Report: Herculis EBS Monaco Diamond League
The Stade Louis II in Monaco was ablaze tonight as the world's fastest and strongest athletes gathered for the 2025 Herculis EBS Diamond League. The meet lived up to its reputation as one of the season’s most electric, with record-chasing performances, personal bests, and dramatic finishes across the board. Sprinting superstar Noah Lyles made a triumphant return, Femke Bol dazzled with a world lead in the hurdles, and the middle-distance and field events offered no shortage of fireworks in a night that thrilled fans and reaffirmed Monaco’s status as a Diamond League gem.
Men’s 200 metres:
World 100 and 200 metres champion Noah Lyles started his Diamond League season with a win in a seasonal best of 19.88 into a headwind of -0.8 m/s holding off Olympic champion Letsile Tebogo, who finished second in 19.97. Makanakaishe Charamba also dipped under the 20 seconds barrier with 19.99 edging Olympic finalist Alexander Ogando (20.01).
Noah Lyles:
“The audience was amazing and showed a lot of love. That is always helpful for your first race, I put myself in the fire for that one coming back against Tebogo. I didn´t feel any pressure, I don´t see any reason to put pressure on myself because that´s what we love to do. I am gonna go to the London Diamond League. I have been missing to compete for the last few weeks, I was watching Prefontaine and I wanted to be there but we wanted first to make sure that I am healthy and fully able to compete. I missed most the competitors, because I know everyone is giving their all. I have a bye for the US Trials which makes it less stressful because it gives us the time to work on the races, it gives us time to see what works and what doesn´t and to be able to make moves from there.”
Men's 800m
Olympic champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi won the men’s 800 metres setting the world lead with 1:41.44. Wanyonyi ran two hundredths of a second faster than Djamel Sedjati’s meeting record set last year. Josh Hoey finished second improving his PB to 1:42.01. Sedjati placed third in 1:42.20. Australia’s Peter Bol set the Oceanian record with 1:42.55 in fourth place. Marco Arop lost his first 800m race of the season but he set a seasonal best of 1:42.73 to finish fifth ahead of Slimane Moula (1:42.86) and Bryce Hoppel (1:43.51)
Emmanuel Wanyonyi: "I came to run a season's best and a meeting record. I came prepared. I gave my best today so I am happy with the result. 800m in now very competitive so I need to push even harder than usual on my trainings. Sometimes I am thinking about world record. I think I can break it in the future. Focus in now on the prepartions for the next races before the World Championships."
Men’s 200 metres under 23 race:
World under 20 silver medallist Gout Gout won the men’s 200 metres under 23 race in the pre-programme of the meeting with 20.10 int a strong headwind of -1.9 m/s on his debut in the Diamond League circuit. Busang Collen Kebinatshipi from Botswana placed second in 20.28.
Gout Gout: “I am pretty satisfied, I just got told that it was into a headwind. I ran pretty decent so I am happy with that. I haven´t competed much this season since I have to go to school, I will be back on Monday. During the holidays is the time to compete for me, I come back here and get in a few good races. I didn´t compete in the main race because I just want slowly to get used it, there is no point putting me in big races when I am running at the World Championships. The goal now is to go out there and have a little bit of fun.
Men’s pole vault:
Armand Mondo Duplantis set another meeting record by clearing 6.05m on his first attempt after first-time clearances at 5.62m and 5.92m. Duplantis improved the previous meeting record set by Piotr Lisek with 6.02 in 2019. The Monaco meeting record was one of the few achievements missing in his collection. Olympic bronze medallist Emmanouil Karalis had a clean sheet clearing 5.62m, 5.82m and 5.82m in his first attempt, but he was not able to clear 6.05m on his first attempt at this height. The Greek athlete raised the bar a 6.10m, but he narrowly missed one attempt at this height. Kurtis Marshall from Australia cleared 5.92m on his second attempt to take third place. The Australian athlete failed his three attempts at 6.00m. Sam Kendricks and Renaud Lavillenie shared fourth place with 5.82m.”
Armand Duplantis: “Karalis was amazing today, he had some really good attempts at 6.10. If he would have made it, then I would have had to jump 6.15. I just sleep in to recover from my competitions, I think recovering physically is the most important thing. Mentally, I just need a day or two and then I feel I am ready again. I like to compete a lot and keep myself busy. For me, I can´t lose a competition and I got to make sure that I am always ready because I know those guys want to beat me. So I always need to be on my A-game.”
