Collin Kebinatshipi of Botswana stormed to victory in the men’s 400m, while USA’s Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone looked unbeatable in taking the women’s event

Thu 18 Sep 2025 15.21 BST

Righto, that’s it from us for now, but what a night that was.

Noah Lyles ran a brilliant 200m semi, setting up tomorrow’s final with Letsile Tebogo, Kenny Bednarek and Bryan Levell also looking mean while, in the women’s event, it looks like a ruckus between Shericka Jackson and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden.

But it was the two 400m finals that really made us feel, Collen Kebinatshipi announcing himself to the world with a dominant run to take men’s gold, before Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone did what we all knew she’d do, adding the flat to her list of events mastered, having left the hurdles in search of a new way to proclaim her genius.

Sean Ingle’s reports will be with us shortly, sh please do check back in here or on-site for those, but otherwise, peace out.

I don’t suppose Sydney could quite stretch to the 800m, but 400m hurdles are so taxing perhaps she’s got the strength.

In the meantime, though, we need to make sure we enjoy whatever she does to the fullest possible extent, because there’ll never be another her.

Most athletes would stick to dominating their one event, a hard enough endeavour; to take up another for the challenge tell us plenty about her talent, but more about her competitive spirit.

I guess Sydney’s next challenge will be the world record; I’ve not a clue what she’ll come up with after that.

I actually thought Naser would push her harder – she might want to rethink her strategy of going out like billy-o – but Paulino ran a terrific race from the outside lane, and gave the champ a proper test.

Phew! The speed at which these races come is ruining my Pseud’s Corner entries, I’m afraid, but Collen Kebinatshipi, what a talent.

There’s something so precious about a youngster announcing themselves to the world, and I you can tell this particular one knows he’s special.

He might’ve eased up in the semi, when he ran shockingly fast, but he knew he had plenty left, and there was no point in the final when it looked like someone else could even challenge him.

I wish I could watch him go again, immediately.

Amber Anning of GB, the world indoor champ, came a creditable fifth.

She ran a season’s best and tells BBC she’s a bit disappointed, but made great progression through the rounds and was glad to be out there taking part in history.

The Diamond League gave her a lot of confidence as she was running against the best; she’s got lots more to give so is looking forward to resting up and going again next season.

It’s so rare to see a runner so fast and so stylish; she could run on jelly and leave no footprints.

The women’s world record, set by GDR’s Marita Koch in 1985, is not relied upon by all, and various authorities on the matter reckon it was run with assistance. This from Sean Ingle’s primer:

That sounds ominous for Koch, who has long been alleged to be part of East Germany’s state-sponsored doping programme, in books and newspaper articles.

When asked about it by the BBC in 2014, she replied: “I don’t have to prove anything to myself. I have a clear conscience.

I can only repeat myself … I never tested positive, I never did anything which I should not have done at that time.”

Koch did acknowledge the fact that the record would ultimately be overtaken, though, saying that “at some point, that time will come”. It could even be on Thursday.