The season had already brought everything to Mohammed Aman that he could have hoped for. He had won all of his races except one, had taken gold at the World Championships and going into the Diamond League final in Brussels he was already assured of winning the Diamond Race. What more can one wish for?. Well, a world lead would be nice, and a new personal best and National record would be even better. A fast race was needed for both.

Former European Champion Bram Som duly obliged with a scorching opening lap of 48.55. Aman, wisely, did not follow too closely at this furious pace. Souleiman did stay close and inevitably ran out of steam on the second lap. But Aman paced his race well, stormed away in the final straight to score a fantastic 1:42.37. Not only a new world lead, beating Duane Solomon's mark, but also a new PB and National record. His time moves him up to nr 9 on the all-time list.

Behind him others had reason to smile as well. Nick Symmonds ran his second fastest race ever, missing out on his second 1:42 by just a fraction. Ferguson Cheruiyot set a big PB, he hadn't ran any race of significance before this season and now his PB is a low 1:43! And Lewandowski ran yet another sub-1:44 mark, very close to his PB again.

    Result:
 1. Mohammed Aman          ETH  1:42.37
 2. Nick Symmonds          USA  1:43.03
 3. Ferguson Cheruiyot     KEN  1:43.22
 4. Marcin Lewandowski     POL  1:43.83
 5. Duane Solomon          USA  1:44.36
 6. Ayanleh Souleiman      DJI  1:44.50
 7. Timothy Kitum          KEN  1:45.27
 8. Andrew Osagie          GBR  1:45.34
 9. Abdulaziz Mohamed      KSA  1:46.76

In the absence of David Rudisha there were great chances for other athletes to do well at the World Championships. And several athletes eagerly took the opportunity and went home with a medal. Mohammed Aman has more or less dominated the season so far, so his gold medal was well deserved. Nick Symmonds had been waiting very long for that major medal, and this time he did not hesitate but grabbed the initiative when he needed to. Ayanleh Souleiman surprised most people by taking bronze.

Even though he didn't have to show anything for all his efforts Duane Solomon was the hero of the race. It was his initial pace that made the race so fast that seven men ran 1:44 or better. Symmonds, Lewandowski and Osagie even ran their fastest time of the season. Although he couldn't sustain his pace and only finished sixth, Duane should receive a reward for ensuring such an exciting race.

    Result:
 1. Mohammed Aman          ETH  1:43.31
 2. Nick Symmonds          USA  1:43.55
 3. Ayanleh Souleiman      DJI  1:43.76
 4. Marcin Lewandowski     POL  1:44.08
 5. Andrew Osagie          GBR  1:44.36
 6. Duane Solomon          USA  1:44.42
 7. Pierre-Ambroise Bosse  FRA  1:44.79
 8. Abdulaziz Mohammed     KSA  1:46.57

With Rudisha still nursing an injury many other athletes may have felt they now had a chance to win a few major 800 m races. But so far this season it hasn't turned out that way. Mohammed Aman has won every single race apart from the race in Doha where he came 2nd behind Rudisha. But in Eugene, Rome, Rabat, Ostrava, Birmingham and now Lausanne no one has been able to stay close to him. Aman will now take a rest before going to the World Championships - a strong favourite unless Rudisha can heal in time.

Behind him though Frenchman Bosse challenged courageously, Lewandowski had a fine sprint finish and Amos, in his first race after suffering an injury, only faltered in the last 50 metres. All of them have good reasons to fancy their chances as well.

    Result:
 1. Mohammed Aman          ETH  1:43.33
 2. Pierre-Ambroise Bosse  FRA  1:44.11
 3. Marcin Lewandowski     POL  1:44.31
 4. Nijel Amos             BOT  1:44.71
 5. Brandon Johnson        USA  1:45.03
 6. Rafith Rodriguez       COL  1:45.07
 7. Andrew Osagie          GBR  1:46.59

Five times in a row Nick Symmonds had taken the American title. This year though Duane Solomon had other ideas. He took off from the start, just as his trainer, Johhny Gray, still holder of the American record, often did. An intermediate time of 50.10 showed why most other runners were lagging well behind him. Only Brandon Johnson was staying close, but he had to let go eventually. Nick Symmonds put in a splendid dash but despite finishing in his second fastest time he couldn't catch Solomon, who was still flying as he went through the tape a clear winner.

