Preview: Gyulai István Memorial - Hungarian Athletics Grand Prix
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Six reigning world champions will headline the Gyulai István Memorial on Tuesday, August 13, the penultimate Continental Tour Gold meeting before the World Championships in Tokyo. Traditionally staged in Székesfehérvár since 2014, the Hungarian Grand Prix will this year take place at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest, newly reconfigured following the 2023 World Championships.
Men’s pole vault:
Olympic champion Armand Mondo Duplantis will return to Budapest for the first time since winning the world gold medal in 2023 with the Hungarian all-comers record of 6.10m. Since then Duplantis has won his second consecutive Olympic gold medal in Paris and improved his world title to 6.28m at the Diamond League in Stockolm last June. Duplantis also cleared 5.92m in Wuhan, 6.11m in Keqiao, 6.15m in Oslo, 6.13m in Ostrava, 6.00m in Eugene and 6.05m in Monaco. The Swede will aim to improve his own Memorial Gyulai meeting record of 5.80 set in Szekesfehrvar in 2022.
Duplantis will take on Olympic bronze medallist and European indoor champion Emmanouil Karalis, who recently improved his own Greek record to 6.08m at the National Championships in Volos moving to third on the world outdoor all-time list.
The line-up also features Ernest John Obiena from the Philippines and Kurtis Marshall from Australia, who won silver with 6.00m and bronze with 5.95m behind Duplantis at the World Championships in Budapest. Marshall showed his good shape this season finishing second in Stockolm with 5.90m and Athens with 5.93m and third in Oslo with 5.72m, Ostrava with 5.82m and Monaco with 5.92m.
Men’s 100 metres:
Kishane Thompson leads the men’s 100 metres line-up. Thompson won the Olympic silver medal in Paris in 9.79 just five thousandths of a second behind Noah Lyles. Thompson won the Jamaican Championships in a world leading time of 9.75 moving to sixth in the world all-time list and claimed his first win in the 100m in a Diamond League meeting at the Prefontaine Classic in 9.85.
Akani Simbine set a meeting record and the former African record of 9.84 in 2021 when the Memorial Gyulai was held in Szekesfervar. Simbine finished fourth at the Olympic Games in Paris in a PB of 9.82 and won three Diamond League races in Wuhan in 9.99, Keqiao in 9.98 and Rabat in 9.95.
The line-up also features Abdul Rasheed Saminu from Ghana, national record holder with 9.84 in Powder Springs, Ackeem Blake from Jamaica, second at the Memorial Gyulai in 10.02 in 2023, world indoor bronze medallist in Glasgow in 6.46 and winner at the Diamond League final in Brussels in 9.93 in 2024, Ronnie Baker, fifth at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021 and winner at the Banska Bystrika meeting in 9.94 last week, Rohan Watson from Jamaica, fifth at this year’s World Indoor Championships in the 60 metres and world bronze medallist with the 4x100 relay in Budapest 2023, Ferdinand Omanyala from Kenya, African record holder with 9.77 at the Continental Tour meeting in Nairobi in 2021, and Kayinsola Ayaji, winner at three international races in Sotteville lès Rouen in 9.92, Kortrjik in 10.09 and Lucerne in 10.09.
Women’s 100 metres:
Jamaican sprint legend Shelly Ann Fraser Pryce will clash against Shericka Jackson and Marie Josée Ta Lou in star-studded women’s 100 metres.
Fraser Pryce won three Olympic gold medals and ten world titles and collected a total of 25 medals from the Olympic Games and the World Championships during her career. She set the Memorial Istvan Gyulai meeting record of 10.67 in 2022, just 0.07 shy away from her PB of 10.60 in Lausanne in 2021. She placed third at the Jamaican Championships in Kingston in a seasonal best of 10.91 qualifying for the World Championships in Tokyo.
Shericka Jackson won two consecutive world gold medals in the 200 metres and the Olympic gold medal in the 4x100 relay in Tokyo 2021. Jackson won the 200 metres three times at the Memorial Gyulai and set the meeting record of 21.96 in 2021. The Jamaican sprinter returns to Budapest where she won her second world title in 21.41 setting the second fastest time in history. She set her 100m PB of 10.65 in Kingston in 2023. This season Jackson finished second at the Jamaican Championships in 10.88m.
Tina Clayton, two-time world under 20 champion in Nairobi 2021 and Cali 2022, won the 100 metres Jamaican title this year ahead of Jackson and Fraser Pryce setting a PB of 10.81, the third fastest time this season.
Marie Josée Ta Lou won three world medals (double silver in the 100m and 200m in London 2017 and bronze in Doha 2019). She placed fourth at the World Championships in Budapest and set the African record of 10.72 in Monaco in 2022. The Ivorian sprinter set a seasonal best of 10.90 into a headwind of -1.5 m/s at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene and won in Brescia in 10.92.
