The Herculis - Monaco Diamond League Preview

Posted by: Watch Athletics

The Herculis EBS Monaco Diamond League meeting, scheduled for Friday, July 12, promises an electrifying prelude to the Olympic Games in Paris, featuring star-studded lineups in almost every event. Key highlights include a fierce competition in the men’s 400 meters hurdles, where Alison Dos Santos, Rai Benjamin, and Karsten Warholm will face off in a much-anticipated clash. In women’s pole vault, Katie Moon and Molly Caudery will battle for supremacy, bringing their best to the field.

The men’s 800 meters will revisit the intense rivalry from the Paris meeting with Djamel Sediati and Gabriel Tual going head-to-head once again. In another major event, Grant Holloway is set to return to the track in the men’s 110 meters hurdles after his triumphant performance at the US Trials in Eugene. The women’s 100 meters will see Julien Alfred take on powerhouse competitors Marie Josée Ta Lou and Dina Asher-Smith.

Adding to the excitement, eight newly crowned European champions from the recent championships in Rome will participate. Notable athletes include Karsten Warholm, Jakob Ingebrigtsen, Dina Asher-Smith, Gabriel Tual, Nadia Battocletti, Clara Mageean, Ana Peleteiro Compaoré, and Victoria Hudson, all ready to showcase their championship form at the iconic Stade Louis II in Monaco.

Men’s 400 metres hurdles: 

World record holder and Olympic champion Karsten Warholm will clash against 2022 world champion Alison Dos Santos and Olympic silver medallist Raj Benjamin. The trio will clash for the first time since last year’s Diamond League final in Eugene, where Benjamin won in 46.39 beating Warholm. 

Warholm is familiar to the Stade Louis II track. The Norwegian hurdler won three times in 2020 in 47.10, in 2021 in 47.08 and 2023 in a meeting record of 46.51, which was also a Diamond League record at that time. 

Warholm started the season with a second place at the Bislett Games in Oslo in 46.70 in front of his home fans and won his third consecutive European gold medal in a championship record of 46.98 in Rome. Next August Warholm will chase his second Olympic gold medal three years after his triumph in Tokyo in a world record of 45.94. 

Dos Santos won four Diamond League races this season in Doha in 46.86, in Oslo in 46.63, Stockolm in 47.01 and Paris in 47.78 and is unbeaten so far this season. The Brazilian hurdler finished second to Warholm in last year’s edition of the Herculis meeting in 47.66 in his come-back race from a knee injury. Dos Santos broke the 47 seconds barrier six times in his career. He won the world title in Eugene in a South American record of 46.29 and the Olympic bronze medal in Tokyo in 46.72. 

Benjamin will run his first Diamond League race of the season following his wins in Los Angeles in 46.64 and at the US Trials in Eugene in 46.46. 

Malik James King made a major breakthrough last June when he won the Jamaican title in his PB of 47.42 and finished third in Paris in 48.37. 

CJ Allen finished second to Raj Benjamin in 47.81 at the US Olympic Trials and set a PB of 47.58 in Oslo last year. Caleb Dean will make his debut in the Diamond League circuit one month after winning the NCAA title in Eugene in his PB of 47.23. 

Abderrahmane Samba, world bronze medallist in Doha 2019 and fifth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 47.08, broke the 48 seconds barrier for the first time since 2021 with 47.97 in Madrid. 

The French crowd will cheer on Wilfried Happio, fourth at the World Championships in Eugene and silver medallist at the European Championships in Munich in 2022. 

Men’s 1500 metres: 

Jakob Ingebrigtsen scored his third consecutive double in the 1500 and 5000 metres in Rome last June. Ingebrigtsen later won the 1500m and the 5000 metres at the Norwegian Championships in Sandness at the end of June. At this year’s edition of the Diamond League Ingebrigtsen won the 1500 metres in 3:29.74 beating Timothy Cheruyiot and Azzedine Habz. The trio will clash again in Monaco. 

Ingebrigtsen will chase his first win in Monaco after finishing second twice in 2019 in 3:30.47 and in 2020 in 3:28.68 and third in 2021 in 3:29.25. The Norwegian star will fine-tune his preparation for the Olympic Games in Paris, where he will defend his 1500m title three years after his triumph in Tokyo in his previous European record of 3:28.32. Ingebrigtsen improved this time twice to 3:27.95 in Lausanne and 3:27.14 in Chorzow last year. Ingebrigtsen won two Diamond League Trophies in the mile in 3:43.73 and in the 3000 metres in 7:23.63 setting European records over both distances. 

Timothy Cheruiyot from Kenya, world gold medal in Doha 2019 and Olympic silver medallist in Tokyo 2021, finished second to Ingebrigtsen in 3:29.77 in Oslo. Cheruiyot returns to Monaco, where he won four times in 2018 (3:28.41), in 2019 (3:29.97), in 2020 (3:28.45) and in 2021 (3:28.28). 

