Stockholm Diamond League 2026 Preview:Hodgkinson, Duplantis , Almgren and Jefferson-Wooden Lead Worl
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Sunday, 7 June, for the fifth meeting of the 2026 season. The iconic venue, which hosted the 1912 Olympic Games, has witnessed 83 world records over more than a century, from Hannes Kolehmainen’s 5000m mark in 1912 to Armand Duplantis’ world-record 6.28m pole vault clearance at last year’s BAUHAUS-galan.
This year’s edition features another world-class line-up led by Swedish superstar Armand Duplantis, Olympic 800m champion Keely Hodgkinson, world sprint champion Melissa Jefferson-Wooden, Olympic discus champion Valarie Allman, and home favourite Daniel Ståhl. With Olympic champions, world champions and Diamond League winners spread across the programme, Stockholm is once again set to deliver one of the highlights of the athletics season.
Women’s 800 metres:
Reigning Olympic champion Keely Hodgkinson will run her first outdoor 800 metres race this season just three days after improving her PB to 51.14 in the 400 metres at the Diamond League in Rome.
Hodgkinson won gold medals at the European Championships in Rome in 1:58.65 and at the Olympic in Paris 2024 in 1:56.72 and the bronze medal at the World Championships in Tokyo in 1:54.91.
Last August Hodgkinson returned to her best shape by winning two back-to-back Diamond League wins in Chorzow in 1:54.74 and Lausanne in 1:55.69.
The British 800 metres star broke the world indoor record clocking 1:54.87 at the World Indoor Tour meeting in Liévin. She ran just under a second faster than the previous record set by Slovenia’s Jolanda Ceplak with 1:55.82 on 3 March 2002, the day of Hodgkinson’s birth.
Hodgkinson won her first world indoor gold medal in 1:55.30 at the World Indoor Championships in Torun setting the second fastest indoor time in history. She ran the fastest split of 50.10 as part of the British team that finished fifth in the women’s 4x400 relay.
Hodgkinson is now aiming to break the world outdoor record set by Jarmila Kratochvilova with 1:53.28 in 1983.
Hodgkinson will go head to head against Audrey Werro, who won at the Diamond League meeting in Rabat in a world leading time of 1:56.56. Werro won the Diamond League title in Zurich in a Swiss outdoor record of 1:55.91 and the world indoor silver medal in Torun in a Swiss indoor record of 1:56.64.
Hodgkinson leads 8-0 in her head-to-head against Werro.
The other athletes to look out for are Prudence Sekgodiso from South Africa, world indoor champion in Nanjing 2025, USA’s Sage Hurta Klecker, fifth at the World Championships in Tokyo in a lifetime best of 1:55.89, European bronze medallist Anais Bourgoin from France, third at the Diamond League Final in Zurich in a PB of 1:56.97 and fifth at this year’s meeting in Rabat in 1:57.39.
Men’s pole vault:
Armand Mondo Duplantis is set to return to his home Diamond League meeting in Stockolm. Duplantis broke the world record for the fourth time in his career at a Diamond League meeting and for the first time on home soil at the Bauhaus Galan in Stockholm. Since then Duplantis has broken three more world records by clearing 6.29m at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Budapest, 6.30m at the World Championships in Tokyo and 6.31m at last March’s Mondo Classic in Uppsala, when he set the 15th world record in front of his home fans. During the 2026 season Duplantis won his fourth indoor title in Torun with 6.25m and the first Diamond League competition in Keqiao with an outdoor world lead of 6.12m.
Duplantis has won two Olympic gold medals in Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024 and a total of six world titles indoors and outdoors since 2020. He has remained unbeaten for almost three years.
Duplantis won with 5.86m on his first appearance at the Bauhaus Galan in Stockolm in 2018 when he was 18 years old. He has added six more wins at this meeting.
Armand Duplantis: “There is nothing better than jumping at Bauhaus Galan in front of a sold-out Stockolm Olympic Stadium. Last year was magical and I hope we can create a similar experience together on 7 June”.
