Morgan Lake fulfils 'crazy' lifelong ambition by becoming first British woman to clear two metres in high jump
By Rhys Jones
Published 27/08/2025 at 20:07 GMT+1
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Morgan Lake finished third in the Diamond League high jump final in Zurich on Wednesday, becoming the first British woman to clear the two-metre mark. Lake finished behind Ukrainian jumper Yaroslava Mahuchikh and Australian winner Nicola Olyslagers. Elsewhere, Armand Duplantis won his fifth straight Diamond League in the pole vault final after a tight battle with Greece's Emmanouli Karalis.
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Video credit: TNT Sports
Morgan Lake became the first British woman to clear two metres in the high jump at the Diamond League final in Zurich on Wednesday.
Lake finished third behind Yaroslava Mahuchikh in second and winner Nicola Olyslagers, but finally achieved a lifelong goal.
"It's crazy," Lake said. "I was so in the moment and then as soon as I cleared it I was just so emotional because it is something I've wanted to do my whole life. I'm so, so happy," Lake said.
"Tonight I was like, 'I'm going to enjoy it and just jump as high as I can'. It just shows me what I'm capable of if I just believe in myself."
Lake made the jump at the first attempt, becoming the 86th woman in history to make the height, but Olyslagers reached a height of 2.04m to win the final.
Lake achieved the feat at a key time, with the World Athletics Championships in Tokyo just over two weeks away, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
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Morgan believes that hitting 2.00m will put her in a good state of mind and fill her with belief before the event.
"The main thing between now and Tokyo is to keep the body healthy and don't try and change too much," she added.
"I think I could have jumped 2.02m with my two-metre jump, so it's just trusting my coach and what we're doing and do the same again, really."
She will be on the hunt for her first podium after finishing fourth at the World Championships in Budapest two years ago.
In the men's pole vault, Armand Duplantis took his fifth straight Diamond League title.
The two-time Olympic champion cleared 6.00m to claim the Diamond League title in Zurich, but there was no world record in Switzerland, however, as he made three misses at 6.10m
"It's really special, I shouldn't take it for granted. Five in a row is crazy and time goes so fast, so I just need to enjoy it," Duplantis said.
"I'm a human being at the end of the day. I don't break records every time. I can jump really high sometimes and I can feel bad sometimes. Today I felt somewhere in between and sometimes that is what the day gives you."
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Sweden's Armand Duplantis reacts as he competes in the men's pole vault final of the World Athletics Diamond League athletics meeting "Weltklasse" on Sechselautenplatz in Zurich, on August 27, 2025. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP) (Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)
Image credit: Getty Images
Since making a record jump of 6.25m at the Olympics in Paris last year, Duplantis has moved the record up four times, doing so most recently in Budapest two weeks ago, improving it to 6.29m.
He had a rare battle with Paris 2024 bronze medallist Emmanouil Karalis, who also cleared 6.00m but had two misses at that height as well.
American Sam Kendricks, who took silver at Paris, was third, clearing 5.80m before one miss at 5.90m, and another at 6.00m before retiring from the competition.
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