Habz finished third in Oslo in 3:30.80 and improved his PB to 1:43.79 in the 800 metres in Paris. 

Ingebrigtsen, Cheruiyot and Habz will take on USA’s Yared Nuguse, world indoor silver medallist in the 3000 metres and third in the Bowerman Mile in Eugene in 3:46.22, Narve Gilje Nordas from Norway, world bronze medallist in the 1500 metres in Budapest 2023, Niels Laros from the Netherlands, who won the 1500m and 5000m at the European under 20 Championships in Jerusalem and broke the world under 20 record in the 1000m with 2:14.37 in Hengelo last Sunday, and Pietro Arese, European bronze medalist in Rome and Italian record holder with 3:32.13 at the Bislett Games in Oslo. 

Men’s 800 metres: 

Djamel Sedjati and Gabriel Tual will go head-to-head in the men’s 800 metres in a re-match of the Diamond League race in Paris, where three men broke the 1:42 barrier in the same race for the first time in history. 

Wanyonyi, who improved his PB to 1:41.58 in Paris, has pulled out of Monaco. 

Sedjati won his second Diamond League race of the season setting the Algerian record with 1:41.55. Tual, European champion in Rome, improved Pierre Ambroise Bosse’s French record to 1:41.61. Sedjiati and Tual have moved to third and fifth on the world all-time list. 

Gabriel Tual: “I am very happy to be back after my injury. We know the reputation of this meeting and what the athletes achieve here. I am coming to give it my all and chase a big time. I can’t wait to compete against the best athletes in the world. The form since the European Championships is still there. I want to confirm it”. 

World champion Marco Arop will run his first race in Europe this season. The Canadian athlete of Sudanese origin won at the Diamond League meeting in Xiamen in 1:43.61 and at the Canadian Championships in Montreal in 1:43.71. 

World indoor silver medallist Andreas Kramer from Sweden set the national record with 1:43.66 in Paris and won two Continental Tour races in Bydsgoszcz and Turku.

Catalin Tecuceanu, fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow and European bronze medallist in Rome, will try to attack Marcello Fiasconaro’s Italian record after improving his PB to 1:44.01 in Asti. 

The other athletes to watch are 2023 world bronze medallist Ben Pattison from Great Britain, who set a seasonal best of 1:44.44 in Stockolm, and European indoor bronze medallist in Istanbul 2023. 

The meeting record held by Nijel Amos with 1:41.89 since 2019 is under threat. 

110 metres hurdles: 

Three-time world champion and world indoor record holder Grant Holloway won the US Trials final in Eugene setting a world lead of 12.86. He will return to the Diamond League for the first time since his win in Eugene in 13.03 last May. 

Holloway will chase his second win in Monaco. Holloway has a fond memory of his first appearance at the Herculis meeting in 2022, when won in 12.99. 

Holloway is targeting the meeting record set by Aries Merritt with 12.92 in 2012. 

Lorenzo Simonelli will make his first appearance in Monaco a few weeks after winning the European gold medal in Rome setting the Italian record with 13.05, the fifth fastest time in the world this year. 

Sasha Zhoya will be looking to continue his good period of form after his wins at the French Championships in 13.32 and in the Paris Diamond League meeting in a PB of 13.15.  

Cunningham, world silver medallist in Eugene 2022, finished second in Paris five thousandths of a second behind Zhoya and won at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Szekesfehrvar in 13.21. 

The line-up also features Rasheed Broadbell, this year’s Jamaican champion in 13.18, Cordell Tinch, fourth at the US Trials in 13.03,  Shunsuke Izumiya from Japan, national record holder with 13.04 and third at the Diamond League in Paris in 13.15, and Jason Joseph from Switzerland, European indoor champion in Istanbul 2023 and bronze medallist at the European Championships in Rome. 

Women’s pole vault: 

Katie Moon will go up against Nina Kennedy, Molly Caudery and Angelica Moser 

Caudery won the world indoor gold medal in Glasgow 2024 with 4.80m, the European bronze medal with 4.73m in Rome and the British title in Manchester with 4.83m. The British vaulter set the world lead of 4.92m in Toulouse. 

Moon will return to Monaco, where she won in 2021 with 4.90m a few weeks before claiming the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo with 4.95m. Moon shared the world gold medal with Nina Kennedy in Budapest 2023 with 4.90m and won the Diamond League Trophy in Eugene in 2023 with 4.86m. This year she finished third at the Diamond League meeting in Eugene with 4.53m and finished second at the US Trials with 4.73m in Eugene. 

Kennedy set her seasonal best of 4.80m in Turku and won in Sotteville les Rouen with 4.75m this year. The Australian vaulter set the national record of 4.91m in Zurich. Kennedy finished second to Caudery in her only Diamond League appearance of the season so far in Doha.  