Jacious Sears clocked 10.85 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene and finished second in Monaco in 11.02 and third in Rabat in 11.11. The US sprinter placed sixth at the National Championships in Eugene in 11.00.
Tamari Davis won the world title with the 4x100 relay in 41.03 and finished ninth in the 100m final in 11.03 in Budapest 2023. Davis won the 100 metres at last year’s edition of the Memorial Gyulai in 11.00.
Maia McCoy, who switched from representing Liberia to the USA this year, improved her PB to 10.96 in Eisenstadt (Austria) and won in Heusden Zolder in a wind-assisted 10.90 and in Berlin in 11.01.
Cambrea Sturgis, two-time NCAA champion in 2021 in the 100m and 200m, set a legal PB of 10.87 and a wind-assisted 10.74.
Hungarian fans will cheer on Boglarka Takacs, who won the 100m at the European Team Championships in Madrid in a lifetime best of 11.06.
Women’s 400 metres hurdles:
Femke Bol returns to the venue where she won the world title in the 400 metres hurdles in 2024. The Dutch athlete is looking to win for the third time at the Memorial Gyulai following her victories in 2020 with 54.67 and 2021 in 52.81. Bol could threaten the meeting record of 51.68 set by Olympic champion Sydney McLaughlin Levrone. Bol won 40 invitational races, including her five races this year in Rabat in 52.46, Hengelo in 52.51, Stockolm in 52.11, in Monaco in a world leading time of 51.95 and London in 52.10. She also won two 400m flat races in Ostrava in 49.98 and at the European Team Championships in Madrid with 49.48 and finished second to Lieke Klaver in the 200m in 22.84 at the Dutch Championships.
Women’s 400 metres:
Lieke Klaver returns to Budapest where she won the gold medal with the 4x400 relay and finished sixth in the 400 metres final at the 2023 World Championships. She also won three more titles in the 400m at the European indoor Championships in Apeldoorn 2025, with the 4x400 relay at the European Championships in Rome and with the 4x400 mixed relay at the Olympic Games in Paris.
Men’s hammer throw:
Reigning world and Olympic champion Ethan Katzberg returns to the Budapest National Athletics Centre where he won the world title with 81.25m becoming the youngest ever champion in this event. Karzberg is aiming to win for the second consecutive edition of the Memorial Gyulai after winning in Szekesfehrvar last year with 81.87m. Katzberg set a seasonal best of 82.73m in Nairobi and threw 81.73 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene and 81.33m at the Canadian Championships in Ottawa.
Katzberg will take on Olympic silver medallist Bence Halasz from Hungary, who recently improved his PB to 81.94m this season, Wojcech Nowicki, Olympic gold medallist in Tokyo 2021 and three-time European champion, Mykhaylo Kokhan, Olympic silver medallist in Paris 2024, and Pawel Fajdek, five- time world champion and meeting record holder with 83.12m.
Women’s 100 metres hurdles:
Jamaica’s Ackera Nugent will go head against two-time European indoor medallist Nadine Visser from the Netherlands.
Nugent won the world indoor bronze medal in the 60 metres hurdles in 7.74m. The Jamaican hurdler performed well during the Diamond League season winning in Eugene in 12.32 and finishing second in Stockolm in 12.37 and third in Paris in 12.30.
Visser won the European indoor silver medal in Apeldoorn in the 60 metres hurdles in 7.72 and finished second at the European Team Championships in Madrid in the 100 metres hurdles in a wind-assisted 12.39.
Jasmine Camacho Quinn from Puerto Rico, Olympic champion in Tokyo 2021 and world silver medallist in Budapest 2023, makes her come-back from injury after clocking 12.70 in her only race of the season at the Grand Slam Track in Kingston. She won three times at the Memorial Gyulai in 2021, 2022 and 2024.
Hungarian fans will cheer on 2022 European silver medallist Luca Kozak and Anna Toth, who finished first and second at the Hungarian Championships in 12.75 and 12.77 respectively.
Men’s 110 metres hurdles:
Hansle Parchment will line up in the women’s 110 metres hurdles. Parchment won the Olympic gold medal in 13.04 in Tokyo 2021, three bronze medals at the Olympic Games in London 2012 and at two editions of the World Championships in Beijing 2015 in 13.07 and Budapest 2023 in 13.03 and the Diamond League Final in Eugene 2023 in a lifetime best of 12.93.
Men’s long jump:
Olympic, world and European champion Miltiadis Tentoglou will take on Jamaica’s Wayne Pinnock in the men’s long jump that features three of the four top finishers from the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.
Tentoglou returns to venue where he won the world title with 8.52m. The Greek jumper won twice at the Memorial Gyulai in 2023 with 8.29m and in 2024 with 8.23m. He set a world leading mark of 8.46m at the European Team Championships in Madrid. He won at the Balkan Championships with 8.07m and the Greek Championships with 8.12m.
