OSLO, Norway — At the sixth leg of the 2024 Wanda Diamond League held at Oslo’s iconic Bislett Games, Jamaica’s rising triple jump star Jordan Scott delivered a career-defining performance, bouncing back from his first season defeat to claim the top spot on the men’s triple jump podium. The Jamaican posted a wind-aided mark of 17.66 meters with a 2.6 m/s tailwind, securing his first major Diamond League win just weeks ahead of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) National Championships, scheduled to kick off on June 18.
Scott’s path to victory was not without early missteps: he fouled his opening attempt, notched a 16.96m jump with a headwind of 1.8 m/s in the second round, and matched his personal best to seize the lead in the third round, ultimately holding off top competition to finish first. Only two of his six attempts fell within legal wind parameters, but his best jump was enough to outperform the field that included the athlete who had defeated him just weeks earlier.
It was Italy’s Andy Diaz Hernandez, who upset Scott at the previous Diamond League stop in Rome, who claimed second place in Oslo, matching his own season best with a 17.59m jump in legal wind conditions. Algeria’s Yasser Mohammed Triki rounded out the top three with a wind-assisted 17.43m. Jamaican rising star Jaydon Hibbert, another entrant in the men’s triple jump, also fouled his opening attempt but logged two jumps over 17.00m, finishing fifth with a season best of 17.17m.
Joining Scott on the podium was fellow Jamaican Rushell Clayton, a two-time World Athletics Championships 400m bronze medalist and World Athletics Indoor Championships silver medalist, who took second place in the women’s 400m hurdles. After finishing third in her two prior Diamond League outings this season, Clayton clocked 53.50 seconds, falling just short of winner Emma Zapletalova of Slovakia, who notched her third consecutive Diamond League victory with a 53.13-second finish. American Jasmine Jones took third with a time of 54.09 seconds.
Ackelia Smith, making her 2024 season debut in the triple jump after focusing on long jump competitions earlier in the year, finished fourth with a mark of 14.50m in legal wind conditions. The event was won by Cuba’s Davisleydi Valazco, who posted a wind-aided 14.85m, while Senegal’s Saly Sarr claimed second with a personal best 14.75m, and another Cuban, Leyanis Perez Hernandez, took third with a 14.60m wind-assisted jump.
In the women’s 400m, Jamaica’s Nickisha Pryce finished fifth with a time of 50.39 seconds. The home crowd had reason to celebrate, as Norway’s Henriette Jaeger took gold with a season best 49.52 seconds, followed by Lurdes Gloria Manuel of Czechia (50.13) and Poland’s Natalia Bukowiecka (50.34).
Jamaica’s veteran shot putter Danniel Thomas-Dodd placed sixth with a throw of 18.83m, in an event headlined by a historic performance from American Chase Jackson. Jackson broke a 13-year-old Bislett Games meet record previously held by New Zealand legend Valerie Adams, tossing a season best 20.74m to claim gold. World leader Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands took second with a 20.11m throw, while Canada’s Sarah Mitton rounded out the top three with 19.89m.
Scott and Clayton’s podium finishes mark the only top-three results for Jamaican athletes at the final major Diamond League event before Jamaica’s national qualifying championships for the upcoming global athletics championships, giving the pair momentum as they prepare to defend their national titles and secure spots on Jamaica’s global roster.