Moser won her first Diamond League competition in Marrakesh with 4.73m and the European gold medal in Rome equalling the national record with 4.78m. 

The other athletes to watch are Alysha Newman, Commonwealth Games champion in 2018 and national record holder with 4.83m in Clermont Ferrand, Gabriela Leon, winner in Hengelo with 4.62m, Amalia Svabikova from Czech Republic, European Indoor bronze medallist with 4.70m in Istanbul 2023, Roberta Bruni, Italian record holder with 4.73m, and Marie-Julie Bonnin from France, European under 23 champion in Espoo 2023. 

Women’s 100 metres: 

Julien Alfred will make her second consecutive appearance in Monaco, where she made her first appearance in the Diamond League last year finishing second in the 200 metres in 22.08. Alfred won the world indoor gold medal in the 60 metres in 6.98 in Glasgow last March. The sprinter from Santa Lucia won the 200 metres in 22.16 in Szekesfehrvar and the 100 metres in 10.78 setting the third fastest time in the world this season at the Racers Grand Prix in Kingston. She also finished second at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene in 10.93. Alfred trains with Dina Asher Smith and Rhasidat Adeleke in Texas under the guidance of Edrik Floreal. 

Asher Smith won the 100 metres final at the European Championships in Rome in 10.99 after setting her seasonal best with 10.96 in the semifinal. Asher Smith has collected her fifth European gold medal after winning the 200m in Amsterdam 2016 and three titles in the 100m, 200m and the 4x100 relay in Berlin 2018. 

The British sprinter will be looking to clinch her first win in a Diamond League meeting since 30 June 2022 when she won the 200  metres in Stockolm.

Alfred and Asher Smith will line up against Ivorian sprint legend Marie Josée Ta Lou and Tamari Davis.  Ta Lou set the African record in the 100 metres in Monaco with 10.72 in 2022.  The three-time world outdoor medallist set a seasonal best of 10.91 in the 100 metres in Kingston and finished second in the 200 metres in Oslo in 22.36. 

Tamari Davis finished fourth at the US Olympic Trials in Eugene in 10.91. Davis won the world gold medal with the 4x100 relay in Budapest 2023. 

Zaynab Dosso won two bronze medals at the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow in the 60 metres in 7.05 and at the European Championships in Rome in the 100 metres in 11.03 after improving her own Italian record by 0.01 in the semifinal. 

Jemima Joseph made a double win in the 100 metres (11.01) and 200 metres (22.62) at the French Championships in Angers at the end of June.  

 Men’s 200 metres: 

Letsile Tebogo from Botswana will line up against Uganda’s Tarsis Orogot, Alexander Ogando from Dominican Republic. 

Tebogo improved the long-standing 200 metres African record held by Frankie Fredericks by clocking 19.50 at the Diamond League in London in 2023. The two-time 100m world under 20 champion went on to win silver in the 100 metres in 9.88 and bronze in the 200 metres in 19.81 at the World Championships in Budapest. He started the 2024 season with a world all-time best of 30.69 in the 300 metres. Tebogo then set a seasonal best in the 200 metres of 19.71 into a headwind of -1.5 m/s when he finished second to Courtney Lindsey in a close photo-finish at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi. 

Ogando, fifth in the 200 metres and gold medallist in the 4x400 mixed relay at the World Championships in Eugene, won his first Diamond League race in Paris in 19.98. 

Orogot improved the Ugandan record to 19.75 in Gainesville last May and finished second in Paris in 20.18 last Sunday. 

The line-up also features Olympic and European 4x100 champion Filippo Tortu and William Reais from Switzerland, who finished second and third at the European Championships in Rome respectively, Andrew Hudson from Jamaica, second at the National Trials in Kingston in 20.02, and Joshua Hartmann from Germany, national record holder in the 200m with 20.02 and second placer in the 100 metres at this year’s National Championships in Braunschweig in 10.06. 

Women’s 400 metres: 

Rhasidat Adeleke from Ireland leads the line-up in the women’s 400 metres. Adeleke won two European silver medals in Rome in the 400 metres setting a national record of 49.07 and in the women’s 4x400, and the gold medal in the mixed 4x400 relay. Adeleke finished fourth in her first appearance in Monaco in 49.99 last year and repeated the same placing in the final of the World Championships in Budapest. 

Adeleke will take on Kendall Ellis and Alexis Holmes, who finished first and third at the US Olympic Trials in 49.46 and 49.78 respectively, Shamier Little, fourth in the 400 metres hurdles at the US Trials in 52.98, and Lieke Klaver,  European bronze medallist in 50.08 in Rome and world indoor silver medallist in Glasgow. 

