Tebogo vs. Lyles, men’s 800m and much more at Herculis Monaco

Tebogo vs. Lyles, men’s 800m and much moreMONACO (MON): A star-studded field has been assembled for the Meeting EBS Herculis, the next Diamond League meeting of the season. Many Olympic Champions from Paris will compete, with two in the men’s 200m; Lyles and Tebogo. The men’s 800m is expected to be a highlight of the evening which notably does not include a men’s or women’s 1500m for the first time since 2010. WR talks related to women 1000 m and men steeple. And Mondo is always ready.Event by event previews Women 100m: Olympic Champion Julien Alfred headlines the last race of the evening in Monaco. She runs against Americans Aleia Hobbs, Maia McCoy and Jacious Sears. In shape also Thelma Davies.400m: Marileidy Paulino headlines the 400m field where she faces European competition from Lieke Klaver and Natalia Bukowiecka, plus Martina Weil of Chile, Jamaican Nickisha Pryce and American Aaliyah Butler.

1000m: Jessica Hull, who broke the 2000m World Record at this meeting last year, leads the field of the rarely-raced distance. She is joined by 800m World Champion Mary Moraa, Brit Jemma Reekie (who has the best PB in the field for the distance), American Addy Wiley, Agathe Guillemot of France and in-shape Swiss Audrey Werro. Is WR possible?

100m hurdles (Diamond+): As always, a strong 100m hurdles field will compete led by Olympic Champion Masai Russell, fellow American Grace Stark and Jamaican Megan Tapper. Nadine Visser and Ditaji Kambundji also compete after impressive times (windy) in Madrid.

400m hurdles (D+): Femke Bol headlines the 400m hurdles field and may have her eye on Lashinda Demus’ Meeting Record of 52.63 set in 2009. She faces Americans Anna Cockrell and her idol Dalilah Muhammad.

Shot Put: Chase Jackson competes again after throwing 20.95m this season. She throws against Olympic Champion Yemisi Ogunleye, Sarah Mitton of Canada, Dutchwoman Jessica Schilder and Fanny Roos of Sweden. Will we see the first attempt over 21 meters since 2012?

Men200m (D+): Olympic Champion Letsile Tebogo faces late addition Noah Lyles, plus Jereem Richards, Alexander Ogando and Makanakaishe Charamba, world lead in danger.

 

200m U23 (non-DL): Australian teenage superstar Gout Gout races again after winning in Ostrava last month in 20.02 NR. He faces Botswanan 400m specialist Collen Busang Kebinatshipi and South African Naeem Jack amongst others.

800m: One of the most anticipated events of the evening sees five 1:41 runners line up against each other for the first time in history, including the Olympic podium (Emmanual Wanyonyi, Marco Arop and Djamel Sedjati). Also in the field Bryce Hoppel, Gabriel Tual, World Indoor Champion Josh Hoey, Paris DL winner Mohamed  Attaoui of Spain and Brit Max Burgin. Will the Meeting Record (1:41.46) or World Record (1:40.91) be under threat?

5000m: A strong field with the second and fourth fastest men in history, Hagos Gebrhiwet and Yomif Kejelcha taking on Telahun Haile Bekele, European Record holder Andreas Almgren and Jacob Krop. French representation comes from Jimmy Gressier, Yann Schrub and Etienne Daguinos. World record maybe too far away, but European for sure not.

3000m steeple: Olympic Champion Soufiane El Bakkali headlines the steeplechase field. Talk is about WR attempt. Fellow medallist from Paris Kenneth Rooks and Abraham Kibiwot compete also, as do Samuel Firewu of Ethiopia, World U20 champion Edmund Serem, Frenchman Djamel Bedrani and German Record holder Frederik Ruppert. European record also in talk and still waiting for the first sub-8:00 time of the season.

110m hurdles: A largely American field is assembled led by Trey Cunningham, Dylan Beard and Cordell Tinch. Ja’Kobe Tharp also competes. French duo Just Kwaou Mathey and Wilhem Belocian, Swiss Jason Joseph and Rachid Muratake of Japan complete the field. Grant Holloway and Sasha Zhoya have withdrawn during the week.

High Jump: Olympic gold and silver medallists, Hamish Kerr and Shelby McEwen, take on a field including Sanghyeok Woo, Jan Stefela who recently improved his PB to 2.33m, Raymond Richards and JuVaughn Harrison.

Pole Vault (D+): How high will Mondo go? The World Record holder competes again in Monaco, joined by Emmanouil Karalis, Sam Kendricks, Renaud Lavillenie, Kurtis Marschall, Menno Vloon and Ernest Obiena.

Triple Jump: World Champion Hugues Fabrice Zango, Olympic bronze medallist Andy Diaz Hernandez, Jordan Scott of Jamaica and Yasser Triki of Algeria lead the triple jump field. It is the last triple jump competition before DL Final, so the fight is on for the remaining four qualifying places.