Something truly legendary occurred this Sunday in the Charléty Stadium in Paris. Clearing 2.10 m on her first attempt, Yaroslava Mahuchykh erased the 2.09 m jumped by Stefka Kostadinova, who had reigned supreme in the high jump competition since 30 August 1987. This was not the Ukrainian’s first attempt at this height where so many athletes before her have fallen flat, but this time the planets were clearly aligned. “I’d been thinking about this record for the past two years. After clearing 2.07 m, my coach let me choose whether to continue or stick where I was. As things had felt very easy on my second attempt at 2.07 m, I decided to go for it,” she explains, a yellow and blue flag draped across her shoulders. All her fellow competitors came to give her a hug after her achievement, doubtless mindful that she will be very tough to beat in some twenty or so days in the Stade de France.
The love story between Faith Kipyegon and Paris continues too. Indeed, after shattering the world record in the 5,000 m in the French capital back in 2023, Kenya’s middle-distance runner this time improved on her world reference time in the 1,500 m. Pushed hard by the sensational Australian Jessica Hull, Kipyegon ran an incredibly powerful back straight in a bid to shake her off and stop the clock at 3’49’’04, some seven hundredths of a second faster than she ran in Florence (Italy) on 2 June 2023. “After my great time in the Kenyan Trials, I knew that I was in good enough shape to beat the world record. The energy in the stadium was on another level and that really drove Jessica and I hard all the way to the finish line,” she admitted after the event.
Almost matching her stride, Hull improved on the Oceanian record too with a time of 3’50’’83, obliterating her record by more than five seconds. The UK and French records also tumbled in the wake of Laura Muir (3’53’’79) and Agathe Guillemot (3’58’’05), in a race which saw the top eight athletes running faster than they have ever run in their life.
Two historic laps
The statistics from the men’s 800 m enjoyed similar success with eight personal bests and four national records among the top eight runners. However, the final decision proved even tougher with just five hundredths of a second separating the top three at the end of what was an epic home straight. Leading the way after the pacesetter retired, Emmanuel Wanyonyi finally faded in the closing metres as Djamel Sedjati was able to dig a little deeper. The Algerian crossed the line in 1’41’’56, making him the third fastest runner in history over the distance, behind compatriots David Rudisha and Wilson Kipketer. Second, two hundredths of a second shy of the winner, Emmanuel Wanyonyi has doubtless shaken off a little of the pressure that comes with his status as the world leading performer, a sentiment he shared during Saturday’s press conference. Hungry for glory, Gabriel Tual also made quite the comeback to finish hot on their heels, shattering the French record set by Pierre-Ambroise Bosse (1’42’’53 in 2014 in Monaco), and even improving on the time set by the legendary Sebastian Coe.
As is often the case, Armand Duplantis sent shivers running through the crowd but the wind blowing through the French arena put paid to his ambitions for a world record in the pole vault. Only able to make one attempt at 6.25 m, the Swede nudged the bar on the way back down in this his final competition in preparation for the Olympic Games. His previous jump of 6 m nevertheless enabled him to secure victory over Sam Kendricks (5.95 m).
Zhoya inspires France
Sasha Zhoya also managed to get his (huge) crowd of supporters up on their feet in the grandstand by just snatching the win in the 110 m hurdles in a time of 13’’15, equalling his record despite a turbulent race. And yet the Frenchman really had to pull out all the stops even to qualify for the last spot in the final, which he did by a thousandth of a second in the semi-finals. He beat American Trey Cunningham, also credited with a time of 13’’15, and Japanese athlete Shunsuke Izuyima (13’’16).
The finish of the 3,000 m steeplechase also proved to be breathtaking as the Ethiopian winner Abrham Sime, and runner-up Kenyan Amos Serem, crossed the line within the same hundredth of a second, in 8’02’’36. Moving more freely in the women’s race, victory went to Winfred Yavi, in 9’03’’68, ahead of French athlete Alice Finot, whose brand-new national record of 9’05’’01 thrilled her fans.
Alison Dos Santos proved to be a cut above the rest in the 400 m hurdles, dominating the race without a quiver in 47’’78, ahead of a Rasmus Magi who has returned to the peak of fitness (47’’95). Marileidy Paulino enjoyed an equally smooth road to triumph in the women’s 400 m. With a time of 49’’20, the Dominican left her rivals without a hope. Meantime, the men’s 200 m treated her compatriot Alexander Ogando to a win and he was the only one to run a sub-20’’ (19’’98) time, whilst the women’s 100 m race smiled on Patrizia van der Weken, in 11’’06.
The Olympic champion in the discus, Valarie Allman, raised her game to perfection in a welcome confidence boost just weeks away from defending her crown, immediately squashing any suspense from the get-go. The American went on to finish on a high with a final throw of 68.07 m. German athlete Julian Weber bagged the very first victory in his career in Diamond League by throwing his javelin 85.91 m, despite lamenting serious fatigue associated with a large amount of training. Finally, Larissa Iapichino took victory in the long jump after soaring 6.82 m on her third attempt.
