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≡ HERCULIS MONACO ≡
In what has already been an exciting 2025 track & field season, triple 2023 World Champion and Paris 2024 100 m gold medalist Noah Lyles has been largely missing.
He ran a couple of indoor 60 m races in late January and early February, and got a 400 m lifetime best of 45.87 in Florida on 19 April. Since then, nothing. Until tomorrow.
Lyles had long indicated he would run the 100 m at the Diamond League meet in London (GBR) on 19 July, but has suddenly jumped into the 200 m at the Herculis Diamond League in Monaco tomorrow (11th). He’s no stranger there, having won the 200 m twice with a second in the 100:
● 2018: 200 m 1st in 19.65
● 2019: 100 m 2nd in 9.92
● 2022: 200 m 1st in 19.46
Next level: consider that Lyles has only opened his 200 m season outside of the U.S. twice, with Diamond League meets in 2018 in Doha (19.83: 1st) and Rome in 2019 (19.72: 2nd)!
Botswana’s supremely confident Letsile Tebogo, the Paris 200 m gold medalist at 19.46, is the world leader in the 200 m this year after his sizzling 19.76 win at the Prefontaine Classic last Saturday and has won seven of his last eight 200 m finals. The lane draw has Tebogo in lane six and Lyles in his favored lane seven.
That’s going to be the headline race tomorrow, but there is a lot more:
● Men/800 m: Was the race of the meet until Lyles popped up, with Olympic champ Emmanuel Wanyonyi (KEN: 1:41.95 this year), Paris silver man Marco Arop (CAN), bronzer Djamel Sedjati (ALG), American record holder Bryce Hoppel, World Indoor winner Josh Hoey and more. Wow!
● Men/Steeple: The Paris podium of Soufiane El Bakkali (MAR), Kenneth Rooks of the U.S. and Abraham Kibiwot (KEN) is all in, plus Ethiopian stars Getnet Wale and Samuel Firewu.
● Men/5,000 m: Two-time World Indoor champ Yomif Kejelcha (12.47.84 this year) should be ready for another insanely-fast time, along with 2023 World Champion Hagos Gebrhiwet, world leader Andreas Almgren (SWE: 12:44.27), European champ Dominic Lobalu (SUI) and more.
● Men/110 m hurdles: World leader Cordell Tinch of the U.S. (12.87) plus countrymen Trey Cunningham, the 2022 Worlds runner-up, NCAA champ Ja’Kobe Tharp and world no. 3 Dylan Beard (13.02), plus Swiss record holder Jason Joseph (13.07)!
● Men/High Jump: Paris Olympic re-match with winner Hamish Kerr (NZL) and American Shelby McEwen, 2023 Worlds runner-up JuVaughn Harrison of the U.S., and two-time World Indoor winner Sang-hyeok Woo (KOR).
● Men/Vault: World-record watch with Mondo Duplantis (SWE) chasing 6.29 m (20-7 1/2), against Paris runner-up Sam Kendricks of the U.S. and bronzer Emmanouil Karalis (GRE).
● Women/100 m: Olympic champ Julien Alfred (LCA: 10.75 in 2025) is in, to be chased by Americans Jacious Sears (10.85) and Aleia Hobbs (10.89) and Liberia’s Thelma Davies (10.91).
● Women/400 m: Paris Olympic champ Marileidy Paulino (DOM) will face world no. 4 Aaliyah Butler (49.26) of the U.S. and Jamaican champ Nickisha Pryce (49.97 this year).
● Women/1,000 m: 800 m stars including World Champions Mary Moraa (KEN) and Halimah Nakaayi (UGA) will face Australia’s 1,500 m Olympic silver winner Jess Hull (AUS) and others.
● Women/100 m hurdles: American-record-setter and Paris Olympic champ Masai Russell leads this field (12.17), but Olympic fifth-placer Grace Stark (12.21) is not far behind, not to mention two-time World Indoor winner Devynne Charlton (BAH).
● Women/400 m hurdles: Dutch star Femke Bol, the 2023 World Champion and no. 2 in 2025, against Rio 2026 Olympic winner and world no. 4 Dalilah Muhammad of the U.S., in her final season.
● Women/Shot: World leader at two-time World Champion Chase Jackson of the U.S. lines up against two-time World Indoor winner Sarah Mitton (CAN) and Paris Olympic champ Temisi Ogunleye (GER).
The meet will be shown in the U.S. only on the FloTrack service, free for this meet; next up will be London on the 19th.
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