Duplantis will face three athletes who have already jumped over the 6.00 metres barrier this year: Kurtis Marshall, Sondre Guttormsen and Zachary Bradford.
Kurtis Marshall won two consecutive world bronze medals in Budapest 2023 and Tokyo 2025 with 5.95m. The Australian pole vaulter finished second at last year’s edition of the Bauhaus Galan with 5.90m. He started the 2026 Diamond League season with a second place finish in Keqiao with 5.80m.
Sondre Guttormsen set the Norwegian record with 6.06m in Rouen moving to equal sixth on the world all-time list. Guttormsen cleared 6.00m at the Mondo Classic and finished fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Torun with 5.95m.
Zachary Bradford won US indoor champion in 2026 with a PB of 6.01m.
Two-time world champion and Diamond League winner Sam Kendricks won in 2019 with 5.72m and finished second three times in 2021 with 5.92m, 2024 with 5.90m and 2025 with 5.80m in his previous appearances at the Bauhaus Galan.
The line-up is strengthened by Menno Vloon from the Netherlands, European indoor champion in Apeldoorn 2025 with 5.90m, French vaulters Renaud Lavillenie, former world record holder and seven-time Diamond League winner, Thibaut Collet, fifth at the World Championships in Budapest 2023, and Baptiste Thiery, sixth at the World Indoor Championships in Torun 2026 with 5.85m.
Men’s 200 metres:
Double Olympic champion Kenny Bednarek will compete for the first time in the 200 metres in Stockolm. The US sprinter won the 200 metres at the Diamond League meeting in Rabat in 19.69 setting the second fastest time in the world this year.
Bednarek has won four silver medals at global championships (twice at the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2021 in 19.68 and Paris 2024 in 19.62 and twice at the World Championships in Eugene 2022 in 19.57 and in Tokyo 2025 in 19.58). He set a PB of 19.57 at the Diamond League meeting in Zurich.
Bednarek will face Sinesipho Dambile from South Africa, who improved his PB to 19.77 at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Nairobi moving to second on the South African all-time list. Dambile finished third at the Diamond League meeting in Rabat in 20.03 last week.
Bednarek and Dambile will be joined by Courtney Lindsey, who won the world gold medal in the 4x100 relay in 37.29 and clocked a seasonal best of 20.21 a the Rabat Diamond League, Reynier Mena from Cuba, who won the 200 metres at both Scandinavian meetings in Oslo in 20.20 and Stockolm in 20.05 in 2025, Jeremiah Azu from Great Britain, gold medallist at the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn and at the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing in the 60 metres in 6.49 in 2025, Timothé Mumenthaler from Switzerland, European champion in Rome 2024, and Cheikna Traoré from Ivory Coast, fourth at the Rabat Diamond League meeting in 20.15.
Women’s 100 metres:
World champion Melissa Jefferson Wooden will open her season in the 100 metres three days after finishing second behind Julien Alfred in the 200 metres in 22.17 in Rome. Jefferson Wooden won three world titles in Tokyo in the 100 metres in a championships record of 10.61, in the 200m in a world leading time of 21.68 and in the 4x100 relay.
Jefferson Wooden will clash against reigning European champion Dina Asher Smith from Britain, world and European indoor champion Zaynab Dosso from Italy and Jacious Sears from the USA.
Asher Smith claimed four wins in Stockolm: three in the 200m in 2016 in 22.72, in 2019 in 22.18 despite cold temperatures and in 2022 in 22.36 and one in the 100 metres in 10.93.
Zaynab Dosso will compete in her third 100 metres race this season after winning in Savona in 11.07 and finishing seventh in Rabat in 11.25. Dosso became the first Italian sprinter ever to run under the 7 seconds barrier with a national record of 6.99 at World Indoor Tour Gold in Torun. Dosso returned to Torun one month later to win her first world indoor title in 7.00.
Jacious Sears won the US indoor title in 7.04 and the world indoor silver medal equalling her seasonal best of 7.03.
Great Britain's Amy Hunt won the silver medal in the 200 meters at the World Championships in Tokyo with a time of 22.14, after setting a personal best of 22.08 in the heats. Hunt placed fourth in the 200 meters at the Golden Gala in Rome with a time of 22.52. In the 100 meters, she holds a seasonal best of 11.17, achieved at the Florence meeting.
