Olympic champion Sanya Richards-Ross eased to victory in the women’s 400m at the Stockholm Diamond League athletics meeting on Friday as post-London blues crept into international track and field.
Richards-Ross, whose win at the Games ended a 28-year wait for gold for the United States in the 400m, timed a mediocre 49.89sec, the only athlete to go below 50sec.
Meanwhile, Charonda Williams took advantage of Olympic gold medallist Allyson Felix’s decision to skip the event to claim victory in the 200m while American compatriot Dawn Harper won the 100m hurdles in 12.65sec ahead of Kellie Wells.
Australian Olympic champion in the event, Sally Pearson was another absentee suffering a back injury.
Bailey triumphs
The men’s 100m was also missing its Olympic stars as America’s Ryan Bailey took victory in 9.93sec.
Olympic 3,000m steeplechase champion Yuliya Zaripova clocked a season’s best time of 9min 05.02sec to win her event.
The Russian finished ahead of Tunisia’s Habiba Ghribi, the silver medallist at the London Games, who timed 9:10.36, with Etenesh Diro Neda of Ethiopia running a personal best of 9:14.07 to take third place.
Zaripova, 26, had set the previous best for the season in winning Olympic gold on August 6 in a time of 9:06.72. Ethiopia’s Sofia Assefa, the bronze medallist in London, failed to finish.
Suhr fails
America’s Jennifer Suhr, the Olympic pole vault champion, returned to the circuit with a resounding bump when she failed to register a height, flopping three times at 4.55m.
Cuba’s Yarisley Silva, the Olympic silver medallist, won the competition with 4.70m ahead of Germany’s Silke Spiegelburg on 4.55m.
Bahrain's Maryam Yusuf Jamal made the most of the absence of Turkish gold and silver medal winners from London, Asli Cakir Alptekin and Gamze Bulut, to claim victory in the 1500m in a time of 4:01.20.
America’s Michael Tinsley also took revenge for his Olympic defeat, turning the tables on gold medallist Felix Sanchez in the 400m hurdles, winning in 48.50sec.
Sanchez was second in 48.93sec, 1.30sec slower than his Olympic-winning time.
Elsewhere, there were wins for Olympic champions Valerie Adams in the shot put and Sandra Perkovic in the discus.
The results: Men: 100m: 1. Ryan Bailey (U.S.) 9.93; 2. Nesta Carter (Jamaica) 10.06; 3. Michael Frater (Jamaica) 10.12.
400m: 1. Rabah Yousif (Sudan) 45.73; 2. Jarrin Solomon (Trinidad & Tobago) 46.18; 3. Brian Murphy (Ireland) 46.71.
800m: 1. Mohammed Aman (Ethiopia) 1:43.56; 2. Taoufik Makhloufi (Algeria) 1:43.71; 3. Abraham Rotich (Kenya) 1:44.23.
3000m: 1. Isiah Kiplangat Koech (Kenya) 7:30.43; 2. Caleb Mwangangi Ndiku (Kenya) 7:30.99; 3. John Kipkoech (Kenya) 7:34.03.
400m Hurdles: 1. Michael Tinsley (U.S.) 48.50; 2. Felix Sanchez (Dominican Republic) 48.93; 3. Leford Green (Jamaica) 48.97.
Triple jump: 1. Christian Taylor (U.S.) 17.11; 2. Sheryf El-Sheryf (Ukraine) 17.04; 3. Lyukman Adams (Russia) 16.93.
Shot put: 1. Reese Hoffa (U.S.) 21.24; 2. Tomasz Majewski (Poland) 21.01; 3. Ryan Whiting (U.S.) 20.94.
Javelin: 1. Tero Pitkaemaeki (Finland) 86.98; 2. Vitezslav Vesely (Czech Republic) 83.74; 3. Oleksandr Pyatnytsya (Ukraine) 81.23.
Women: 200m: 1. ChaRonda Williams (U.S.) 22.82; 2. Bianca Knight (U.S.) 22.86; 3. Mariya Ryemyen (Ukraine) 22.94.
400m: 1. Sanya Richards-Ross (U.S.) 49.89; 2. Amantle Montsho (Botswana) 50.03; 3. Christine Ohuruogu (Britain) 50.77.
1500m: 1. Maryam Yusuf Jamal (Bahrain) 4:01.19; 2. Mimi Belete (Bahrain) 4:01.72; 3. Abeba Aregawi (Ethiopia) 4:02.04.
100m Hurdles: 1. Dawn Harper (U.S.) 12.65; 2. Kellie Wells (U.S.) 12.76; 3. Alina Talay (Belarus) 12.79.
3000m Steeplechase: 1. Yuliya Zaripova (Russia) 9:05.02; 2. Habiba Ghribi (Tunisia) 9:10.36; 3. Etenesh Diro Neda (Ethiopia) 9:14.07.
High jump: 1. Anna Chicherova (Russia) 2.00; 2. Svetlana Shkolina (Russia) 1.97; 3. Tia Hellebaut (Belgium) 1.94.
Long jump: 1. Elena Sokolova (Russia) 6.82; 2. Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova (Belarus) 6.75; 3. Janay DeLoach (U.S.) 6.69.
Pole vault: 1. Yarisley Silva (Cuba) 4.70; 2. Silke Spiegelburg (Germany) 4.55; 3. Fabiana Murer (Brazil) 4.55.
Shot put: 1. Valerie Adams (New Zealand) 20.26; 2. Evgeniia Kolodko (Russia) 19.08; 3. Christina Schwanitz (Germany) 18.72.
Discus: 1. Sandra Perkovic (Croatia) 68.77; 2. Darya Pishchalnikova (Russia) 66.85; 3. Nadine Mueller (Germany) 65.07.
