Burgin chases down the Olympic champion in Zurich while Georgia Hunter Bell sets personal best ahead of Tokyo
The second and final night of the 2025 Wanda Diamond League final delivered on all fronts at Zürich’s Letzigrund Stadium on August 28, defying gloomy forecasts and instead offering near-perfect conditions for a night that saw national records and personal bests be broken.
Among the many standout performances on a packed evening of athletics, the men’s 800m provided perhaps the most gripping finish. A thrilling three-man sprint to the line saw Kenya’s Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi retain his Diamond League crown by the narrowest of margins, clocking 1:42.37 to hold off a fast-closing Max Burgin.
The 22-year-old Brit, who had powered through the field from mid-pack, surged down the final straight in one of the most composed races of his career, only narrowly missing out on the win. His time of 1:42.42 was just six hundredths shy of his personal best (1:42.36) and served as a huge statement ahead of next month’s World Championships in Tokyo.
“I went into this race approaching it similarly to how I did in Lausanne,” said Burgin. “I think I might have gone a touch early in Lausanne and blown up at the end. I think today, I know I didn’t quite finish it off at the end but I think it was a much stronger finish and time.
“It’s about learning how best to utilise the kick at the end in these sort of races. It’s definitely something that is coming on. In these sorts of races, you always know there is going to be someone breathing down your neck. You just never know, so you need to push right until the end otherwise someone will catch you.”
Canada’s Marco Arop, the reigning world champion, was also right in the mix — closing hard in the final metres but settling for third in 1:42.57 after a closely contested battle.
Great Britain’s success in the 800m wasn’t limited to the men’s event. In the women’s race, Georgia Hunter Bell delivered a strong performance to take second place behind Switzerland’s Audrey Werro. In a home-straight showdown that had the Zurich crowd roaring, Werro held off Hunter Bell’s charge to take the win in 1:55.91 — a Swiss national record — while Bell crossed just five hundredths behind in 1:55.96.
That run not only marked a personal best for Bell but also propelled her to third on the UK all-time list, behind…
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