Trayvon Bromell shocked the crowd by beating fellow US star Noah Lyles to the men’s 100 metres title at the Diamond League in Paris on Sunday, while Armand “Mondo” Duplantis produced a dominant display in the pole vault at a high-calibre meeting.
100m drama as Bromell edges Lyles
Lyles, the reigning Olympic champion, endured a poor start and was unable to claw back the gap, as Bromell powered to victory in 9.91 seconds from lane eight.
The American pair were separated by the narrowest of margins at the line: Lyles finished second, just one-hundredth of a second behind Bromell.
Speaking after the race, Lyles said he was “good,” adding that the feeling at the start was not what he expected. He also acknowledged the extremely tight finish, with Bromell taking the win by a hundredth.
Werro and Broeders-Bol shine on the track
On the women’s 800 metres, Switzerland’s Audrey Werro continued her commanding form, cruising to another victory in 1min 53.80sec—setting a Diamond League record.
Femke Broeders-Bol, who has made the switch from 400m hurdles, placed second with a personal best of 1:55.60, reinforcing her shift toward becoming a genuine two-lap threat.
- Werro’s 1:53.80sec ranks as the third fastest 800m performance of all time.
- It improved on her previous best from Stockholm earlier this month by 0.18sec.
- Her run brought her closer to the oldest outdoor 800m world record, 1:53.28 set in 1983 by Jarmila Kratochvilova of then-Czechoslovakia.
Werro said she was not expecting to run so quickly this season, attributing the progress to focusing on professional athletics rather than balancing training with university commitments. She added that recent results have given her hope and strengthened her confidence for what comes next.
Duplantis leads a pole vault masterclass
In the pole vault, Duplantis—like Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis—entered the contest at 5.63m, with both athletes clearing 5.73m.
Karalis cleared 5.83m without incident, though Duplantis elected to pass at that height as the competition moved into its most decisive stages.
The US-born Swede then cleared 5.93m together with France’s Baptiste Thiery.
- Karalis had one miss at 5.93m before moving on, as the bar rose to 6.03m.
- Duplantis cleared 6.03m to establish a new meet record, bettering his previous mark from 2021 by 2cm.
- Thiery and Karalis were unable to clear 6.03m, while Duplantis continued smoothly over 6.13m.
- Duplantis then launched three unsuccessful world record attempts at 6.32m.
More records and standout performances across the programme
Botswana world champion Busang Collen Kebinatshipi timed his finish perfectly to win the men’s 400 metres in 43.54sec, producing both a Diamond League record and a stunning overall performance.
There was also a strong showing in the men’s 110m hurdles, where American Jamal Britt recorded a personal best of 12.89 seconds—matching the joint eighth fastest time ever run over the high hurdles.
In the women’s 400 metres, a third Diamond League meet record arrived, with Dominican Republic runner Marileidy Paulino winning in 48.79sec.
Canada’s Marco Arop—2023 world champion and Olympic silver medallist—made a decisive move from the pack to claim the men’s 800m in 1:41.84, the fastest time over the distance this season.
Arop said he knows he is in very good shape, and if he can fine-tune for the remainder of the campaign he may be able to break the world record this year, referencing David Rudisha’s 1:40.91 Olympic gold performance in 2012.
On the final note of the day’s action, Australia’s Cameron Myers ran the 12th fastest time ever to win the men’s 1,500 metres in an Oceania record of 3:28.00 on a fast track in perfect conditions.
