Weltklasse Zurich opened its two-day programme in its most distinctive setting on Wednesday evening, and it was Hana Moll who rose to the occasion. The American cleared a personal best of 4.90m to win the women's pole vault city event, staged as ever on a runway laid through the concourse of Zurich's main railway station in front of a crowd of around 3,000.
Victory did not come easily. Moll worked through early struggles in the competition before finding her rhythm in a duel with home favourite Angelica Moser, the two-time world indoor medallist, who pushed her all the way with a best of 4.85m. The American stars Katie Moon and Sandi Morris, both global champions in the discipline, shared third place at 4.75m in a field that gathered most of the event's leading names a fortnight before the season's climax.
The result extends a striking late-season surge from Moll, who won in Lausanne last week with 4.84m and has now taken back-to-back Diamond League victories over the strongest opposition the circuit can assemble. Wednesday's clearance, converting to just over 16 feet, moves her firmly into the conversation among the event's elite and secured her place in the Wanda Diamond League final in Brussels on 4 and 5 September.
The train-station vault has become one of athletics' best pieces of theatre since Weltklasse adopted the two-venue format, taking a single discipline out of the stadium and into the city the night before the main meeting. For Swiss fans the evening carried extra weight with Moser in the final pair, and the noise inside the concourse when she attacked 4.90m underlined why organisers persist with the format despite its logistical demands.
Attention now shifts to Letzigrund for Thursday's main programme, the final regular stop before Brussels. The card is headlined by Mondo Duplantis in the men's pole vault after world-record attempts in Lausanne and Silesia, a heavyweight men's 1500m rematch between Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Cole Hocker, Yared Nuguse and in-form American Ethan Strand, and appearances from Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, Julien Alfred and Karsten Warholm as the last final qualifying places are settled.