Pinnock won three silver medals at the World outdoor Championships in Budapest 2023 with a lifetime best of 8.50m, at the Olympic Games in Paris with 8.36m and at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing 2025 with 8.29m. He claimed two Diamond League wins in Zurich 2024 with 8.18m and in London in 2025 with 8.20m beating Tentoglou by one cm.
The line-up is completed by Jamaica’s Carey McLeod, world indoor bronze medallist in Glasgow 2024 with 8.21m, and Thobias Montler from Sweden, silver medallist at the World Indoor Championships in Belgrade and at the European Championships in Munich.
Women’s long jump:
Serbia’s Ivana Spanovic returns to Budapest where she won the world title with her outdoor PB 7.14m in 2023. She recently won the national outdoor title in the triple jump with a wind-assisted 14.43m.
Spanovic will take on Claire Bryant, world indoor champion in Nanjing 2025 with 6.96m and second at the 2025 US outdoor Championships with 6.97m, and Jasmine Moore, double Olympic bronze medallist in the long jump and in the triple jump and US champion in the triple jump with a seasonal best of 14.68m.
Men’s shot put:
Leonardo Fabbri, winner at the European Championships in Rome and at the Diamond League Final in Brussels, set the world seasonal lead of 22.82m at the Italian Championships in Caorle, missing his national record by just 16 cm. He threw beyond the 22 metres barrier three more times in Lucca with 22.31m, in Lignano Sabbiadoro with 22.13m and Florence with 22.08m.
Fabbri will take on two-time world champion Joe Kovacs, who will aim to bounce back from his fourth place at the US Championships in Eugene. Kovacs won at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene with 22.48m and set the Memorial Gyulai meeting record with 22.89m in 2023.
The line-up also features Tom Walsh from New Zealand, world indoor champion in Nanjing 2025 and two-time Olympic champion in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2021, Rajindra Campbell from Jamaica, Olympic bronze medallist in Paris 2024 with 22.15m, and USA’s Roger Steen, world indoor silver medallist in Nanjing and second at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene with 22.11m.
Women’s pole vault:
Molly Caudery from Great Britain will go head to head against Eliza McCartney from New Zealand in a re-match of the World indoor Championships in Glasgow 2024. Caudery won the world indoor title front of her home fans ahead of McCartney. This year Caudery set a world seasonal lead of 4.85m at the recent British Championships in Birmingham.
Men’s 400 metres:
World seasonal leader Zakhiti Nene from South Africa will face 2019 world champion Steven Gardiner. Nene won the 400m in a PB of 43.76 at the Kip Keino in Nairobi. Gardiner set a meeting record of 43.74 in 2023 and won six times at the Memorial Gyulai.
The line-up will also feature Zambia’s Muzala Samukonga, Olympic bronze medallist in Paris with a national record of 43.74, Vernon Norwood, double Olympic champion and four-time world champion in the 4x400 relay, and Attila Molnar from Hungary, who won the European indoor title in Apeldoorn and set a national outdoor record of 44.84 at the World Championships in Budapest 2023.
Men’s 200 metres:
Jamaica’s Bryan Levell will lead the line-up in the men’s 200 metres. Levell won the 200m at the Jamaican Championships in 20.10 and improved his PB to 9.82 in the 100m in Eisenstadt.
Levell will face Zimbabwe’s Tapinawashe Makarawu, this year’s NCAA champion in Eugene in 19.84, 400m world record holder and 2016 Olympic champiom Wayde Van Niekerk, who finished third at the Continental Tour Silver meeting in Madrid with a seasonal best of 44.91, Joseph Fahnbulleh from Liberia, two-time Olympic finalist and fourth at the World Championships in Eugene 2022 in the 200m in 19.84, 2021 Olympic 4x100 relay champion Eseosa Desalu from Italy, national 100m and 200m champion and second at the European Team Championships in Madrid in 20.08, Benjamin Richardson from South Africa, who set PBs of 9.86 in the 100m and 19.99 in the 200m in La Chaux de Fonds last year, Adrian Kerr, who clocked a PB of 20.09 in Memphis this year, and Tsebo Matsoso, who improved his PB to 10.03 in the 100m.
Men’s 800 metres:
Ben Pattison from Great Britain will return to the venue where he won the world bronze medal in 2023 in 1:44.83. Pattison set a PB of 1:42.27 at the Diamond League in Monaco 2024. Pattison will take on Gabriel Tual, who won the European outdoor title in Rome 2024, finished sixth at the Olympic Games in Pari in 1:42.14 and set a French record of 1:41.61 at the Paris Diamond League meeting in Paris Charlety. The line-up also features Alex Ngeno Kipngetich from Kenya, who finished third at the Kenyan World Trials in 1:40.40, and Samuel Chapple from the Netherlands, European Indoor champion in Apeldoorn 2025.
Men’s high jump:
Oleg Doroshchuk, European indoor champion in Apeldoorn 2025 with 2.34m and European outdoor bronze medallist in Rome 2024, will face Donald Thomas from Bahamas, world champion in Osaka 2007.
