 100m champion Sha'Carri Richardson to win over 200m in Suzhou.

British rising star Molly Caudery underlined her Olympic gold medal potential by beating reigning pole vault world champion Nina Kennedy in Doha, where Neita continued her winning start by triumphing over 100m.

The highly anticipated Prefontaine Classic in Eugene brought significant victories for British pair Josh Kerr and Keely Hodgkinson, with Kerr setting a British mile record in defeating rival Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Hodgkinson taking a commanding 800m victory over world champion Mary Moraa.

In Oslo, Matt Hudson-Smith produced a statement performance in his season opener as the world 400m silver medallist set a European record, while Ingebrigtsen responded to his Eugene loss in dramatic fashion by diving across the line to claim victory on home soil.

Before the next Diamond League event in Paris on 7 July, the European Athletics Championships take place in Rome from 7-12 June.