Herculis Monaco Diamond League Event by Event Preview
A thrilling re-match of the Olympic men’s 800m final, a stacked pole vault competition featuring Olympic medallists Armand Duplantis, Sam Kendricks, and Emmanouil Karalis, the return of Femke Bol in the women’s 400m hurdles alongside Anna Cockrell, a high-stakes men’s 200m showdown with Noah Lyles and Letsile Tebogo, and the women’s 100m sprint led by Julien Alfred headline the star-studded Herculis EBS meeting. Set for July 11 at the iconic Stade Louis II in Monaco, this 10th stop of the 2025 Wanda Diamond League promises world-class action across the board. Below is a full event-by-event preview of what to expect.
Men’s 800 metres:
The men’s 800 metres line-up features seven of the eight finalists from the 800 metres at the Paris Olympic Games. Eight athletes have a sub-1:43 PB.
Olympic champion and world seasonal leader Emmanuel Wanyonyi is set to continue his dominance on the track of Stade Louis II. The Monaco Diamond League has a tradition for producing very fast times in the men’s 800 metres and this year’s two-lap race will not be exception. Wanyonyi won the Olympic gold medal in Paris in 1:41.19 and set the second fastest time in history clocking 1:41.11 at the Diamond League meeting in Lausanne. He went on to win his second Diamond League title in Brussels in 1:42.70. This year the 20-year-old Kenyan athlete won back-to-back Diamond League races in Oslo in 1:42.78 and Stockolm with a world leading time of 1:41.95, the fifth sub-1:42 time of his career. Wanyonyi will face a re-match against Marco Arop from Canada and Djamel Sedjati, who won silver and bronze medals at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Arop improved his lifetime best to 1:41.20 in the Paris Olympic Games and won the world title in Budapest 2023. The Canadian athlete won the Diamond League race in Chorzow in 1:41.88 ahead of Wanyonyi and clocked 1:41.72 in Lausanne. This year he won two Grand Slam races in Miami in 1:43.69 and Philadelphia in 1:43.38 and is unbeaten in the 800m.
Sedjati won two Diamond League races in Paris in 1:41.56 and Monaco in a lifetime best of 1:41.46 and went on to finish third in the Olympic final in Paris in 1:41.50 in 2024. He placed third in Oslo in 1:43.06 and Stockolm in a seasonal best of 1:42.27 this year, his fastest time since the Olympic Games. The other Algerian athlete in the field is Slimane Moula, who finished fifth in Stockolm in 1:42.77.
The French hopes are carried by reigning European gold medallist Gabriel Tual, who improved the national record to 1:41.61 in Paris and finished sixth in the Olympic final in the French capital in 2024. This year Tual finished fourth in Oslo in 1:42.09 and in Stockolm in 1:42.72 and fifth in Paris in 1:43.84.
Mohamed Attaoui returns to Monaco where he set the Spanish record of 1:42.04 last year. The Spaniard showed his good form recently by winning at the Diamond League meeting in Paris in 1:42.73.
The line-up features US 800m specialists Bryce Hoppel and Josh Hoey, who won the past two editions of the World Indoor Championships in Glasgow 2024 and Nanjing 2025 respectively. Hoppel finished fourth at the Olympic Games in Paris in a North American record of 1:41.67. Hoey finished third in Stockolm in the 800m in 1:42.43 and in Ostrava in the 1500m in 3:29.75 and second in Paris in 1:43.00.
Men’s pole vault:
Armand Mondo Duplantis set the 12th world record of his career by clearing 6.28m at the Diamond League meeting in Stockolm in front of his home fans on 15 June. Duplantis hopes to erase the memory of his rare defeat in the 2023 edition of the Herculis meeting in Monaco where he had to settle with fourth place with 5.72m one month before winning his second world outdoor title in Budapest. Duplantis won the world indoor title in Nanjing with 6.15m and remained unbeaten during the outdoor season winning in Xiamen with 5.92m, Keqiao with 6.11m, Oslo with 6.15, Ostrava with 6.13m and Eugene with 6.00m. The Swedish star won once in his career in Monaco in 2020 with 6.00m, but he was beaten in two of three appearances at the Herculis meeting. Monaco is one of the three Diamond League in which he does not hold the meeting record.
