BONGANI MALUNGA
Nijel Amos’ latest IAAF Diamond League triumph has seen him catapult to the top of the competition’s rankings and records in his category, he is now the most successful male 800m athlete in the competition’s history. Amos has won three Diamond League trophies, one more than his closest challengers David Rudisha and Mohammed Aman who have two trophies each.
Amos won five individual races this year in the Diamond League and had accumulated more points than any other athlete in his race category in the build up to the final. He was always the overwhelming favourite to win the final and he duly obliged by emerging victorious.
The Marobela native won the 800m final held in Brussels, Belgium last week Friday with a record of 1:44.53 as he beat Poland duo Marcin Lewandowski and Adam Kszczot who finished second and third respectively. In the process he became the first ever male 800m athlete to win the trophy for a third time and he will be amongst the favourites to win it again next year.
The Motswana athlete set out on a mission to improve his fitness last year as he went to train in Kenya, his main focus was high altitude training which has served Kenyan athletes well over the years. He excelled and demonstrated that his two month long Kenyan training camp paid off.
Amos has also equalled Amantle Montsho’s record of three Diamond League trophies, they are the joint most successful African athletes in Diamond League history. As a result, Botswana is now in the top 10 of the most successful countries in the Diamond League with seven trophies collected so far. Nijel has been in top form this year and he is now ranked in first place in the AllAtletics world rankings.