London, UK – Jamaican sprinter Oblique Seville delivered a sensational performance at the London Diamond League on Saturday, July 19, 2025, leaving Olympic champion Noah Lyles trailing in his wake to win the men’s 100 metres in a blazing 9.86 seconds. The sold-out 60,000-strong crowd at the Olympic Stadium braved early storms to witness a series of superb athletic performances as stars gear up for September’s World Championships in Tokyo.
Seville’s Blistering Start Decides Men’s 100m
In the eagerly anticipated centerpiece event, Seville, who had shown immense promise in the rounds of last year’s Olympics before finishing last in the final, exploded out of the blocks. He established a commanding two-metre lead within the first 20 metres and maintained his blistering pace, effectively settling the race by the 25-metre mark. Lyles, the American Olympic 100m champion who had begun his season in earnest last week with a 200m victory in Monaco, finished strongly but could not close the gap, taking second place in 10.00 seconds. Lyles, clad in a fetching mauve one-piece, was in confident mood but it was the “red blur” of Seville that truly captured attention.
Records and Surprises Across the Track
The London Diamond League meet proved to be a fertile ground for exceptional performances and unexpected victories:
- Women’s 200m: Olympic 100m champion Julien Alfred of St. Lucia was hugely impressive, forging clear in the latter stages to clock a scorching personal best and meeting record of 21.71 seconds. British duo Dina Asher-Smith (22.25) and Amy Hunt (22.31) secured second and third.
- Men’s 400m: Briton Charlie Dobson delivered a surprise win, overhauling favorite Matt Hudson-Smith on the line. Dobson, who was 10 metres adrift entering the final straight, finished “like a train” to sweep past five rivals. He looked stunned upon seeing his personal best of 44.14 seconds on the screen, while World and Olympic silver medallist Hudson-Smith, visibly tying up, finished second in 44.27.
- Men’s 1500m: 18-year-old Kenyan rising star Phanuel Kipkosgei Koech took the honours in a high-quality field. He forced past Britain’s world champion Josh Kerr on the inside with 200 metres to go, driving clear to win in 3:28.82.
- Men’s Discus: Mykolas Alekna of Lithuania shrugged off a wet circle to win the discus with a mighty throw of 71.70 metres, setting a new Diamond League record. This throw, while impressive, was almost four meters shy of the world record he set in the United States in April, a performance that some dubbed “weather doping” due to high wind assistance.
Middle-Distance Mastery and Distant Battles
The middle-distance events also delivered thrilling contests:
- Men’s 800m: Kenyan Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi completed a middle-distance double for his nation, surging through to win in 1:42.00. He beat Canadian Marco Arop, whom he had also narrowly defeated by one hundredth of a second in last year’s Olympic final.
- Women’s 5000m: 20-year-old Medina Eisa of Ethiopia battled fellow Ethiopian Fantaye Belayneh in a fantastic final 200 metres, snatching victory in 14:30.97. Belayneh set a personal best of 14:30.90 in a race that saw a record number of 13 women finish inside 14:40.
- Women’s 800m: Despite the injury absence of Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson, British fans had plenty to cheer about as Georgia Hunter Bell ran a superbly-judged race to win in 1:56.74 from American Addison Wiley.
The London Diamond League proved to be a highly successful meet, setting the stage for an exciting build-up to the World Championships in Tokyo later this year.
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