Despite his early setback, Kenya’s world and Olympic champion managed to move past Morocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali in the final few strides after clearing the final hurdle in second place.

Kipruto has proven himself over and again as a competitor, winning the Rio 2016 title and beating 22-year-old El Bakkali to last year’s world title, but he has surely never faced such a challenge as this.

Evan Jager of the United States was third.

“I have big pain,” Kipruto said after finishing a stride ahead in 8min 10.15sec, with his taller opponent dropping, exhausted, to the track after clocking 8:11.19.

“I am injured because I lost my left shoe. 

"That was a mess. 

"But it motivated me to fight as hard as I could, so the race went well.”

The field events produced two mighty winning efforts as New Zealand’s world shot put champion Tomas Walsh won with a Diamond League record of 22.60 metres, and Germany’s Andreas Hofmann won his first big javelin event with a throw of 91.44m.

Excitement levels peaked again as the women’s 5,000m produced another classic head-to-head sprint finish, with Kenya’s world champion Hellen Obiri eventually retaining her title despite huge pressure from European champion Sifan Hassan of The Netherlands.

But it was the steeplechase that effectively ignited the 25,000 capacity crowd in what was the first of two IAAF Diamond League finals in the space of 24 hours, with several athletes planning to travel immediately afterwards to Brussels for the second season finale.

On a cool but thankfully dry evening that was all about racing rather than timing, there was no more deserving winner of the 16 Diamond Trophies handed out by IAAF President Sebastan Coe, and their accompanying cheques for $50,000 (£38,000/€43,000).

Six women, including Obiri, Hassan and Ethiopia’s Senbere Teferi and world 1,500m record holder Genzebe Dibaba had reached the bell together – and with drama imminent. 

Hassan, facing a night drive to Brussels in order to contest the 1500m, made her break in the back straight, floating to the lead.

But very soon the smaller, dogged figure of Obiri, the world champion, had moved past her.

As the two women reached the straight Hassan, an emphatic winner of the European title earlier this month, moved wide for another challenge.

Obiri, serenely confident beforehand, simply wasn’t having it as she crossed in 14:38.39, with Hassan second in 14:38.77 and Teferi of Ethiopia third in 14:40.07.

In the absence of world champion Johannes Vetter, Germany’s Olympic champion Thomas Rohler, who beat his friend Hofmann to the European title in Berlin earlier this season, was the favourite in the javelin.

But on the night he, like the rest of the field, could not respond to Hofmann’s big effort.

Estonia’s Magnus Kirt took second place with 87.57, and Rohler found enough form to reach 85.76.

One of the 2017 Diamond League final upsets occurred in Brussels city centre as Darrell Hill of the United States produced a personal best of 22.44m to beat a field that included Olympic champion Ryan Crouser and world champion Walsh.

Fast forward a year, and Hill was at it again as he established a second-round lead with a season’s best of 22.23m, but this time Walsh wrenched the initiative straight back as he produced a meeting and Diamond League record of 22.60m.

Hill, for whom Diamond League finals clearly work very well, pushed on again with a fourth round effort of 22.40, a season’s best, but only enough to consolidate his position as Crouser edged upwards with 22.18 in the following round.

That was the way it stayed in a hugely competitive final that saw seven of the eight finalists clearing 21 metres.

Noah Lyles of the United States retained his men’s 200m title in the kind of easy style we have come to expect, gliding clear of world champion Ramil Guliyev over the final 50 metres before crossing in 19.67sec, with the Turk second in 19.98.

Britain’s European 100 and 200m champion Dina Asher-Smith finished powerfully to edge her way past Marie-Jose Ta Lou, the Ivorian athlete with whom she shares the fastest time of the year, 10.85.

But neither was able to resist the other Ivory Coast athlete in the field, Murielle Ahoure, who got away to the kind of start one would expect of a world indoor champion and maintained her form to the line to register the first surprising victory of the night in 11.01.

Asher-Smith clocked 11.08, with Ta Lou third in 11.10.

For world and European 400m hurdles champion Karsten Warholm, beaten to last year’s Diamond League title by a final surge from Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Isles, history repeated itself as he was caught over the final 30 metres, with McMaster winning in 48.08 and the Norwegian just 0.02 behind, with Yasmani Copello of Turkey third in 48.73.

A men’s 1500m unfortunately lacking the presence of Norway’s 17-year-old European 1500 and 5000m champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen, who was reportedly unwell with a sore throat, was won in emphatic style by the Kenyan who has dominated the distance this season, Timothy Cheruyiot, who clocked 3:30.27.

World and Olympic 800 metres champion Caster Semenya ran the race she felt, without pacemakers, just the way she likes it – and she obviously felt good despite having had such a long season that began with a Commonwealth Games win in April as she took route one once again and pushed to the line for a winning time of 1.55.27.

Fred Kerley of the United States won the honours in the men’s 400m final, powering home in 44.80 ahead of compatriot Nathan Strother, who clocked 44.93, and Britain’s European champion Matthew Hudson-Smith, who recorded 44.95.

In the absence of Cuba’s boy wonder Juan Miguel Echevarria, rumoured to be injured, South Africa’s world long jump champion Luvo Manyonga defended his title with a best of 8.36m.

As so often in the past four years, Katerini Stefanidi of Greece found the way to win her pole vault competition.

The Olympic, world and twice European champion won with a first time clearance of 4.87, with her only remaining rival, Sandi Morris of the United States, finishing second on countback from Authorised Neutral Athlete Anzhelika Sidorova after both had cleared 4.82.

Double world high jump champion Mariya Lasitskene had one of her less arduous victories as she was able to retain her Diamond League title by clearing 1.97m, which proved beyond the rest of the field.

“This victory was very important to me - yet it was not a great result,” said Lasitskene. 

“My season was like an American slide - great, and kind of easy. 

"Next year I would like to defend my world title.”

Caterine Ibarguen, Colombia’s Olympic triple jump champion, regained her Diamond League title - although there was almost another upset to match the one that occurred here in this event last year as she ended up only a centimetre clear of Jamaica’s Shanieka Ricketts with her best of 14.56m.