Botswana’s 400 meters runner, Amantle Montsho, is the winner of the Samsung Diamond League. Despite coming second, behind reigning Olympic Champion Sanya Richards-Ross during the league’s last Diamond Race in Zurich on Thursday, the local lass won the 400 meters league courtesy of her higher points’ aggregate.
Montsho has accumulated 20 points to top the league standings while Richards-Ross managed only 16 points.
Going into Thursday night’s last Diamond race, Montsho was leading the Diamond league series with 16 points while her closest competitor, Richards-Ross had 8 points. Montsho, therefore, needed only to finish on the top three positions to win the Diamond race, while a failure to finish on the top three and a win by Richards-Ross would have given the American the title.
With the race graced by all the top four finishers at the just ended London Olympics, the onus was on Montsho to prove that she still has what it takes to beat the athletes who had denied her an elusive Olympic medal and she did not disappoint. Unlike in the Olympics, Montsho showed composure as she took her competitors head on, powering from the blocks to seize an early lead. Montsho then kept pace and led the race only for Richards-Ross to power past her a few meters away from the finish line.
Ross finished the race in 50.21 seconds with Montsho finishing closely in 50.33 seconds. While the win meant Richards-Ross continued her dominance over Montsho having won their last three encounters, Montsho, however, won the overall series, walking away with a US $40 000 and a diamond trophy in the process.
The series win capped a tumultuous season for Montsho that saw her narrowly miss on her maiden Olympic medal which still seems to be her unicorn. For an athlete who seemed to have had a dip in form going into the summer Olympics, Montsho’s sudden resuscitation of form will leave many wondering what could have happened. Prior to the Olympics, the athlete, who was seen as a favorite to win an Olympic medal, seemed to struggle, something which led some in the local sporting fraternity to doubt if she was not fatigued prior to the games. Her sudden rise of form has seen her comfortably beating the likes of Christine Ohuruogu and DeeDee Trotter who beat her in the Olympics.
