Charlie Dobson shocked Matt Hudson-Smith as he edged victory in the men’s 400 metres in front of a sell-out crowd at the Novuna London Athletics Meet.
Dobson won the Diamond League final last year and while all eyes were on Olympic silver medallist Hudson-Smith, it was Dobson who swooped through to claim the win in a new personal best time of 44.14 seconds.
He said: “I really enjoyed that one. I kind of set the race up slightly different to how I’d done previously. I got to 200 a couple of tenths faster than I would normally, I hope, obviously I haven’t seen the splits yet.
“I just got to the last straight and I felt really good. I thought I’d give it everything. I thought I’d catch a few of them, I didn’t think I’d catch all of them.”
Asked if Hudson-Smith had any words at the finish, Dobson added: “He just laughed at me. I couldn’t really say much either, to be honest. I was surprised. I’ll chat to him after. He’s an amazing competitor.
“I love being able to race against him and I’ll be honest, I love beating him.”
Josh Kerr was another expected to be among the winners but, although he ran a season’s best of 3.29.37, Kenya’s Phanuel Koech had the measure of the reigning world champion.
Georgia Hunter-Bell produced a decisive finishing kick in the women’s 800m, running a season’s best of 1.56.74 to beat America’s Addison Wiley, while Jemma Reekie (sixth) and Laura Muir (10th) were down the field.
Morgan Lake claimed victory in the women’s high jump with a leap of 1.96m but there was disappointment for Molly Caudery in the women’s pole vault as the 2024 world indoor champion cleared 4.60m, some way short of even her season’s best of 4.85m, to place fifth.
Dina Asher-Smith posted her best time this year in the women’s 200m, running 22.25 behind Julien Alfred, with team-mate Amy Hunt third in a new PB of 22.31.
The first British quartet of Asher-Smith, Hunt, Desiree Henry and Daryll Neita came out on top in their women’s 4x100m relay, running 41.69 seconds to beat second-placed Jamaica, with the second GB entry coming home sixth.
The first men’s GB team of Jeremiah Azu, Louie Hinchcliffe, Romell Glave and Zharnel Hughes ran 38.08 to finish second to a dominant Jamaican team in the men’s 4x100m relay, with the second British quartet taking third.
National 400m finals yielded victories for Lewis Davey (44.91) and Victoria Ohuruogu (51.22), with Seamus Derbyshire (48.82) winning a domestic men’s 400m hurdle final.
Lawrence Okoye had to settle for third in the men’s discus with a throw of 67.24m behind Mykolas Alekna’s meeting record of 71.70m, while the Netherlands’ Femke Bol delivered a comprehensive victory in the women’s 400m hurdles, as Britain’s Lina Nielsen finished sixth.
Noah Lyles was defeated in first 100m since winning gold in Paris last year, running 10 seconds flat as Jamica’s Oblique Seville powered home in a time of 9.86.
Kenya’s Emmanuel Wanyonyi set a new meeting record of 1.42 in the men’s 800m, with Britain’s Max Burgin taking third with a new personal best of 1.42.36 in a race that had been billed as a world-record attempt.