Duplantis will face a line-up worthy of a world championships or Olympic final. Three of the seven athletes in the field have PBs higher than PBs. The field features Sam Kendricks and Emmanouil Karalis, who won Olympic silver and bronze medals behind Duplantis at the Olympic Games in Paris and went on to clear 6.00m at the Chorzow Diamond League when Duplantis set the world record with 6.26m. Kendricks placed second in Eugene Prefontaine Classic with 5.80m last week. Karalis cleared 6.00m for the seventh time in his career at the Fly Athens event last weekend. The Greek vaulter won the European indoor gold medal in Apeldoorn with 5.90m, the world indoor silver medal in Nanjing with 6.05m and finished second in Keqiao with 6.01m.
The field also features Kurtis Marshall from Australia, world bronze medallist in Budapest 2023 and second at this year’s Diamond League meeting in Stockolm with 5.90m, Menno Vlonn, who shared the European Indoor gold medal with Karalis in Apeldoorn and won at European Team Championships in Madrid with 5.80m, Christopher Nilsen, who won the Olympic silver medal in Tokyo 2021 and set a seasonal best of 5.92m in Dresden this year, KC Lightfoot, US record holder with 6.07m, and Ben Broeders, seventh at the World Championships in Budapest 2023 and national record holder with 5.85m. French fans will cheer on 2012 Olympic champion and seven-time Diamond League winner Renaud Lavillenie, who set his indoor seasonal best of 5.91m in Clermont Ferrand and cleared 5.82m last May, and Thibaut Collet, fifth at the World Championships in Budapest 2023 with 5.90m.
Men’s 200 metres:
Olympic 200 metres champion Letsile Tebogo from Botswana will go head-to-head against world 100m and 200m gold medallist and Olympic 100 champion Noah Lyles in the men’s 200 metres for the first time this season.
Tebogo will chase his second consecutive win in Monaco after finishing first in the 200m last year in 19.87. This year the Botswanan sprinter won two Diamond League races in Doha in 20.10 and in Eugene in a world leading time of 19.76. Tebogo won the Olympic gold medal setting the African record of 19.46.
Lyles will make his debut in the Diamond League this season after being sidelined by ankle injury. Lyles returns to the track of the Stade Louis II, where he won in 2019 in 19.65, in 2020 in 19.76 and 2022 in 19.46. Lyles won the 100m and 200m world titles in Budapest in 9.83 and 19.52 and the Olympic gold medal in the 100 metres in 9.79. He clocked 45.87 in the 400m last April.
It will be their first clash since the Olympic final in Paris where a Covid-struck Lyles won bronze.
The other top names are Alexander Ogando, who finished fifth at the Olympic Games in 20.02 and clocked 19.86 in Miami and 19.94 in Eugene, Olympic 200m finalist Makanakaische Charamba from Zimbabwe, second at the NCAA Championships in Eugene in 19.92 and winner in Sotteville Lès Rouen in 20.08 on Monday, Jereem Richards, Commonwealth Games champion in 2022 with 19.80 and winner at the Grand Slam Track meeting in Miami in 19.86, Mo Ayok Xavi from the Netherlands, winner at the European Team Championships in Madrid with a PB of 20.01, Timothé Mumenthaler from Switzerland, European champion in Rome 2024, and Teo Andant from France, world silver medallist with the 4x400 relay in Budapest 2023.
Men’s 200 metres under 23 race:
Gout Gout will make his debut in the Diamond League in a 200m under 23 race. The Australian rising star won the world under 20 silver medal in Lima 2024. Last December he equalled Peter Norman’s Australian record with 20.04. This time ranked as the second fastest under 18 performance in history behind Erryion Knighton. Last April Gout won the 200m at the Australian Championships in Perth in a wind-assisted 19.84.
He won the 200 metres improving his national record by 0.02 to 20.02 in his first European race at the Golden Spike meeting in Ostrava.
Gout will face Colleen Kepinatshipi, who set PBs of 20.08 in the 200m and 44.22 un the 400m, and Naeem Jack from South Africa, who set a PB of 20.13 this year.
Women’s 400 metres hurdles:
Femke Bol returns to the track where she finished third in the 400m in 51.57 on her Diamond League debut in 2020. Since then she has won 26 races in the 400 metres hurdles in the Diamond League circuit. She has remained unbeaten in her three races over this distance in Rabat in 52.46, in Hengelo in 52.51 and Stockolm in 52.11 and won the 400m flat race at the European Team Championships in Madrid in 49.48.
