LJ van Zyl leads below-par SA athletes

Van Zyl finished fifth in the men’s 400m hurdles event, which did not count for points in the season-long Diamond Race standings, in 50.45 seconds.

The former Commonwealth Games champion was well behind American Ashton Eaton, who became the first decathlete to win an individual event at a Diamond League meeting, crossing the line in 49.16.

Sprinter Simon Magakwe was sixth in the men’s 100m race in 10.28 seconds after another sluggish start, though he put up a fight in the second half.

Richard Thompson of Trinidad and Tobago won the short sprint in 10.02.

Khotso Mokoena, the only SA athlete competing in a field event at the meeting, took seventh place in the men’s triple jump with a best leap of 16.38m in the third round.

American Will Claye secured victory with a sixth-round jump of 17.41m.

Fresh off his newest national record of 3:50.70, set in Eugene 11 days earlier, Johan Cronje faded on the final lap to take 10th position in the men’s mile in 3:54.24.

Cronje was in sixth place at the bell and looked on target for another SA mark but struggled to keep up in the closing stages.

In-form world leader Ayanleh Souleiman of Djibouti grabbed another top-flight win in 3:49.49 Cronje’s fellow middle-distance specialist, Caster Semenya, trailed home in 12th position in the women’s 800m event in 2:03.68, more than a full second outside her pedestrian season’s best.

Semenya started an international race with real intent for the first time in the 2014 campaign but dropped off the pace on the second lap to settle for last position.

Kenyan Eunice Sum continued her fine form, winning the two-lap event in 1:59.02.

– Sapa