Kariem Hussein knows all about delivering in front of a home crowd - and the fans in Luzern were not left disappointed.
At this 30th Spitzen Leichtathletik, the Swiss star produced another fine win on the road to the defence of his European 400m hurdles title with a strong finish to triumph in 49.47, beating American Jeshua Anderson by 0.04, with Algeria’s Abdelmalik Lahoulou (49.80) in third.
Almost two years since his famous European gold medal glory in Zurich, Hussein has remained a major force in the event and the podium beckons for him once again at the European Athletics Championships which start in Amsterdam three weeks today.
The B race was of high standard, too, won by Estonia’s Rasmus Magi (49.95), the silver medallist behind Hussein, with Britain's 2010 European and 2011 world champion Dai Greene (50.02) second in a season’s best.
Like Hussein, Swiss teammate Nichole Buchler will also be thinking about a medal in Amsterdam and she rubberstamped her progress with a 4.70m clearance to win a superb pole vault competition.
Buchler broke the national record in Doha last month with 4.78m and she had attempts to take that further on Tuesday at 4.81m.
She won ahead of Finland’s brilliant 18-year-old Wilma Murto, who was second on countback with 4.50m, equalling her national junior record and beating Brazil’s Fabiana Murer, the 2011 world champion.
Frenchman Jimmy Vicaut is the world’s fastest man in 2016 with his European record-equalling 9.86 and he was victorious again in the 100m.
After an initial 9.98 in a race which did not count because of a false start, just 10 minutes later he was back crossing the line in 10.08 from Ben Youssef Meite, of the Ivory Coast (10.26), with the clock unable to separate Britons James Dasaolu and Richard Kilty in third at 10.31.
Pavel Maslak, the 2012 European 400m champion who missed Zurich with injury, warmed up for Amsterdam with victory in the 200m B race (20.96).
Last year’s IAAF World Championships in Beijing saw Amel Tuka make history with his 800m bronze being Bosnia & Herzegovina’s first medal at a major championship.
If he aims to add to it, he is going about it the right way as he showed by winning in 1:45.66 from Kenya’s Alfred Kipketer (1:46.00) and Great Britain’s Michael Rimmer (1:46.63).
And there was a double British success in the 110m hurdles races, with season’s bests for both Lawrence Clarke in the 'A' (13.42) and David Omoregie in the 'B' (13.66).
Sara Slott Petersen could not have opened her 400m hurdles summer in better shape as she beat Britain's European champion, Eilidh Doyle.
Danish record-holder Petersen won in 55.20 from Doyle (55.57) and South Africa’s Wenda Nel (56.07), while Britain’s Lynsey Sharp, the 2012 European champion, won the 800m in 2:02.87 ahead of Iceland’s Anita Hinriksdottir (2:03.17) and Poland’s Joanna Jozwik (2:03.78).
Britain’s Daryll Neita equalled her personal best as she won the 100m in 11.30 and on an evening where there was rain in parts, Switzerland’s Fabienne Schlumpf won the women’s 3000m steeplechase (9:53.61) and among the other home victories, there were personal bests for Yasmin Giger (54.42) in the 400m and Alexandra Bosshard (4:27.51) in the 1500m.
Lewandowski's gearing up for gold
Like Luzern, there was rain at the Meeting International Stanislas but it was some night in Nancy for Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski who moved to second on the European Athletics’ 800m rankings.
Lewandowksi knows all about medal success at the European Athletics Championships, having won the outdoor title in Barcelona in 2010 and the indoor crown in Prague last year, and once more he is a hot contender for Amsterdam.
In a high quality race won by Algeria’s Taofik Makhloufi, the Olympic 1500m champion, in 1:44.40, Lewandowski lowered his season’s best by 0.85 to 1:44.91 to finish second, with Kenyan Jeremiah Mutai (1:45.28) in third.
The meeting saw a series of fine performances from some of the top names in French athletics.
Christophe Lemaitre is gearing up for Amsterdam where he could medal at his fourth successive European Athletics Championships and he looked good as he won the 200m in 20.34 from Cuba’s Roberto Skyers (20.54).
While 20.27 is his quickest time of the year for third on the European Athletics rankings, this 20.34 would still put the 2010 European champion fifth on the list, showing the consistent speed he is reaching.
Floria Guei won the 400m in 51.35, with Britain’s 2008 Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu (52.52) in fifth, and Dimitri Bascou won the 110m hurdles in 13.35.
Yohan Diniz, the European 50km race walking champion, achieved another impressive victory on the way to the Olympic Games in Rio as he took the 5000m track walk in 18:42.96.
As China’s Xue Changrui cleared 5.75m to win the pole vault, France’s Valentin Lavillenie was second with 5.65m, missing out on a personal best at 5.75m, and Tatsyana Khaladovich, of Belarus, was first in the women’s javelin with 60.81m.