The other stars to watch are Patrizia Van Der Weken from Luxembourg, bronze medalist at both the European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn and the World Indoor Championships in Nanjing in 2025; Canada's Sade McCreath, national record holder in the 100 meters with 10.95 and in the indoor 60 meters with 7.12; Sweden's Julia Henriksson, national record holder in the 200 meters with the 22.69 performance clocked at the Paris 2024 Olympics; and the Netherlands' Minke Bisschops, who finished seventh in the Olympic 4x100m relay final in Paris 2024.
Men’s discus throw:
The men’s discus throw brings together 2022 world champion and 2024 European gold medallist Kristjan Ceh from Slovenia, three-time world champion Daniel Stahl from Sweden, Olympic bronze medallist and two-time Diamond League champion Matthew Denny from Australia, reigning Olympic champion Roje Stona from Jamaica.
Ceh opened the 2026 Diamond League season with a win in Keqiao with 70.58m and built up for the Bauhaus Galan in Stockolm with a win at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Turku with 69.13m ahead of Stahl. Ceh claimed three wins in Stockolm in 2022 with a meeting record of 70.02m, in 2023 with 69.83m and 2025 with 69.73m.
Stahl secured three wins in the historic Stockolm Olympic Stadium in his hometown in 2019 with 69.57m, 2020 with 69.17m and 2021 with 68.64m. The Swedish star won his third world title in Tokyo 2025 with a seasonal best of 70.47m on his sixth attempt.
Matthew Denny set the world leading mark of 74.04m in Ramona and opened his Diamond League season with a second place with 67.54m in Keqiao. The Australian thrower set a world lead of 74.04m in Ramona.
The other stars in the competition are Samoa's Alex Rose, bronze medalist at the 2025 World Championships in Tokyo; Great Britain's Lawrence Okoye, bronze medalist at the 2022 European Championships in Munich and national record holder with a throw of 71.88m; Germany's Henrik Janssen, an athlete with a personal best of 69.94m achieved in Ramona in 2025; and Sam Mattis, who holds the national record of 72.45m established in Ramona in 2026.
Women’s shot put:
World champion Jessica Schilder will go head to head against reigning world indoor champion Chase Jackson and Olympic gold medallist Yemisi Mabry Ogunleye from Germany and two-time world indoor gold medallist Sarah Mitton from Canada.
Schilder set a world lead and the longest throw in the world in 14 years with 21.09m in Keqiao. The Dutch hurdler smashed Valerie Adams’ 14-year-old Diamond League record. She claimed the Diamond Trophy in 2025 by winning three circuit competitions in Monaco, Silesia and the Zurich final.
Mitton holds the Canadian record of 20.68m and won two world indoor titles in Glasgow 2024 and Nanjing 2025 and the world silver medal in Budapest 2023.
Swedish fans will cheer on Fanny Roos, who finished fourth at the Diamond League meeting in Keqiao with 19.26m.
The other athletes to look out for are US shot putters Jaida Ross, fourth at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024, Maggie Ewen, Diamond League winner in Zurich 2021, and Danniel Thomas Dodd from Jamaica, world silver medallist in Doha 2019.
Jackson won the world indoor title in Torun 2026 with 20.14m. The US star started her Diamond League campaign with a second place behind Schilder with 20.46m in Keqiao and won at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Turku with 20.66m.
Women’s long jump:
World indoor champion Agate De Sousa from Portugal will go head to head against European indoor champion and Diamond League winner Larissa Iapichino from Italy and European outdoor gold medallist Malaika Mihambo from Germany.
De Sousa leapt to 6.92m to win the world indoor gold medal in Torun in 2026 and set the world lead of 6.97m at the World Indoor Tour Gold meeting in Madrid last February. The Portuguese jumper also won the bronze medal at the European Championships in Rome 2024 with 6.91m. The 25-year-old jumper is aiming to claim her first ever Diamond League win. She returns to Stockolm where she made her Diamond League debut in 2022.