Femke Bol: “I’m really looking forward to racing in Monaco, it’s always an incredible meeting. I’ve trained well this year. Monaco is one of the meetings I haven’t won yet; I would love to change that this year. I hope to run a great race and fully enjoy the atmosphere”
Bol will face 2019 world champion and 2021 Olympic silver medallist Dalilah Muhammad, who won in Oslo in 53.34 and finished second to her Dutch rival in her seasonal best of 52.91 in Stockolm, and Paris Olympic silver medallist Anna Cockrell, who set a seasonal best of 53.84 in Baton Rouge and took the win at the Grand Slam Track in Philadelphia.
The high level race could help 2024 European silver medallist Louise Maraval reach the qualifying standard for the World Championships in Tokyo. The French athlete set a seasonal best of 54.88 at the Diamond League meeting in Rome.
The line-up also features Andrenette Knight from Jamaica, winner at the Golden Gala in Rome in 53.67 and second in Rabat in 53.90 and at the Jamaican Championships in 54.52.
Ayomide Folorunso from Italy currently leads the Diamond League standings in this discipline with 19 points after finishing second in Rome in 54.21 and third in Rabat in 54.74. She showed her good form by finishing second at the European Team Championships in Madrid in 54.88.
The other athlete to watch is Emma Zapletalova from Czech Republic, first in Geneva in a seasonal best of 54.21 and second in Oslo in 54.44.
Women’s 400 metres:
Olympic and world champion Marileidy Paulino from Dominican Republic is aiming to continue her winning streak at this year’s Diamond League edition following her win in Paris Charlety in a seasonal best of 48.81 in a close head-to-head clash against Selwa Naser. Paulino won the Olympic gold medal in Paris last year in the Olympic record and a national record of 48.17. This year she performed well in the Grand Slam Track winning in Miami in 49.21 and Philadelphia in 49.12. She set a national record in the 200 metres with 22.30 in Miami.
Paulino will go head-to-head against Aaliyah Butler, who won the NCAA outdoor title in 49.26 and finished second at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene in 49.86. She was part of the US team, who won the Olympic gold medal in the 4x400 relay.
Natalia Bukowiecka from Poland is aiming to break the 50 seconds barrier for the first time this season. Bukowiecka won the European gold medal in Rome breaking Irena Szewinzka’s Polish record with 48.98 and the Olympic bronze medal. She improved her record to 48.90 at the Diamond League meeting in Rome. This yeat she set a seasonal best of 50.14 at the European Championships in Madrid.
Rhasidat Adeleke from Ireland has a fond memory of Monaco where she won her first Diamond League race in 49.17. Adeleke won the European silver medal in Rome in 49.07 and finished fourth at the Olympic Games in Paris in 49.28.
Lieke Klaver, European bronze medalist in Rome 2024 and European indoor champion in Apeldoorn, also returns to Monaco where she finished second in 49.64 last year. She improved her PB to 49.58 at the Diamond League meeting in London one week later.
Nickisha Pryce from Jamaica made her breakthrough last year when she won the NCAA title in a PB of 48.89 in Eugene. She went on to win her first Diamond League race in London improving the Diamond League record of 48.57.
Martina Weil from Chile, fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing 2025, is aiming to continue her good season after improving her PB to 49.83 at the Paris Diamond League meeting. Weil is the daughter of 1992 Olympic 400m bronze medalist Ximena Restrepo and Chilean shot putter Gert Weil.
Women’s 100 metres:
Julien Alfred won back-to-back Diamond League 100 metres races in Oslo in 10.89 and Stockolm in 10.75, just three hundredths off her national record set in the Olympic final in Paris. Alfred then finished second to Melissa Jefferson Wooden in 10.77 into a headwind pf -1.5 m/s at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene. She also set a world lead in the 200 metres with 21.88 in Gainesville. The Santa Lucian star won in Monaco last year in 10.85.
Alfred will go head-to-head against Jamaican sprinter Tina Clayton, who won the 100 metres final at the Jamaican Championships in 10.81. Tina will be joined by her twin sister Tia Clayton, who won two Diamond League races in Chorzow in 2024 in 10.83 and in Doha in 2025 in 10.92.
The other stand-out names are Zoe Hobbs from New Zealand, who won in Turku in 11.07 and finished third in Ostrava in a Oceanian record with 10.94, US sprinters Jacious Sears and Aleia Hobbs, who finished first and second respectively in 10.85 and 10.88 at the Invitational event of the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, and Maia McCoy, second in Rabat and current leader of the Diamond League standings.
