Zagreb Meeting 2026 Preview: Mahuchikh, Ceh, Thompson-Herah Lead Star-Studded Fields
The 76th edition of the Memorial Boris Hanžeković returns to Zagreb from June 24-26 with another world-class line-up for the penultimate World Athletics Continental Tour Gold meeting of the season. Olympic champions, world champions and Diamond League winners will compete across three days of action, highlighted by Yaroslava Mahuchikh's victory in the city high jump event, Kristjan Ceh's return to defend his discus title, Elaine Thompson-Herah's continued comeback, Cordell Tinch's bid for another hurdles victory and strong fields in the throws, sprints and middle-distance events.
Women’s high jump: Mahuchik wins the City Event
The three-day Memorial Hanzekovic opened on Wednesday evening with the Zagreb City Challenge. The women’s high jump took place on Wednesday at the Zagreb Fountains in the city centre. World record holder Yaroslava Mahuchik claimed the win with 1.97m. The Ukrainian high jump star then passed 1.99 and made three unsuccessful attempts at the world outdoor leading mark of 2.01. Eleanor Patterson, world outdoor seasonal leader with 2.00m and world champion, and world bronze medallist Angelina Topic tied for second place with 1.95m.
Yaroslava Mahuchik: “The atmosphere was wonderful, I enjoyed it and I can’t wait to come back next year. The spectators were great, and there were a lot of Ukrainians. On my third attempt at 1.97 m, they cheered for me in Ukrainian and that gave me extra confidence, I knew I could do it. I told myself that it was “only” 1.97 and that I had jumped much higher in the past, including 2.10 m. Of course, I’m not satisfied with the result itself and I’m a bit disappointed that I didn’t clear two meters, but that will come. The shorter take-off area wasn’t a problem for me because I already have a pretty short take-off, and I really liked the surface itself because I felt that I could jump high on it. It’s my first time in Zagreb, and I’m very excited. Jumping outside a stadium is really cool. It feels completely different because you’re closer to the people. The meeting record is an impressive 2.08 m and is held by Blanka Vlašić. The start list includes the top three high jumpers in the world rankings, so it was a very competitive competition.”
Men’s shot put:
The Zagreb City Event will continue on Thursday evening with the traditional men’s shot put at the Zagreb Fountains. Two-time world medallist and European outdoor champion Leonardo Fabbri is aiming to win his sixth consecutive competition following his consecutive victories at the Golden Gala in with 22.14m, Lucca with 21.51m, Pergine Valsugana with 22.14m, Ostrava with 21.91m and the Italian Club Championships in 21.66m. In his previous appearances at the Zagreb meeting Fabbri finished fourth in 2024 with 22.24m and third in 2023 with 21.55m and 2025 with 21.63m.
Fabbri will clash against Tom Walsh from New Zealand, world indoor champion for the fourth time in Torun 2026. Walsh competed 12 times in his career in Zagreb, winning in 2017 with 21.50m and 2019 with 21.98m and finished second behind Ryan Crouser in 2016 with the Oceanian record of 22.21m a few weeks after winning the Olympic bronze medal in Rio de Janeiro 2016.
The best US shot put star is Roger Steen, world indoor bronze medallist in Torun 2026 with 21.49m and second at last year’s edition of the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene with a PB of 22.11m. He set a seasonal best of 22.07m in Belgrade and recently won in Usti nad Labem with 21.83m.
Rajindra Campbell from Jamaica, Olympic bronze medallist in Paris 2024 and winner at the Diamond League meeting in Xiamen with a national record of 22.34m.
The other top athletes are Uziel Munoz from Mexico, world silver medallist in Tokyo 2025 with a national record of 21.97m, Josh Awotunde from the USA, world bronze medallist in Eugene 2022, and Nick Ponzio from Italy, who set a seasonal best of 21.23m in Usti nad Labem.
Men’s discus throw:
Kristjan Ceh returns to Zagreb, where he won last year setting the third best performance of his career with a meeting record 72.34m. The Slovenian discus thrower improved his national record to 72.61m in Ramona last April and won at the Diamond League in Keqiao with a meeting record of 70.58m. Ceh also won at the Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku with 69.13m and finished third in Stockolm with 67.67m and second in Johvi with 69.35m. The 2022 world champion and 2024 European gold medallist threw 71.86m to win his eighth consecutive national title in Maribor on 19 June.
Ceh will take on Lawrence Okoye, British record holder with 71.88m and European silver medallist in Munich 2022. Okoye won the British title in Birmingham with 68.81m and placed third at the FBK Games in Hengelo with 66.10m.
The line-up will also feature Ruben Rolvnik from the Netherlands, who improved the national record to 71.22m in Ramona last May.