Iapichino won two consecutive Diamond League titles in Brussels in 2024 with 6.80m and in Zurich in 2025 with 6.93m. The Italian jumper returns to Stockolm where she won one of her six Diamond League competitions. The 23-year-old Italian jumper won the European indoor gold medal in Apeldoorn 2025 with 6.94m, the world indoor silver medal in Torun 2026 with 6.87m, the European outdoor silver medal in Rome 2024 with 6.94m and finished fourth at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024 with 6.87m. The Italian long jump star started the 2026 outdoor season with 6.69m in Keqiao.
Malaika Mihambo returns to the Olympic Stadium in Stockolm where she finished second with a wind-assisted 7.02m in 2021. Mihambo won the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo 2021 with 7.00m, two world titles in Doha 2019 with a PB of 7.30m and in Eugene 2022 with 7.12m and two European outdoor gold medals in Berlin 2018 with 6.75m and Rome 2024 with 7.22m. Mihambo won her most recent competitions on German soil in Rehlingen with 6.82m and Dresden with 6.87m.
USA’s Monae Nichols is looking to continue her good season after winning two back-to-back competitions at the Diamond League meeting in Keqiao with 6.89m and at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Turku with 6.88m. Nichols won the world indoor silver medal in Glasgow 2024.
Natalia Linares from Colombia is aiming to achieve her second top-three in the Diamond League this year after finishing second in Keqiao with 6.78m. Linares made her breakthrough in 2022 when she won the world under 20 silver medal in Cali 2022. The Colombian jumper claimed the world outdoor bronze medal in Tokyo 2025 with 6.92m and backed up this result by finishing third at the World Indoor Championships in Torun 2026 with 6.80m.
Alexis Brown will compete for the second time in her career in the Diamond League after finishing third in Keqiao with 6.75m. Brown won the NCAA Indoor title in 2026 for the Baylor University and improved her PB to 7.07m on her professional debut at the Tom Jones Invitational.
The other athletes to look out for are Claire Bryant, world indoor champion in Nanjing 2025, Hillary Kpatcha from France, fourth at the World Indoor Championships in Tokyo 2025 with 6.82m, Swedish jumpers Khaddi Sagnia, bronze medallist at the European indoor Championships in Torun 2021, and Maja Askag, world under 20 champion in the long jump and in the triple jump in Naiobi 2021.
Men’s 800 metres:
US 17-year-old Cooper Lutkenhaus will make his Diamond League debut in Stockolm. Lutkenhaus won the world indoor gold medal in the 800 metres in 1:44.24 in Torun 2026 becoming the youngest world champion in history. During the 2026 indoor season he also broke the world under 20 record in the 600 metres with 1:14.15 and won the US indoor title in 1:46.68.
Lutkenhaus made his breakthrough when he finished second at the US Championships in Eugene improving his own world under 18 record by three seconds to 1:42.27, before making his debut at the World Championships in Eugene.
Cooper Lutkenhaus: “I’ve watched several races from BAUHAUS-galan online in recent years. The names that have competed there have basically been among the greatest of all time. They truly love athletics in Sweden, and I’m looking forward to experiencing it. It’s a dream come true for me. I am going to give everything I have at Stockolm Stadium. It’s going to be a lot of fun”.
Luktenhaus will take on Canada’s Marco Arop, world champion in Budapest 2023 and Olympic silver medallist in Paris 2024 in a national record of 1:41.20. Spanish record holder Mohamed Attaoui returns to the track four days after winning the 1500 metres in a PB and meeting record of 3:31.82. Attaoui won the world indoor bronze medal in Torun 2026 after breaking the Spanish indoor record with 1:44.48 in the semifinals and broke the European indoor 1000 metres record with 2:14.52 in Madrid.
Men’s 3000 metres steeplechase:
Double Olympic and world champion Soufiane El Bakkali leads the men’s 3000 metres steeplechase one week after winning at the Rabat Diamond League meeting in a world leading time of 7:57.25, the second fastest time in his career. The Moroccan star claimed 20 individual race victories, including two wins in Stockolm in 2017 and 2023, and clinched the Diamond Trophy in 2022.