Solomon's time of 1:43.27 was his second fastet ever (he had been faster only in the Olympic final) and was also a world leading time. Behind him Symmonds was more than happy with his fast time and mentioned that if his string of wins had to be broken it had better be done by someone like Duane, who was so very talented. Brandon Johnson still hung on bravely to come third with a big PB and he can now look forward to run at the World Championships as well.

    Result:
 1. Duane Solomon        USA  1:43.27
 2. Nick Symmonds        USA  1:43.70
 3. Brandon Johnson      USA  1:43.97
 4. Elijah Greer         USA  1:45.04
 5. Tyler Mulder         USA  1:45.13
 6. Erik Sowinski        USA  1:45.21
 7. Michael Rutt         USA  1:45.76
 8. Charles Jock         USA  1:46.42

Mohammed Aman was unable to shine in the Olympic final. Trying to follow David Rudisha's pace turned out to be a bad idea. But Aman is still the only one who was able to beat Rudisha ever since 2010. And while Rudisha is nursing an injury Aman looks likely to come to the fore as the leader of the 800 m. In the Rome Diamond League race that is exactly what happened. While many runners were duelling over the minor places in the final straight Aman was way ahead of the pack and looked like the winner all the way. Not only that, he also eclipsed Rudisha's fastest mark of the season and became leader of the current world rankings.

Behind Aman there were successes for European runners. Pierre-Ambroise Bosse improved his PB by almost a second and looks a strong contender for future European titles. Giordano Benedetti made the home crowd happy with a marvellous sprint finish resulting in a big PB. And there were good runs for Adam Kszczot and Kevin López as well. Meanwhile André Olivier ran yet another solid race. The promising South-African has recently run a string of excellent marks.

    Result:
 1. Mohammed Aman         ETH  1:43.61
 2. Pierre-Ambroise Bosse FRA  1:43.91
 3. André Olivier         RSA  1:44.37
 4. Giordano Benedetti    ITA  1:44.67
 5. Job Kinyor            KEN  1:44.73
 6. Adam Kszczot          POL  1:44.76
 7. Kevin López           ESP  1:45.03
 8. Duane Solomon         USA  1:45.14
 9. Asbel Kiprop          KEN  1:45.54
10. Abraham Rotich        BRN  1:45.59
11. Ilham Tanui Özbilen   TUR  1:46.00
12. Timothy Kitum         KEN  1:46.31

Adam Kszczot gave a fine demonstration of controlled running as he succesfully defended his European Indoor title from two years ago. The two Spaniards took the early lead, sprinting away from the start, then slowing down as they tried to control the race from the front. It's their usual tactic and Kszczot may well have anticipated it. He started at a moderate pace, ran in last position during the first two laps, gradually working his way back to the others. Having thus conserved energy he moved forward on the third lap, settling in behind leader López. At the bell he swiftly took the lead and never looked back. López hung on for silver but Marco faded and so it was between Mohammed and Ananenka for the bronze. At the bell Ananenka had already given Mohammed quite a push and in the final straight he tried to block his rival even sticking out his arm to hold him off. All in vain though because depite all that Mohammed still edged him out with just one hundredth to pick up a deserved bronze.

After the race Adam Kszczot was very happy with his win, in particular because he was the first athlete to defend this title for more than 40 years. The Russian athlete Yevgeniy Arzhanov was the last one to win twice in a row, but that was way back in 1970 and 1971, a very different era. Although remarkably Arzhanov's winning time in 1971 was 1:48.7, virtually the same time as Kszczot ran today. So even though 42 years have passed some things have apparently not changed all that much.

    Result:
 1. Adam Kszczot          POL 1:48.69 		
 2. Kevin López           ESP 1:49.31 		
 3. Mukhtar Mohammed      GBR 1:49.60 		
 4. Anis Ananenka         BLR 1:49.61 		
 5. Taras Bybyk           UKR 1:50.38 		
 6. Luis Alberto Marco    ESP 1:51.69