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Armand "Mondo" Duplantis cruised to pole vault victory in the opening Diamond League meeting of the season on Saturday, but failed to improve his own world record.There was a surprise in the men's 100m as Gift Leotlela of South Africa pipped Ferdinand Omanyala and Kenneth Bednarek in a photo finish to win a Diamond League event for the first time.High-quality women's 200m and 100m hurdles were won by Jamaica's Shericka Jackson and Olympic champion Masai Russell respectively, but Karsten Warholm was shocked in the 300m hurdles.Duplantis already had victory sewn up in the pole vault after just two jumps before he eased to a new Shanghai meeting record in 6.12m.The Swede, who has not lost a competition since 2023, then raised the bar to a world record 6.32m but failed with all three attempts to beat his old mark.Duplantis told AFP he felt the record had been possible."I feel really good jumping right now," said Duplantis, who has lengthened his run-up by two paces this season. "I would say body-wise I was a little bit too busy the past few weeks. But other than that I'm happy with the way I performed."Norway's Warholm clocked two world bests in the little-raced 300m hurdles last season but was stunned by 0.04sec by Brazil's Alison Dos Santos (33.01)."I'm a little bit mad that I didn't win," said Warholm."I think he was really starting to get tired and I thought maybe I had him there. This is how competing should be, you should never know the outcome."Leotlela said his men's 100m victory in 9.97sec had been the perfect start to his outdoor year."I think tonight sets the tone for the rest of the season," he said. "I'm very happy, excited for what's to come."American Bednarek was just 100th of a second behind Leotlela in third, given the same 9.98sec time as Kenya's Omanyala."I feel pretty good," said Bednarek, the 200m silver medallist at the Paris 2024 Olympics. "I didn't execute what I wanted to in the first half of the race but I'm happy with the results." Jamaica's Jackson crossed the line in the 200m in 22.07 to beat Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas (22.26), who was running her first Diamond League race for three years, with American Anavia Battle third in 22.40."This year, I just want to stay healthy," said Jackson."Next season's a world championship year, so I just want to stay as healthy as possible."Former world 100m world champion Sha'Carri Richardson of the United States could only finish fourth in 20.42 and world silver medallist Amy Hunt of Great Britain was fifth.Jessica Schilder recorded the performance of the night as she propelled the shot to a Diamond League record and became the first woman to exceed 21 metres since 1999.The Dutchwoman launched her huge 21.09m effort in the fifth round to relegate two-time world champion Chase Jackson (20.46) to second place."I can't comprehend. It is such a huge thing, it is crazy," Schilder said of breaking the 21-metre barrier.In the women's 100m hurdles, the American Russell's superb 12.25 was good enough to beat Bahamian world indoor champion Devynne Charlton (12.38), with world record holder Tobi Amusan of Nigeria third in 12.41.Mark English's late burst snatched a dramatic men's 800m with a meeting record of 1:43.85.The 33-year-old Irishman dipped past Botswana's Kethobogile Haingura on the line, having come from six runners back in the final 30 metres.In the men's 110m hurdles, Jamal Britt upset his fellow American and world champion Cordell Tinch to win with a personal best-equalling 13.07sec.

Two-time Olympic pole vault champion Mondo Duplantis is looking to pack more power into his jump ‌with a new 22-step approach, ​a longer run-up ‌than he previously used to ‌break the ⁠world ‌record multiple times ‌since 2020.Sweden's Duplantis, who set the world ⁠record for the 15th time when he cleared 6.31 metres in March, used to have a 20-step approach."Tried 22 steps for the first time in the indoor season, which was really ​nice," the 26-year-old told reporters on Friday, a day before the season's first Diamond League ‌meeting in Shaoxing."I ⁠feel like ​I hadn't really made a ​change in basically any part of the jump... since five or six years."Duplantis said he was looking forward to developing his new technique, with the World Championships set for next year, followed by the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles."We'll probably try ‌22 steps again tomorrow, ‌see how ⁠it feels, because I'm still very new ⁠to it," ⁠he added.Kenya's Faith Kipyegon, who has three Olympic golds and the world record in the 1,500m, is also looking to ease into the season, competing at the ​5,000m event on Saturday.Kipyegon took the silver medal in the 5,000m at the Paris Games and was the 2023 world champion at that distance."It's really to see how the body is, and going towards the final of the Diamond ‌League," the ​32-year-old said. 

Pole vault world record holder Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis will aim to win a fifth successive Diamond League title Wednesday in Zurich, the Swiss city hosting the circuit's finals just two weeks before the world championships in Tokyo."I have to be focused, I can't slack," said the US-born Swede, who has been in electric form, setting a 13th world record, of 6.29m, in Budapest earlier this month."High expectations are better than no expectations. It's a good problem, honestly," he said of the public's perception of the current state of the pole vault competition."It's bringing people to watch us, jumping high."Asked whether the 6.30m barrier could soon be breached, Duplantis played a straight bat."I try to maximise my days as much as I can. And if I feel like that on the day, it's a day that I have the possibliity to break the world record, I'll go after it."It would be amazing to do it here, it'd probably even more amazing to do it in Tokyo."It really is just a beautiful circus act that we do and I think we can entertain anyone anywhere in the world."Duplantis will compete in one of six field disciplines held at a street event on Zurich's Sechselautenplatz, directly in front of the city's iconic opera house.Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh will resume her rivalry with Australia's Nicola Olyslagers in the women's high jump while there is also the men's long jump, the women's pole vault, and the shot put for both male and female throwers."I'm ready to jump!" said Mahuchikh, the Ukrainian who set a world record of 2.10m last year."I started my season very well. The main thing now is to get in shape for Tokyo," she added in reference to the September 13-21 worlds in the Japanese capital."It's exciting, it's the main competition of the season. I'm going to Tokyo to protect my title."Lyles v TebogoThe remaining 26 Diamond League champions will be crowned in the course of a bumper programme at the Letzigrund Stadium tomorrow.The array of global stars on show includes the likes of Olympic 100m and 200m champions Noah Lyles and Letsile Tebogo.They face off in the men's 200m, with Botswana's Tebogo hunting a first ever Diamond League title and US sprinter Lyles looking to win the trophy for a record-breaking sixth time."With Weltklasse Zurich being the last race before the world championships, I am looking to run something special," said Lyles, who had to be happy with 200m bronze at the Paris Olympics in a race won by Tebogo.Olympic and Diamond League champion Julien Alfred also lines up in the women's 100m, while 800m star Emmanuel Wanyonyi and 400m hurdles ace Femke Bol will also be looking to defend their series titles.The majority of athletes have qualified for the Diamond League finals thanks to points accrued in the 14 meets to date, while a handful will compete in Zurich on global or national wildcards.There is, however, no place for Jakob Ingebrigtsen in the men's 1,500m.The Norwegian, who has struggled with an achilles injury since winning double world indoor golds in Nanjing in March, was refused a wildcard because rules stipulate that he must have competed in at least one Diamond League meet during the outdoor season.He instead heads to a training camp in the Japanese city of Kyoto ahead of Tokyo to fine-tune preparation for a tilt at a 1,500-5,000m double.