Dos Santos and Russell set world records in ‘crazy’ Zurich Diamond League

Alison Dos Santos and Masai Russell each set a world record while Armand “Mondo” Duplantis won a historic pole vault in a barmy night of track and field in Zurich that would have more than pleased onlooking World Athletics President Sebastian Coe.

“I expect the Olympic Games in two hours,” Coe said of his expectations of the penultimate Diamond League meet of the season on Thursday.

The Swiss city’s Letzigrund Stadium had a raucous sellout 25,000 crowd and the still, balmy weather conditions helped no end for a heady night of athletics.

Brazil’s Dos Santos was first up, clocking a sensational 45.80 seconds to beat the previous mark of 45.94 seconds set by Norway’s Karsten Warholm when winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics.

“I have been showing great form throughout the season – that I am fast, I am strong,” said a confident Dos Santos, with Warholm finishing second and dubbing their discipline a “crazy event”.

“As soon as I knew I was coming here, I was excited. The weather’s good, the track’s amazing,” the Brazilian added.

Then came Russell, the Olympic champion of the US at 12.09 seconds to beat the previous best of 12.12 seconds set by Nigeria’s Tobi Amusan at the Eugene world championships in 2022.

Both Dos Santos and Russell will leave Zurich with a cheque each for $80,000 for having broken their respective records.