Perković the Diamond League queen continues to sparkle

Making her 70th appearance in a Diamond League competition, Croatia’s Sandra Perković - the 2012 and 2016 Olympic discus champion - claimed an astonishing 46th victory with a fine 64.37m effort in the second round. 

The 33-year-old two-time world champion and six-time European champion followed up a second place finish in Paris and third position in Oslo with the Stockholm win, which was comfortably ahead of European bronze medalist, Jorinde van Klinke of the Netherlands (62.96m). 

“This victory means a lot for me - after 13 years, I am still here winning Diamond Leagues,” Perković exclaimed.

“I have all those numbers in mind because in athletics everything is about numbers. Stockholm is always special for me and I want to thank the amazing crowd because without them it wouldn't have been possible to have so many good throws. 

“It´s too bad that I miss out on the Olympic standard by 1cm but that’s for Budapest then, because this has been my last competition before the World Championships. I actually had a throw that could have been 66m, but I fell. 

“After so many years on the circuit I am getting cautious about everything. So of course I had four towels in my bag and lots of magnesium. But the most important thing is to believe in yourself. It doesn't matter what the weather is. To find that energy with the audience is important. The speaker said that the Diamond Queen is coming to the circle so I needed to show something. So I am really proud about this performance - I needed to win a Diamond League this year, because I got engaged, it only took twelve years!”

Meanwhile, Olympic champion, Valarie Allman of the USA - the recent winner in Florence and Paris, and runner-up in Oslo - surprisingly failed to register a valid throw.