Australian long jump record holder Mitchell Watt has firmed as favourites for the world championships with a win at the London leg of the Diamond League.

With his second round jump of 8.45m, aided by a 1.4 m/s tailwind, Watt broke the meet record and secured a 15cm victory ahead of local athletes Chris Tomlinson and Greg Rutherford (8.19m). The performance was Watt’s fourth leap over 8.40m this year, with the Zimbabwe’s Ngonidzashe Makusha and Panama’s Irving Saladino the next best performing athletes with 8.40m season bests.

“It’s great to be consistent though, I've jumped over 8.40m four times now and I’ll need to do at least the same to win the title. I actually think 8.60m will win and I'm confident I can do that,” said Watt.

“My goal this season was to jump 8.50m and I've done that. Now I've won a few Diamond League events and becoming world champion will close out the year perfectly.”