Men’s 110 metres hurdles:
The men’s 110 metres line-up looks like a world championships final. Cordell Tinch leads the line-up with his PB of 12.87 set at the Diamond League in Keqiao. Tinch finished second in Rome in 13.14 and won in Hengelo in 13.10.
Tinch will go head to head against 2022 world silver medallist Trey Cunningham, who equalled his PB clocking 13.00 twice when he won at the Grand Slam Track meeting in Miami and at the Diamond League meeting in Paris.
The other US hurdlers are Dylan Beard, who finished second improving his PB to 13.02 at the Diamond League in Paris, and Ja’Kobe Tharp, 2024 World under 20 gold medallist and NCAA champion in 2025 in 13.05.
Jason Joseph from Switzerland is aiming to continue his good season. He won at the Diamond League meeting in Rome in 13.14 beating Tinch in a close photo-finish, equalled his Swiss record with 13.07 in Paris and won at the European Team Championships in Madrid in 13.24.
The hopes of the French crowd will be carried by Wilhelm Belocian and Just Kwaou Mathey. Belocian won silver medals at the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn and the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing and clocked a seasonal best of 13.20 in Paris and 13.25 in Nancy. Kwaou Mathey won the bronze medal at the European Championships in Munich 2022.
Women’s 100 metres hurdles:
Reigning Olympic champion Masai Russell will clash against Olympic finalist Grace Stark, world indoor champion Devynne Charlton, European indoor champion Ditaji Kambundji, European indoor silver medallist Nadine Visser and Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper.
Russell won the US Olympic Trials in 12.25 and the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Paris with 12.33. She set the US record and the second world fastest time in history with 12.17 at the Grand Slam Track meeting in Miami.
Stark won three Diamond League races in Keqiao in 12.42, in Stockolm in 12.33 and in Paris with a PB and a meeting record of 12.21. The US hurdler won the NCAA title in 2024 and finished fifth at the Olympic Games in Paris and at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing,
Ditaji Kambundji won the European indoor gold medal in Apeldoorn with a European indoor record in the 60 metres hurdles of 7.67 and the world indoor silver medal in Nanjing in 7.73. During the outdoor season she won in Turku in 12.66 and at the European Team Championships in Madrid in 12.39.
Visser won the European indoor silver medal in Apeldoorn in a Dutch record of 7.72 and set her outdoor seasonal best of 12.49 in Stockolm.
Charlton won her second world indoor title in Nanjing in 7.72 and holds the world indoor record with 7.65.
Megan Tapper won the Jamaican title in 12.34 in Kingston on 29 June.
Giada Carmassi is set to continue her consistent season after breaking the Italian record with 12.69 at the Diamond League meeting in Stockolm.
Men’s 5000 metres:
The packed 5000mfield features eight men with a sub-12:50 PB. Winners of three recent Diamond League races will clash in Monaco.
Andreas Almgren from Stockolm won the 5000m in Stockolm in a European record of 12:44.27.
Kejelcha won the 11th Diamond League race of his career in Paris in 12:47.84 and clocked 12:49.07 in Oslo.
Mehary won the 10000 metres in Eugene in 26:43.82 and finished second in Oslo in 12:45.93. The Ethiopian 18-year-old also set the world indoor under 20 record in the 3000m with 7:29.99 in Liévin.
Gebrhiwet, two-time world medallist and Olympic bronze medallist in the 5000m in 2016, won the 5000m in Monaco in 2023 in 12:42.18. He finished fifth in Oslo in a seasonal best of 12:46.82.
French fans will cheer on Jiimmy Gressier, who set the national record of 12:51.59 at the Paris Diamond League. Yann Schrub and Etienne Daguinos will return to action after breaking the 13 minutes barrier for the first time in the French capital with 12:56.57 and 12:57.46 respectively. Schrub also improved his PB to 3:31.42 in the 1500m last week.
The line-up also features Dominic Lobalu from Switzerland, European champion in the 10000n in Rome 2024, Jacob Krop, who won the world bronze medal in Budapest 2023. and set a PB of 12:45.71 in Brussels 2022, and Ronald Kwemoi, Olympic silver medalist in the 5000m and former world under 20 record holder over the mile distance with 3:28.81 in Monaco in 2014.
Women’s 1000 metres:
Jessica Hull from Australia returns to the track of the Stade Louis II, where she broke the 2000 metres world record with 5:19.70 one month before winning the Olympic silver medal in Paris. Hull will take on Kenya’s Mary Moraa, world champion in Budapest 2023, Olympic bronze medallist in Paris 2024 and two-time Diamond League champion in 2022 and 2024.