Men’s 110 metres hurdles:
The men’s 110 metres hurdles race is named after Croatia’s Boris Hanzekovic, who won the Balkan Athletics Games title in the 110 metres hurdles in 1938. Hanzekovic was killed in 1945 at the Jasenovac concentration camp. His name is globally recognised through the Boris Hanzekovic Memorial. The 110 metres hurdles remains the signature memorial race of the entire meeting.
Cordell Tinch is seeking back-to-back win after his victory in Doha in 13.23. The US hurdler placed second to Jamal Britt in Xiamen in 13.10 and fifth in Keqiao in 13.28. During a successful 2025 season Tinch won the world gold medal in Tokyo in 12.99 and clocked a PB of 12.87 in Keqiao moving to joint fourth fastest hurdler in history. Last year he won five Diamond League races in Xiamen, Keqiao, Silesia, Lausanne and in the Zurich final, where he clocked 12.92 equalling the 36-year-old meeting record held by Roger Kingdom.
Jamal Britt won two back-to-back Diamond League races in Keqiao and Xiamen in 13.07 and improved his PB to 12.99 at the Los Angeles Grand Prix.
Twenty-year-old Cuban hurdler Kendry Menendez is looking to continue his good season after improving his PB to 13.07 in the heats at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Bydgoszcz handing Britt the first defeat of the season. Menendez finished fifth in 13.41 on his Diamond League debut.
European 110 metres champion and national champion Lorenzo Simonelli will run his second 110m hurdles race of the season after finishing third in a wind-assisted 13.61 in Savona. Simonelli finished eighth in the World Indoor Championships in Torun in a seasonal best of 7.52.
Women’s 100 metres:
Five-time Olympic champion Elaine Thompson Herah from Jamaica made a successful come-back from injury when she clocked 10.92 in Kingston last April. The Jamaican sprinter won back-to-back Olympic spint doubles in the 100m and 200m in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2021. She set an Olympic record in the 100m with 10.61 in the 100m and a PB of 21.53 in the 200m. She won the 100m in 10.54 at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene in 2021 becoming the second fastest sprinter in history and the fastest woman alive.
Thompson Herah will face her compatriot Brianna Lyston, who won the 100 metres at the Continental Tour meeting in Hengelo in 10.99, and 2024 world indoor silver medallist Ewa Swoboda, who dipped under the 11 seconds barrier with 10.99 in Warsaw and won at the Golden Spike in Ostrava in 11.09.
Women’s 200 metres:
Two-time Olympic 400 metres champion Shaunae Miller Uibo finished second at both Diamond League meetings in the 200 metres in Keqiao in 22.26 and Xiamen in a seasonal best of 22.04 and fourth in Rabat in 22.42. She set a seasonal best of 11.05 in the 100 metres in Winter Garden on 20 June.
Miller Uibo will face Success Eduan from Great Britain, who won the 200 metres national title ahead of Amy Hunt in Birmingham in 22.43 and two European under titles in the 200m in the 4x100 relay.
The line-up will also feature Thelma Davies from Liberia, national record holder in the 100m with 10.91, and her compatriot Symone Darius, bronze medallist at the African Championships.
Women’s 100 metres hurdles:
Devynne Charlton from the Bahamas is looking to continue her excellent season. Charlton set two national records clocking 12.38 in Keqiao and 12.37 in Xiamen and finished second in Rabat in 12.40. Charlton won her third world indoor title in Torun equalling her PB with 7.65 in the 60 metres hurdles.
Charlton will face USA’s Alaysha Amstrong, who finished seventh in the Olympic final in Paris 2024 and won at last year’s edition of the Zagreb meeting in 12.82, Rayniah Jones, who improved her PB to 12.49 in Dessau and finished third in Hengelo in 12.62.
Women’s 400 metres hurdles:
Emma Zapletalova from Slovakia will be looking to continue her winning streak after winning her first four 400 metres hurdles races in Rabat in 52.82, Rome in 52.58, in Oslo in 53.13 and in Doha in a national record and a world leading time of 52.30. Zapletalova moved to sixth on the world all-time list.
Zapletalova will face two-time world bronze medallist Rushell Clayton, who finished second in Doha and Oslo and third in Rabat and Rome, and USA’s Shamier Little, two-time world silver medallist in Beijing 2015 and Budapest 2023.
Women’s 400 metres:
Bassant Hemida from Egypt will aim to continue her winnng streak following her win at the Conntintal Tour In Hengelo in a national record of 50.10.
Hemida will face Stacey Ann Williams, Jamaican champion in 2026 in the 400 metres in 50.33 and Olympic bronze medallist with the 4x400 relay, and Yemi Mary John from Great Britain, world under 20 champion in Cali 2022 and winner at the Continental Tour meeting in Tokyo in a PB of 49.85.
Men’s 200 metres:
Multiple world and Olympic medallist André De Grasse from Canada will face Benjamin Richardson from Ireland and Ubodi Onwuzurike from Nigeria.
