T&T's Jereem Richards sprinted to second place in the men's 200 metres at the Lausanne Diamond League leg in Switzerland on Friday.
Richards crossed the line in 20.11 seconds behind the two-time World Junior 100m champion and record-holder Letsile Tebogo of Botswana with 20.01. Liberian Joseph Fahnbulleh copped third spot (20.21).
Running on the outside in lane eight, Richareds started conservatively and was out of the top three coming into the final straight.
However, two-time Commonwealth Games 200m winner powered home to past several World class sprinters to take the runner-up spot. The Point Fortin-born runner finished ahead of Cuban Reyneir Mena (20.24), Canada's 2022 World Championships 4x100m gold medallist Aaron Browne (20.44) and another Canadian Tokyo Olympic 200m winner Andre De Grasse (20.57). Switzerland's William Reais (20.91) and Taymir Burnett of the Netherlands (21.30) also trailed behind.
Richards' 20.11 clocking was 0.03 seconds shy of his season's best of 20.08 set in his runner-up finish at the LA Grand Prix in California, USA on May 27. The 2017 World Championships 4x400m gold medallist also recorded his second Diamond League silver medal effort. He picked up silver in Florence, Italy on June 2.
London Olympics javelin winner Keshorn Walcott had to settle for seventh position in a stacked men's javelin line-up with a first-round mark of 81.85m.
Tokyo Olympic champion Neeraj Chopra of India was the winner with 87.66m ahead of Germany's Julian Weber (87.03) and two-time World Championships medallist Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic (86.13).
Walcott, the T&T national record holder, was in fourth spot after the first round as Weber took the early lead. He did not improve on his second effort (81.70) and slipped down to fifth position. Walcott could only muster 79.77 on his third throw to remain fifth. A no-throw in the fourth and 80.70m on the fifth try pushed the Toco-born thrower down to seventh on the final placings.
Finland's Oliver Helander was fourth (83.50) with Grenada's two-time defending World champion Anderson Peters in fifth (82.23). Ukrainian Artur Felfner (81.89) ended in sixth.
Walcott was sixth in his only other Diamond League appearance in Doha, Qatar on May 5.
Bahamian Laquan Nairn won the men's long jump (8.11) ahead of the Tokyo Olympic champion Miltaidis Tentoglou of Greece (8.07) and Japanese Yuki Hashioka (7.98).
Jamaican Natoya Goule-Toppin was third in the women's 800m (1:58.90) behind Commonwealth champion Marry Moraa of Kenya (1:57.43) and Great Britain's European Indoor and Outdoor gold medallist Keely Hodgkinson (1:58.37).