Hull will face Audrey Werro from Switzerland, fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing and national record holder with 1:57.25 in Bydgoszcz, Agathe Guillemot from France, who set the French 2000m record in Monaco last year and won the European indoor gold medal in the 1500 metres in Apeldoorn, Anais Bourgoin, European bronze medallist in Rome last year and Clara Liberman, European indoor bronze medallist in Apeldoorn 2025.
Men’s 3000 metres steeplechase:
Double Olympic and world champion Soufiane El Bakkali will run his fourth Diamond League race this season. The Moroccan athlete won the 3000m steeplechase in Rabat in 8:00.70, finished second in Xiamen in 8:06.66 and sixth in the 5000m in 12:55.49. El Bakkali won three times in Monaco in 2018 (7:58.15), 2019 (8:04.82) and 2020 (8:08.04)
The entry list also features Germany’s Frederick Ruppert and Ethiopia’s Samuel Firewu, the second and third fastest performers of the year. Ruppert, fourth at the European Championships in Rome 2024, finished second at the Diamond League meeting in Rabat improving Damian Kallabis’ national record with 8:01.49. Firewu won the Diamond League race in Xiamen in 8:05.61.
Simon Koech from Kenya returns to the track where he won in 2023 in 8:04.19 a few weeks before claiming the victory in the Diamond League final.
The other athletes to watch are USA’s Kenneth Rooks and Kenya’s Abraham Kibiwot, Olympic silver and bronze medallists respectively in Paris 2024, Edmund Serem from Kenya, world under 20 champion in Lima 2024, and Karl Bebendorf, European bronze medallist in Rome and winner at the Diamond League meeting in Stockolm in 8:11.81 and at the European Team Championships in Madrid.
The best French athletes in the field are Alexis Miellet and Djilali Bedrani, who won gold and silver at the European Championships in Rome 2024.
Women’s shot put:
Chase Jackson is aiming to continue her good period of form. She broke her own US record with 20.95m one week before winning at the Prefontaine Classic with 20.94m in a competition where five athletes surpassed the 20 metres barrier.
Jackson will go head-to-head against Germany’s Yemisi Ogunleye, Olympic champion in Paris with 20.00m and national indoor champion this year with 20.27m, Sarah Mitton from Canada, who won her second world indoor title in Nanjing and set a seasonal best of 20.35m, Jessica Schilder from the Netherlands, who won the European indoor title in Apeldoorn and set a seasonal best of 20.47m, and Jaida Ross, who finished fourth at the Olympic Games in Paris and set a PB of 20.13m at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene last week.
The French crowd will cheer on combined events specialist Auriana Lazraq Khlass, who won the European silver medal in the heptathlon and set a PB of 15.27m in the shot put.
Men’s high jump:
Hamish Kerr from New Zealand won the men’s high jump competition at last year’s edition equalling his PB of 2.33m after a thrilling battle with USA’s Shelby McEwen in the jump-off. One month later Kerr claimed the Olympic gold medal with 2.36 beating McEwen in another jump-off. Kerr and McEwen will renew their rivalry for a re-match at this year’s edition of the Herculis meeting.
Sanghyeok Woo from South Korea won his second world indoor title in Nanjing 2025 and at the Diamond League meeting in Rome with 2.32m. The Asian jumper has remained undefeated this year.
The other top athletes in the line-up are Oleg Doroshchuk from Ukraine, European Indoor gold medallist in Apeldoorn, Jan Stefela from Czechia, winner at the European Team Championships in Madrid with 2.33m, and Raymond Richards (PB 2.30m).
Men’s triple jump:
Jordan Scott from Jamaica will chase his fourth win in the men’s triple jump at this year’s edition of the Diamond League after claiming victories in Xiamen with 17.27m, Oslo with 17.34m and Paris with 17.27m.
Andy Diaz Hernandez from Italy will start his Diamond League season after being sidelined by an injury. Diaz won the Olympic bronze medallist in Paris with 17.63m, two editions of the Diamond League in 2022 and 2023, and two gold medals at the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn with 17.71m and the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing with a national record of 17.80m.
The other global medallists are Pedro Pablo Pichardo from Portugal, double Olympic medallist (gold in Tokyo 2021 and silver in Paris 2024), Fabrice Zango, world champion in Budapest with 17.64m and second at this year’s Diamond League meeting with 17.21m, and Thomas Gogois, who won the European bronze medal in Rome 2024 and set a seasonal best of 17.11m.
