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Grant Holloway out of Brussels Diamond League Finale
Paris Olympic gold medallist Grant Holloway has rejected the Brussels Diamond League meeting due to a disagreement over an appearance fee.
The 26-year-old 110m hurdles specialist wrote on X, “I will not be participating in the Brussels Diamond League Final due to a failure to reach agreements on the terms of my participation between my team and the meeting directors of the Diamond League. Shame that they doing athletes like that…”
I will not be participating in the Brussels Diamond League Final due to a failure to reach agreements on the terms of my participation between my team and the meeting directors of the Diamond League. Shame that they doing athletes like that.. #BrusselsDL #NeverCompeteForLess
— S. Grant Holloway, OLY (@Flaamingoo_) September 10, 2024
After the Games, he began his Diamond League final campaign with a second-place finish behind Rasheed Broadbell meet before proceeding to win in Silesia. He is a three-time World Athletics Champion. In addition to his Paris Olympic gold, Holloway earned silver during the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.
According to the website Olympics.com, the Memorial Van Damme meet will have sold over 70,000 tickets, the most in Diamond League history. “With over 70,000 tickets sold, the Memorial Van Damme is set to break its own attendance record, as well as that of any previous Diamond League Final.”
No financial details have been released in regards to the discussion between the meeting director and Holloway.
Marco Aarop sets national record
Canadian Marco Aarop set a new national 1000m (1km) track record and the fifth fastest in the world, all-time on Monday, Sept. 9 at the Boris Hanzekovic Memorial meet in Zagreb, Croatia.
The Edmonton, Alberta native ran 2:13:13, missing the 25-year-old mark of 2:11.96 set by Kenya’s Noah Ngeny.
#TeamCanada’s Paris 2024 silver medallist and reigning world champion in the men’s 800m, Marco Arop, set a new Canadian record and world-leading time in the 1000m. 🏃♂️🌟 https://t.co/JaYMw23wkU
— Team Canada (@TeamCanada) September 9, 2024
Aarop felt that he was not aggressive enough in the beginning of the race. He will need to change that tactic next time.
Aarop is the 2023 Budapest World Athletics Champion and Paris Olympic Games silver medallist. The 25-year-old holds the Canadian and North American record for the 800m event clocking a 1:41.20 during the Games in Paris.
Femke Bol to cap her season in Brussels
Dutch 400m hurdler Femke Bol is set to cap off her season at the Diamond League finals in Brussels on Sept. 14.
She has been in solid shape this year, setting new bests. However, underperformed according to her standards during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Will Brussels be an opportunity for the 24-year-old to earn a little redemption? She holds a 50.95 personal best which is the pending European and Dutch record. The bronze was not what she was looking for in Paris, but it was more about her finish time that was dissatisfying. She clocked a 52.15 performance, well back of American Anna Cockrell’s 51.87 and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone winning in 50.37.
She did win team silver and gold in the 4 x 400m relay and 4 x 400m mixed relays, respectively.
Is Gout Gout the next Usain Bolt?
Sixteen-year-old Australian sprinter Gout Gout ran a jaw-dropping 20.60 seconds in the U20 World Championships in the 200m event. This performance is one-hundredth of a second faster than Jamaican Usain Bolt’s record time in the same event in 2002.
Bolt is regarded as the greatest sprinter of all time. He earned eight Olympic gold medals in the sport and a 9.58 world record in the 100m dash.
In March this year, Gout clocked a 10.29 second 100m sprint. In the 200m event at the U20 World Athletics Championships, he was beaten only by Bayanda Walaza of South Africa. Walaza is 18 years old.
Former American sprinter Justin Gatlin was comparing him to Bolt. The truth is, it is too early to make that comparison, but keep the binomially-named Gout Gout on your radar.
