- Officials rescind winning mark minutes after awarding her trophy
- Strip her of both title and US$30,000 paycheck
Huge disappointment came the way of Nova Scotia’s Sarah Mitton after her winning mark was disqualified to deprive her back-to-back Diamond League titles.
The development denied Mitton the chance to become the first Canadian track and field athlete to make Diamond League history as she dropped from first to third position, costing her not only the victory but also the additional US$23,000 prize.
However, Mitton, who was the 2024 Diamond League champion in the women’s shot put, still won US$7,000 as the prize money for the third place athlete.
Interestingly, the Canadian star thought she had secured her second consecutive Diamond League title in Zurich after a massive 20.67-metre throw on her second attempt.
She was awarded the trophy and flowers, only to learn 20 minutes later that officials have confirmed that her throw was a foul on two counts, though the foul was missed in real time.
In video footage shared on X, Mitton appears to clip the front toe board, then exits the circle before her throw landed, both violations in shot put.
With her season’s best of 20.67m wiped out, Mitton’s next-best mark of 19.99m stood, leaving her in third place. The disqualified throw was just one centimetre shy of her Canadian record of 20.68m. Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands was awarded the win with her mark of 20.26m.
Mitton entered Zurich as the reigning champion, having won in Brussels last year with a throw of 20.25m.
The Diamond League Final wrapped up with Canadian middle-distance star Marco Arop set to face Kenyan rival Emmanuel Wanyonyi in the men’s 800m at 3:20 p.m. ET.
