Gateshead (United Kingdom) (AFP)

The Diamond League meeting in Gateshead (United Kingdom), the last major event in athletics before the Olympics, gave birth to very disappointing performances on Tuesday, the athletes probably already having their heads in Tokyo.

For its 2nd Diamond League meeting of the season, the small town on the outskirts of Newcastle, which has recovered the competition initially scheduled in London, did not offer much to its audience, yet the author of the last applause for the champions before the Olympics behind closed doors (23 July - 8 August).

Big event of the evening, the men's 100m did not spark off with a large victory for the American favorite Trayvon Bromell but in a modest time of 9 sec 98 (+0.4 m / s of wind).

However, the start list looked great with the triple Canadian Olympic medalist Andre de Grasse (silver in 200m, bronze in 100 and 4x100m in Rio) and the other American Fred Kerley.

The fastest man of the year (9.77 at the start of June), Trayvon Bromell made sure the numbers were respected and made up for his disappointment from Monaco last week (5th in 10.01) for his second competition in Europe only since 2016 and his serious injury that had kept him off the slopes for two years.

The 2015 world bronze medalist edged Britons Chijindu Ujah (10.10) and Zharnel Hughes (10.13), who finished at the same time as de Grasse and Kerley.

At 26, Bromell remains the favorite to succeed Jamaican legend Usain Bolt on the straight in less than three weeks in Japan.

"I'm happy with this race, I'm happy to cross the line without injury. The Games are a huge event that goes beyond my simple person. I just want to take care of my body, stay calm and focus on my goal", a- he said, confirming the state of mind in the UK on Tuesday.

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Caution and fear of injury had indeed pushed the British stars Dina Asher-Smith (world champion in the 200 m) and Dutch Sifan Hassan (world champion in the 1,500 m and 10,000 m) to withdraw for contractures in the hamstrings. -legs, greatly reducing the number of athletes.

Not brilliant either, the double Jamaican Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah dominated the 200m in 22 sec 43.

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