The other athletes to look out are Geordie Beamish, world champion in the 3000m steeplechase in Tokyo 2025 ahead of El Bakkali and world indoor champion in the 1500m in Nanjing, Lamecha Girma from Ethiopia, world record holder in the 3000 metres steeplechase with 7:52.11 at the Diamond League meeting in Paris in 2023, Simon Kiprop Koech from Kenya, Diamond League champion in Eugene 2023 and third in Rabat in 7:59.44 last week,18-year-old Kenyan rising Edmund Serem, world bronze medallist in Tokyo 2025 and fourth in Rabat in 8:01.61, Kenneth Rooks from the USA and Abraham Kibiwot, who finished second and third respectively at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024.
Men’s 1500 metres:
Andreas Almgren will compete in the men’s 1500 metres in Stockolm. At last year’s edition of the Bauhaus Galan Almgren set a European record in the 5000 metres clocking 12:44.27. Almgren won the world bronze medal in the 10000 metres in Tokyo. Last January the Swedish athlete set the European record in the 10 km on the road in Valencia.
Almgren will face world under 20 silver medallist Cameron Myers from Australia, who won the Wanamaker Mile at the Millrose Games in 3:47.57 ahead of Yared Nuguse. During the outdoor season Myers won the 1500 metres in a meeting record of 3:30.42 at the Maurie Plant meeting breaking Hicham El Guerrouj’s all-comers record and his second Australian title in Sydney in 3:29.85 becoming the first athlete in the world to break the 3:30 barrier on home soil.
The other athletes to look out for are Timothy Cheruiyot from Kenya, world champion in Doha 2019 and three-time winner in the 1500 metres in Stockolm, French middle distance runners Jimmy Gressier, world champion in the 10000 metres in Tokyo and Diamond League winner in the 3000 metres in Zurich 2025, Azeddine Habz, winner at the Diamond League meeting in Paris in 2025 in 3:27.49 and third in Rabat in 3:30.60, and Yared Nuguse, Olympic bronze medallist in the 1500 metres and winner at the Rabat Diamond League meeting in a meeting record of 3:30.38 last week.
The meeting record of 3:29.30 held by Moroccan legend Hicham El Guerrouj since 1997 could be under threat. No one else has ever broken the 3:30 barrier at this meeting.
Women’s discus throw:
Valarie Sion (née Allman) started her Diamond League season with two back-to-back wins in Xiamen with 68.45m and Rabat with 68.75m.
Sion won two consecutive Olympic gold medals in the women’s discus throw in Tokyo 2021 with 68.98m and in Paris 2024 with 69.50m and completed a full set of world championships medals, claiming bronze in Eugene 2022 with 68.30m, silver in Budapest 2023 with 69.23m and gold in Tokyo 2025 with 69.48m. Sion set a PB of 73.52m last year in Ramona, the longest throw in the world since 1989 and the sixth best performance of all-time, and a seasonal best of 73.10m in Ramona last April. The US discus thrower has won five consecutive Diamond League titles in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025. She is aiming to achieve the first win of her career in the Stockolm Olympic Stadium. She finished sixth on her debut at this meeting in 2019 and failed to record a single valid throw the last time she competed at Bauhaus Galan in 2023.
Sion will take on world number two Jorinde Van Klinken from the Netherlands and Sweden’s Vanessa Kamga.
Van Klinken won the world silver medal in the discus throw with 67.50m in Tokyo last year and finished second in the discus throw with 65.99m and in the shot put with 18.67m at the 2024 European Championships in Rome. The Dutch thrower placed second at the Bauhaus Galan twice in 2023 with 62.96m and in 2025 with 64.33m. She threw beyond the 70 metres as a 21-year-old in 2021 with 70.22m in Tucson (Arizona).
Vanessa Kamga placed a surprising fourth at the World Championships in Tokyo 2025 with a Swedish record of 66.61m. Kamga will make her first appearance at Stockolm Olympic Stadium since 2019m. She competed at Bauhaus Galan in 2025, but the discus throw was not included in the Diamond League program last year.