De Grasse won seven Olympic medals (two gold, two silver and three bronze). He claimed two gold medals in the 200m in Tokyo 2021 in a national record of 19.62 and in the 4x100 in Paris 2024. The Canadian sprinter set a seasonal best of 19.84 in the 200m in Gaboroone.
Richardson originally represented South Africa before switching his allegiance to Ireland. He set PBs of 9.86 in the 100 metres and 19.99 in the 200 metres in La Chaux de Fonds in 2024. He won two world under 20 medals (silver in 2021 and bronze in 2022).
Onwuzurike won the world under 20 title in Nairobi 2021 in 20.21 and NCAA title in 2023 in 19.84.
The line-up also features Eseosa Desalu from Italy, Olympic champion with the 4x100 relay in Tokyo 2021 and sixth in the 200m at the European Championships in Berlin 2018.
Women’s triple jump:
World champion Leyanis Perez Hernandez from Cuba will take on Olympic champion Thea Lafond from Dominica, Olympic and world finalist Liadagmis Povea from Cuba and Ivana Spanovic from Serbia.
Perez won the gold medal at the World outdoor Championships in Tokyo 2025 with 14.94m and two world indoor titles in Nanjing with 14.93m and Torun 2026. During the outdoor season she finished third in Oslo with 14.60m and second in Doha with 14.97m.
Lafond won the Olympic gold medal in Paris 2024 with a national record of 15.02m and the world indoor title with 15.01m. She set a seasonal best of 14.84m in Caguas, won two competitions in Savona with a wind-assisted 14.49m and Lucca with 14.73m and finished fifth in two Diamond League competitions in Oslo with 14.49m and Doha with 14.52m.
Povea won the world indoor silver medal in Nanjing 2025 with 14.57m. The Cuban athlete finished fourth at the Olympic Games in Paris 2024 with 14.64m and at the World Championships in Tokyo 2025 with 14.72m.
Spanovic has won 15 major international medals during a successful 15-year-old international season in the long jump, including the world outdoor gold medal in Budapest 2023 with 7.14m, two world indoor titles in Birmingham 2018 and Belgrade 2022, three European indoor titles in Prague 2015, Belgrade 2017 and Glasgow 2019, two European outdoor titles in Amsterdam 2016 and Munich 2022. She set a Serbian record in the long jump with 7.24m at the European indoor Championships in Belgrade 2017, setting the third best indoor performance in history. She switched to triple jump at the age of 35 in 2026. In her new discipline she set a Serbian indoor record of 14.41m in Belgrade and finished sixth at the World indoor Championships in Torun last March.
The other top name is Italy’s Dariya Derkach, who leapt to a seasonal best of 14.39m in Essen last Sunday and a wind-assisted 14.45 in Savona.
Men’s hammer throw:
Yann Chaussinand set a world leading mark and a French record of 82.44m in the men’s hammer throw at the Continental Tour Gold meeting in Los Angeles. Chaussinand won at last year’s edition of the Memorial Hanzekovic setting a meeting record of 81.91m.
Chaussinand will go head-to-head with Ukraine’s Mykhailo Kokhan, who won the Olympic bronze medal in Paris 2024 with 79.39m. Kokhan finished second at the Los Angeles Grand Prix setting a lifetime best of 82.38m.
The line-up also features five-time world champion Pawel Fajdek from Poland, who will compete for the first time since last September’s World Championships in Tokyo, Wojciech Nowicki from Poland, Olympic champion in Tokyo 2021, Bence Halacz from Hungary, Olympic silver medallist in Paris 2024 and three-time world bronze medallist in 2019, 2023 and 2025.
Women’s 5000 metres:
Ethiopia’s Likina Amebaw will be looking to continue her good period of form after winning the 5000m at the Diamond League meeting in Rome in 14:18.41, finishing second in Oslo in the 3000m in 8:25.15 and in the 5000m in Doha in 14:54.37.
Men’s 800 metres:
Mark English from Ireland, two-time European bronze medallist in 2014 and 2022, is looking to continue his good season after winning the 800m at the Diamond League meeting in Keqiao in 1:43.85 and finishing second in Rome in 1:43.80.
English will face Tshepisho Maselela from Botswana, who set the national record in the 1500m with 3:30.71 in Cape Town and a PB of 1:42.70 in Rabat in the 800m and Marino Bloudek from Croatia, who finished second in Zagreb with 1:44.74 last year and set a national record of 1:44.01.
Women’s 800 metres:
Two races will be held in the women’s 800 metres. The line-up will feature sub-1:59 middle distance specialists Anna Wielgosz from Poland, Euopean indoor champion in Apeldoorn 2025, Anita Horvat from Slovenia, seventh at the World Championships and last year’s winner in Zagreb in 2:01.29, and Phoebe Gill from Great Britain, who smashed a 45-year-old European under 18 record with 1:57.86 in 2024 and won the senior British 800m title beating Jemma Reekie and Georgia Hunter Bell.
