Lyles Dominates, Femke Breaks Record - Monaco DL Recap

^{July 12, 2025}

👋 Hey, Speedsters!

The 39th edition of the Herculis EBS Meeting in Monaco lived up to the hype of the tenth Wanda Diamond League stop this year as it gave us a day full of fireworks! Although Stade Louis II wasn't packed at 18000 peak capacity, it was crowded enough, which is no surprise as organizers had started offering 50% off in some stands to celebrate Mondo Duplantis joining the lineup as early as November 2024!

Coming to what went down today…Meet records wiped, redemptions fulfilled, false start dramas, and much more. Plus, with 4 Diamond + events, a lot of money was on the line! Thus, we have brought you a special recap edition looking at all the love you gave to our Prefontaine Classic recap!

🤦 An Early Bummer

The Monaco Diamond League started with a disappointment! Gout Gout’s U23 200m race, which took place around 19:47, didn’t make it to the Wanda Diamond League broadcast! It seems track and field events and broadcast issues go hand-in-hand! But the teen had an absolute blast in Monaco. His DL debut today started with a win, clocking 20.10s to hold off Collen Kebinatshipi, who finished in 20.28s! This was jaw-dropping, considering how early the event was scheduled, especially with winds gusting at -1.9 m/s. Watch how Gout Gout blazed through! Thereafter, the Monaco DL was an all-out show….

😮Americans’ Upset

First up on the broadcast were the women's 400m hurdles. Femke Bol returned to the very track she ran her first DL race five years ago and finished third in the 400m, looking like she came to avenge! Anna Cockrell, Dalilah Muhammad, and Bol lined up…gun fired, the Dutch star got off to a smooth start and pulled away in the final stretch, Bol charged to the finish in 51.95s to register her 28th DL win, breaking a 16-year-old meet record set by Lashinda Demus. Watch Bol's first-ever 400mH race in Monaco! Behind her was Dalilah breaking her own Master's World Record with a season best of 52.58s, while also, Cockrell took third in 52.91s. Now, Bol has the world lead, surpassing Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone...Read More!

Next up was 400m flat, and "It was dramatic!" Right from the start, NCAA champ Aaliyah Butler was stride-for-stride with Olympic champ Marileidy Paulino, but nearly through the halfway mark, Nickisha Pryce was closing in. However, in the final 5 meters, Paulino overtook Butler, finishing first in 49.06! It was a thriller! Don’t believe us? Watch it for yourself! Still, it wasn’t Paulino’s most convincing race. The commentator noted, "She looked a little bit tired." While Butler took second place by clocking her personal best 49.09!

🙌 Record Time

By now, it was nearly evening in Monaco. And time for the 800m world record chase, the commentator predicted, "This could be a race for the ages." It did not disappoint! Until the first lap ended, around the 44-second mark, the reigning Olympic champ Emmanuel Wanyonyi was second. But as they entered the bell lap, Wanyonyi had taken the lead, and the stadium roared! Eventually, Wanyonyi crossed the line in 1:41.44, the world lead. And Josh Hoey followed in second, becoming the second-fastest American ever. Wanyonyi also set a new meet record. Although it was a bit of an upset as he missed the world record by just half a second, watch here!

🌟 Unexpected Drama

Then came the men's 110m hurdles, and it was chaotic! As soon as the gun went off, Wilhelm Belocian in lane 8, false-started with a -0.063s reaction time. He looked very close to the crowd, so something might have distracted him. Nevertheless, the race restarted, and when it did, the Americans came on top. Cordell Tinch looked right alongside Trey Cunningham, but he hit a few early hurdles. Thus, in the end, it was Cunningham who took his second-ever DL win in a photo finish! 13.09s for Cunningham, whereas Tinch was just 0.05s behind! In case you missed the race, watch here!

It had started as a strong, windy day with a -1.9s headwind, but slowly winds began to settle, and with this stage was set for the women’s 100m hurdles. Unexpectedly, Masai Russell lost! She didn’t quite look in form from the start, but Jamaica's Megan Tapper, Tokyo bronze medalist, did. While from lane 6, she surged ahead, Grace Stark fell behind after clipping her legs on an early hurdle. In the end, Tapper crossed first in 12.34s, while Russell missed the podium with a 12.57s finish. What a race this was!

🎖️ The FINALE

Next? A brilliant light show set the stage for the Diamond+ event of the day, with double the prize money and 100x the hype! As the 8 men entered the track for the 200m dash, Noah Lyles entered last for his first 200m in over a year! Event favourite Letsile Tebogo shot out of the blocks with a 0.172s reaction time, whereas Lyles, the only man with a 0.200+ reaction in the race, looked in trouble. But soon the dynamics shifted! Noah Lyles covered ground...running shoulder to shoulder with Tebogo, finally pulled ahead and crossed the finish line 0.09s faster than Tebogo! By now, the headwind had weakened to -0.8 m/s, still, the World Champion came in and beat the Olympic champ? Watch the world's fastest man, Lyles, do just being himself!

Also, after the race, Noah revealed his reason for missing Prefontaine, read here!

As the crowd waved flashlights, another dazzling light show marked the start of the women's 100m high-stakes clash. The -1.4 m/s headwind made the competition tougher. Yet, Julien Alfred blazed through, clocking an impressive 10.79s to come first. But what stood out? No one else dipped under 11 seconds, watch it here! Jacious Sears did give a tough chase, but she could only manage 11.02 seconds, securing second place! Alfred ran with visible aggression, probably making up for the Prefontaine loss. But an important factor helped her secure her win…Find here!

Over on the field events side, Mondo Duplantis worked his magic once again! He redeemed his 2023 Monaco Diamond League loss not just by winning, but by breaking the 2019 meet record of 6.02m with his 6.05m. Though he did make attempts at 6.29m to chase another world record, today wasn’t the day! Also, Sanghyeok Woo jumped a massive 2.34m, which enabled him to equal the high jump world lead. 

This was a wrap, folks, next up is the London Diamond League on July 19, featuring the most awaited 100m season debut of Noah Lyles…

That’s it for today, folks! We’ll look to knock on your inbox soon with more interesting stories!