The other athletes to look out for are China’s Feng Bin and USA’s Laulaga Tausaga, world champions in Eugene 2022 and Budapest 2023, and Cuba’s Silinda Morales, world bronze medallist in Tokyo 2025.
Men’s 400 metres:
The men’s 400 metres line-up features six sub-44 performers: Matthew Hudson Smith from Great Britain, Olympic silver medallist in a European record of 43.44, and two-time world medallist (bronze in Eugene 2022 and silver in Budapest 2023), Muzala Samukonga from Zambia, Olympic bronze medallist in Paris 2024 in 43.74, Jereem Richards from Trinidad and Tobago, world silver medallist in 43.72 in Tokyo 2025, Jacory Patterson, Diamond League champion in Zurich 2025 in a PB of 43.85, USA’s Khaleb McRae, world indoor silver medallist in 45.03 in Torun 2026 and world silver medallist with the 4x400 relay in Tokyo 2025, and Zakhiti Nene from South Africa, world silver medallist with the 4x400 relay in Tokyo 2025 and winner at the Stockolm Bauhaus Galan in 45.30 in 2023.
This year Patterson showed his good form by winning for the second consecutive year at the Rabat Diamond League meeting in a meeting record of 44.11 beating Hudson Smith, who finished second in 44.25.
Samukonga opened his Diamond League season with a second place in Xiamen in 44.04 behind Collen Kebinatshipi.
Nene has been consistent throughout the season by finishing third in Xiamen in 44.40 and second in Rabat in 44.41. The South African athlete also won in Florence in 44.44.
Men’s 400 metres hurdles:
Alison Dos Santos from Brazil, world champion in Eugene 2022 in a South American record of 46.29 and two-time Olympic bronze medallist in Tokyo 2021 and Paris 2024, returns to one of his favourite meetings. This year the men’s 400 metres hurdles race is a non-Diamond League scoring event, but it will be a special event for Dos Santos, who won at three editions of the Bauhaus Galan in 2021 in 47.34, in 2022 in a former meeting record of 46.80, in 2024 in 47.01 and finished second in 46.68 behind Olympic champion Raj Benjamin in 2025.
His compatriot Matheus Lima finished third in the 300m hurdles behind Dos Santos and Karsten Warholm at the Diamond League meeting in Keqiao in 33.75 and holds a PB of 48.08 in the 400 metres hurdles.
The line-up also features Emil Ayekum from Germany, who improved his PB to 47.83 in the semifinals of the World Championships in Tokyo moving to second on the German all-time list behind Harald Schmidt, Assinie Wilson from Jamaica, who set a seasonal best of 48.29 at the Velocity Fest in Kingston, Bessem Hemeida from Qatar, seventh at the World Championships in Tokyo 2025 with a PB of 48.29, Kemorena Tisanga from Botswana, African champion in Accra in 48.46.
Women’s 1500 metres:
Three Ethiopian middle-distance runners who have broken the 4 minutes barrier this year will line up in the women’s 1500 metres: Birke Haylom, Worknesh Mesele and Haregeweyni Kalaye.
Haylom broke the world under 20 record over the mile distance with 4:17.13 at the Bislett Games in Oslo, becoming the youngest female winner in Diamond League history at the time. This year Haylom set a world-leading 1500m time and a meeting record of 3:55.56 at the Shanghai Diamond League meeting.
Mesele finished fourth at the Diamond League in Keqiao in a seasonal of 3:57.56 and set a PB of 3:57.00 at the Silesia Diamond League meeting in 2023.
Kalayu finished second behind her compatriot Freweyni Hailu in 3:59.28.
The line-up also features Saron Berhe from Ethiopia, world under 20 champion in Cali 2024, Lucia Stafford from Canada, who set a PB of 4:00.83 at the Diamond League meeting in Rabat, Italian middle-distance runners Ludovica Cavalli, who improved her PB to 4:01.64 at the Diamond League meeting in Rome, and Gaia Sabbatini, who set a lifetime best of 3:59.49 in Budapest last year.