Men’s 400 metres: 

Christopher Morales Williams from Canada will make his Diamond League debut in the men’s 400 metres. Morales Williams ran the fastest ever indoor 400 metres time with 44.49 in Fayetteville and won the NCAA title in 44.47. The Canadian athlete will face Quincy Hall, who won the world bronze medal in Budapest 2023 in 44.37 and claimed the win at the US Trials in 44.17. 

The other athletes to watch are Vernon Norwood, fourth at the US Olympic Trials in 44.47, Bayapo Ndori from Botswana, first at the Kip Keino Classic in Nairobi in 44.10 and third in Marrakesh in 44.59, Lythe Pillay from South Africa, world under 20 champion in Cali 2022 and winner at the National Championships in his PB of 44.31, Luca Sito, who broke the Italian 400 metres record with 44.75 in the semifinal of the European Championships in Rome before finishing fifth in the final, Teo Andant, world silver medallist in the 4x400 relay in Budapest, and Collen Kebinatshipi from Botswana, winner in Hengelo last week in 45.29. 

Men’s high jump: 

Hamish Kerr from New Zealand, reigning world indoor champion will clash against 2022 world indoor champion Woo Sanghyeok from South Korea and world silver medallist Ju’Vaughn Harrison. 

Kerr won the world indoor champion in Glasgow 2024 with 2.36m and claimed three wins in Suzhou with 2.31m and in Hengelo with 2.25m. 

Harrison, world silver medallist with 2.36m in Budapest, finished fourth at the US Trials in Eugene, but he qualified for the Olympic Games as Caleb Snowden and Tyus Wilson placed second and third, but neither jumper has achieved the Olympic qualifying standard. 

Italian high jump star Gianmarco Tamberi has pulled out from the Monaco Diamond League due to an injury on her femoral biceps which forced him to withdraw from Szekesfehrvar. 

Women’s triple jump:

World leader Thea Lafond from Dominica leapt to 15.01m to win the world indoor gold medal in Glasgow. Lafond will clash against Olympic  bronze medallist Ana Peleteiro Compaoré, who leapt to 14.85m to win the European gold medal in Rome, Leyanis Perez Hernandez from Cuba, world indoor silver medallist with 14.90m and winner in two Diamond League meetings in Eugene with 14.73m and Stockolm with 14.67m, Shanieka Ricketts from Jamaica, two-time world silver medallist and second in the Diamond League final in Eugene with her PBof 15.03m. Maryna Beck Romanchuk from the Ukraine, European champion in Munich 2022, will make her debut this season after being sidelined by an injury. 

 Women’s 5000 metres: 

Ethiopia’s Tsigie Gebrselama will clash against her compatriots Marta Alemayo, Likina Amebaw and Aynadis Mebratu, and double European champion Nadia Battocletti. 

Gebrselama won the silver medal at the World Cross Country Championships in Bathurst and set the world leading time of 14.18.76 in the 5000 metres at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene. Alemayo won the world under 20 cross country title in Belgrade and improved her PB to 14:39.61 in Liège. Amebaw finished second in the 3000 metres in 8:24.29 in Oslo. Mebratu improved her PB to 14:22.76 in Eugene. 

Battocletti won two European gold medals in Rome in the 5000 metres improving the Italian record to 14:35.29 and in the 10000 metres in a championships record of 31:51.32. 

Women’s 2000 metres: 

Jessica Hull from Australia finished second behind Faith Kipyegon in the world record race in Paris setting the Oceanian record with 3:50.83. Hull moved to fifth in the world all-time list. Hull will run the women’s 2000 metres against Clara Mageean from Ireland, who won the European gold medal in the 1500 metres in Rome and finished second in a national record of 4:14.58 behind Kipyegon’s world record race in last year’s edition of the Monaco meeting. The line-up also features two-time world indoor silver medallist Axumawit Embaye from Ethiopia and Edinah Jebitok from Kenya, who finished second in Stockolm in a lifetime best of 3:58.88, and Agate Guillemot from France, who set the national record in the 1500m with 3:58.05 in Paris, and Georgia Griffith from Australia, winner in the 3000 metres in 8:24.20 in Oslo. 

Women’s javelin throw: 

Haruka Kitaguchi has won seven Diamond League competitions, including the final in Eugene with 63.78m last year. The Japanese thrower set the national record of 67.38 in Brussels last year and won the Diamond League competition with 62.97m.

Kitaguchi will clash against world bronze medallist Mackenzie Little from Australia and Victoria Hudson from Austria, European champion in Rome this year with 64.62m and national record holder with 66.10m in Eisenstadt this year, Adriana Vilagos, European silver medallist in Munich 2022 and Rome 2024, Tori Peeters from New Zealand, eight-time national champion, Anjete Sietina from Latvia, fourth at the World Championships in Budapest 2023, Auriana Lazraq Khlass from France, European silver medallist in the heptathlon in Rome 2024.

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