Murielle Ahoure beats Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in Monaco (© Philippe Fitte)
The women’s 100m and men’s 400m at the Herculis meeting will feature a host of talented sprinters when the IAAF Diamond League descends upon Monaco on 18 July.
There may not be a senior global championship this summer, but if there were, the start-list for women’s short sprint final would read something like the 100m line-up in Monaco.
World and Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce will be up against Olympic 200m champion Allyson Felix, double world silver medallist Murielle Ahoure, world 200m bronze medallist Blessing Okagbare, world leader Michelle-Lee Ahye, double Olympic 200m champion Veronica Campbell-Brown, Diamond Race leader Tori Bowie and former European 200m champion Myriam Soumare.
Meanwhile, the men’s one-lap sprint will be a battle of the ‘Ms’ as world champion LaShawn Merritt takes on African record-holder Isaac Makwala, world indoor champion Pavel Maslak and Asian record-holder Yousef Masrahi.
Hejnova returns
World 400m hurdles champion Zuzana Hejnova has been out of action so far in 2014, having undergone surgery in the winter, but the defending Diamond Race champion will make her return in Monaco, where she’ll face current world leader Kaliese Spencer and US champion Kori Carter.
In the long jump, US champion Jeff Henderson will look to extend his unbeaten run in 2014 when he takes on world champion Aleksandr Menkov and world indoor silver medallist Li Jinzhe.
Elsewhere in the field events, world champion Caterine Ibarguen will be up against world indoor champion Ekaterina Koneva in the triple jump, Olympic pole vault champion Jenn Suhr faces world indoor champion Yarisley Silva, while shot putter Valerie Adams, javelin thrower Barbora Spotakova and discus thrower Piotr Malachowski will be the favourites in their respective events.
Last-minute additions strengthen over fields
With the likes of world champion Bogdan Bondarenko, Olympic champion Ivan Ukhov, world indoor champion Mutaz Essa Barshim, Commonwealth record-holder Derek Drouin and 2011 world silver medallist Aleksey Dmitrik already announced in the high jump, it seemed as though the field couldn’t get any stronger.
But it just has. And the addition of world indoor bronze medallist Andrey Protsenko means that for just the second time in history, six men with PBs higher than 2.40m will all be on the same high jump start list.
Half of the field for the men’s 110m hurdles had already been announced, and now world leader Hansle Parchment will join the likes of world champion David Oliver, world record-holder Aries Merritt, world indoor silver medallist Pascal Martinot-Lagarde and European champion Sergey Shubenkov.
World champion Asbel Kiprop has already signalled his intentions of running a fast time in the 1500m. Joining him will be world indoor champion Ayanleh Souleiman and 2011 world silver medallist Silas Kiplagat.
Elsewhere, European under-23 champion Pierre-Ambroise Bosse and US champion Duane Solomon have been added to the 800m, where they’ll face world record-holder David Rudisha, world champion Mohammed Aman and Olympic silver medallist Nijel Amos. And Alonso Edward, winner at the recent winner of the IAAF Diamond League meeting in Lausanne, will take on Justin Gatlin, Warren Weir and Christophe Lemaitre in the 200m.
Organisers for the IAAF