Women’s 100 metres:
Julien Alfred won her third Diamond League race of the season with 10.79 into a headwind of -1.4 m/s following her victories in Oslo and Stockolm and her second place in Eugene. Jacious Sears finished second in 11.02 just one week after setting a seasonal best of 10.88 in Eugene. Zoe Hobbs took third place in 11.12 ahead of Aleia Hobbs (11.14).
Julien Alfred: “The season is going good so far. The last week was not the best for me but it also showed me that I am not where I should be and that there are things that I still need to work on. The season is long but I don't have any trials so I will have time to work on the details”
Women’s 400 metres hurdles:
Femke Bol won her third Diamond League race this year in the women’s 400 metres hurdles setting a world seasonal lead and a meeting record with 51.95. Bol claimed her 28th Diamond League win and her first ever in Monaco. She celebrated the win with her compatriot Jessica Schilder, who had jut won the women’s shot put a few minutes earlier. Dalilah Muhammad finished second improving her seasonal best to 52.58 ahead of Olympic silver medallist Anna Cockrell (52.91).
Femke Bol: "The race was pretty good, it was a thrilling race till the end. The wind was different compared to my previous races. Running 51 is always very special, I don´t do that every day. I wanted to do my own race, I was suprised because my first two races didn´t go that well. But I always look up to race Muhammad and Cockrell, you can never count them out. This helps for the adrenaline. I am feeling good so far this season, I had a great start to it. I also did two 400m flats but I could see my shape getting better. I was curious here to see what I can do in those great circumstances. I have London in a week and after we will go back to training to prepare for World Championships and the last competitions. In Stockholm I ran 52.11, I felt that I had three more weeks with some big trainings in it and 400m flats which are also very good training. We were hoping for a 51, I executed well and had some great competitors I knew that were gonna push me."
Women’s 400 metres:
Olympic and world champion Marileidy Paulino won her second Diamond League race of the season, but she had to dig deep to edge NCAA champion Aaliyah Butler in 49.06 in a close race. Butler finished second improving her PB to 49.09.
Marileidy Paulino: I would say that I came to do a god job and before coming I had a few setbacks at the airport that the flight left me. But that is not an excuse to keep improving every day. I have to thank to God for everything and focus on the World Championships, which is the most important thing.”
Men’s 5000 metres:
Yomif Kejelcha won his second consecutive Diamond League race in 12:49.46 following his victory in Paris. Jimmy Gressier narrowly missed out on his French record with 12:53.36 beating Birhanu Balewu (12:53.51). Mohamed Abdilahi from Germany finished fourth improving Dieter Baumann’s German record with 12:53.63. Etienne Daguinos from France smashed his PB to 12:55.76 ahead of Swiss record holder Dominic Lobalu (12:56.42), Hagos Gebrhiwet (12:58.21) and Telahun Bekele (12:59.59).
Yomif Kejelcha: "Four days ago I ran 1500m here for practice, just to feel the track. It was very nice, I enjoyed it. I tried to keep my best during the race but somehow I still felt tired. I am really happy especially because this also might be my last 5000m as I might move to road racing after World Championships. It makes me really satisfied that I got the win in Monaco today. I am proud of myself and of my coach. I will try to make the Tokyo team in 10000m. I am sure I will make it."
Women’s 1000 metres:
Kenya’s Nelly Chepchirchir won the women’s 1000 metres setting a PB and the fourth fastest time in history with 2:29.77. Addison Wiley from the USA took second place in 2:30.71 ahead of Jessica Hull, who set the Oceanian record with 2:30.96 on the track where she improved the world record last year in the 2000 metres. Sinclaire Johnson finished fourth in 2:31.30.
Nelly Chepchirchir: "I ran my own race today and I am happy the way I did it. I set my own pace which let me run the personal best. It is great that I managed to improve my personal best which I set in Silesia last year. I train with Emmanuel (Wanyonyi) and also with marathon runners. The team helps me a lot to impove myself. I will compete next at the Kenyan trails which are very competitive. I believe I can make Tokyo team."
Women’s 100 metres hurdles:
Olympic bronze medallist Megan Tapper claimed her first ever win in the Diamond League in 12.34 into a headwind of -1.1 m/s a few days after claiming victory at the Jamaican Championships. European indoor champion Ditaji Kambundji finished second setting a seasonal best of 12.43. Nadine Visser took third place in 12.56 edging Olympic champion Masai Russell (12.57) and Grace Stark (12.64).
