Coming just four days after the action at the World Championships came to a halt in Beijing, it was always going to be a big ask for athletes to pull out another big performance.
And so it proved despite a packed stadium at the first of two season-ending Diamond League finals, the finale coming in Brussels on September 11.
Poland's Adam Kszczot won a high-quality 800m, beating out Algerian Taoufik Makhloufi, Ethiopian Mohammed Aman and Kenya's world record holder and newly-minted world champion Rudisha.
In the 400m, American Lashawn Merritt got the better of Van Niekerk and in the women's 800m, Kenyan Eunice Sum gained a degree of revenge over Arzamasova, winning in 1:59.14.
Genzebe Dibaba again played second fiddle to Ethiopian teammate Almaz Ayana, this time in the 3 000m, which the latter outsprinted the former to win in a meeting record of 8:22.34. Dibaba, however, was one of the 16 athletes on the night to win the Diamond Race for topping the season standings in her respective discipline.