Megan Tapper. "I did not get the opportunity to get here in 2023, so this is my first time in Monaco, my first Diamond League meeting of the year and my first Diamond League win. I knew I was in a good shape, my team did an excellent job in preparing me for Monaco. I just came here with faith and I just did what I had to do. I love hurdling with all my heart. I would not be here if I didn´t love it. I love the opportunity to hurdle. It's a feeling I cannot explain. And I love it. Hurdling presents 10 opportunities to fly."
Men’s 110 metres hurdles:
Trey Cunningham, world silver medallist in Eugene 2022, won his back-to-back race in the men’s 110 metres hurdles in 13.10 into a head-to-head wind following his victory in Paris. Cordell Tinch hit a few hurdles but he finished second in 13.14 ahead of this year’s NCAA champion Ja’Kobe Tharp, who finished third in 13.17 on his debut in the Diamond League edging Rachid Muratake from Japan with the same time.
Trey Cunningham: “This race was the one I got away timewise. I felt great Cout of the start, I did what I was supposed to do, I hit that last step into the hurdle perfectly. But I didn´t stay disciplined after hurdle three, I started hitting them a little bit and got sideways on hurdle five but then came back pretty strong after seventh hurdle to finish the race. The goal is always to win, the time doesn´t matter so much for me. I want a fabulous time of course, but winning is awesome. I am trying not to have the sub 13 on my mind, because if I chase something like that I just get tight, especially in the sprints and hurdles. I just do what I am supposed to do in practice. I will race next on Tuesday in Lucerne and after that I will try to finish the Diamond League circuit."
Men’s 3000 metres steeplechase:
Soufiane El Bakkali claimed a hard-fought win in 8:03.18. Ryiji Miura from Japan overtook El Bakkali at the start of the home straight but the Moroccan athlete chased down Miura to snatch the victory. Miura set a national record with 8:03.43 to finish second ahead of Edmund Serem (8:04.00) and Salaheddine Ben Yazide (8:06.44).
Women’s shot put:
European indoor and outdoor champion Jessica Schilder won her second Diamond League competition of the season in the women’s shot put with 20.39 following her victory in Xiamen with 20.47m.
Chase Jackson took the early lead with 19.86m in the first round. Last year’s Diamond League champion Sarah Mitton was the first athlete to throw beyond the 20 metres with 20.00m in the second round. Jackson regained the lead with 20.06m in the fifth round before Jessica Schilder clinched the win with 20.39m in the Final 3.
Jessica Schilder; “It was actually a crazy competition for me because my shot wasn´t accepted. So it was a bit messy in the beginning of the competition and I couldn´t find my rhythm. I was very happy that my coach was here because we could directly adapt everything that didn´t work. In the last throw we found where the issue was, so that´s nice to get the big throw and win. I came back from Eugene a few days ago, I felt the jet lag but it was getting better. Now I go back to training before throwing at the Dutch Nationals and then I hope Brussels and Zurich.”
Men’s triple jump:
Jordan Scott from Jamaica won his fourth Diamond League competition in the men’s triple jump this year with 17.52m in the Final 3.
European and world indoor champion Andy Diaz from Italy took the early lead with 17.15m in the second round, but Yasser Triki responded a few minutes later by setting a seasonal best of 17.21m and repeated the same mark in the third round. Scott bounded out to 17.44m in the fifth round to overtake Triki and improved his best mark to 17.52m in the sixth round. Triki and Diaz also increased their marks to 17.23m and 17.19m in the final 3.
Jordan Scott: “The season is coming along. I don't know what to say, I surprised myself today. It took me some time to do what I had to do. I started a bit slow, I was just trying to figure things out. I was missing my hop step a lot. My coach told me to relax, and that I have done it a bunch of times. I managed to get relaxed and jumped a personal best in the final attempt. So I can't complain. The season is long, there is still a long way to go to the World Championships and I don't want to worry about it now. I will compete again next week and then get back to training. I will let my coach figure out things that have to be improved."
Men’s high jump:
Jan Stefela cleared 2.32m on his first attempt, but Sanghyeok Woo responded with a first time clearances at 2.34m. Stefela failed one attempt at 2.34m and two tries at 2.36m.
Sanghyeok Woo: “There are many people who cheered for me today. It gave me an extra boost and energy to jump the world lead. It was really a special atmosphere for me. I believe I can jump even higher though. The focus of the season is, of course, the World Championships, I want to win a gold medal there.”
