Femke Bol maintained her winning streak with a typically dominant victory in the Monaco Diamond League on Friday (11) evening while Armand Duplantis attacked his world record of 6.28m in the pole vault.
A fortnight after winning in the 400m at the European Athletics Team Championships, the Dutchwoman was back in action in the 400m hurdles and the 25-year-old flowed to victory in a world lead and meeting record of 51.95 for her 28th successive Diamond League victory.
Bol still faced opposition from former world record-holder Dalilah Muhammad who continued to roll back the years at the top of the home straight but Bol pulled clear over two barriers. Her winning time was the first sub-52 second clocking in 2025 and the fifth fastest time of her esteemed career which has seen Bol twice crowned female European Athlete of the Year.
“I am feeling good so far this season. I had a great start to it. I also did two 400m flats but I could see my shape getting better. I was curious to see what I could do in those great circumstances.
“I have London in a week. After that we will go back to training to prepare for the World Championships and the last competitions,” said Bol who will be aiming to retain her 400m hurdles title in Tokyo.
Muhammad finished second in a season’s best of 52.58 - also a world V35 record - with US teammate and Olympic silver medallist Anna Cockrell third in 52.91.
In an excellent meeting for the Dutch contingent, European indoor and outdoor champion Jessica Schilder turned the tables on the in-form world champion and world leader Chase Jackson from the United States in the shot put.
Languishing in third heading into the sixth round, Schilder improved from 19.58m to 20.39m to catapult past both Jackson (20.06m) and reigning world indoor champion Sarah Mitton from Canada (20.00m).
Meeting record but no world record for Duplantis
The last time Armand Duplantis was beaten was in this very stadium two years ago but it was business as usual for the Swede who cleared 6.05m before three attempts at a world record height of 6.29m.
Duplantis had only taken three vaults before attempting to revise his world record for the 13th time, clearing his opening height of 5.62m, 5.82m and a meeting record of 6.05m all on his first attempt before three unsuccessful tries at 6.29m.
Fresh from a 6.00m clearance on home soil in Athens, Emmanouil Karalis cleared 5.92m to finish second on countback ahead of Australia’s Kurtis Marschall who had also cleared 5.92m.
Another fast 5000m for Gressier
European half marathon champion Jimmy Gressier finishing quickly to place second in the 5000m in 12:53.36 while Mohamed Abdilaahi broke the 13 second-barrier for the first time with 12:53.63 to break Dieter Baumann’s German record of 12:54.70 which had stood since 1997.
However, there wasn't such good luck for Sweden's European 5000m record-holder Andreas Almgren who stepped off the track at just after the 3km mark. And similarly, an attempt on the European 3000m steeplechase record came to grief in the first 100 metres as Germany's Frederik Ruppert, who moved to third on the European all-time list with 8:01.49 in Rabat, sustained a heavy fall in the first 100 metres.
Switzerland’s Ditaji Kambundji finished second in the 100m hurdles in a season’s best of 12.43 and Poland’s European champion Natalia Bukowiecka broke the 50 second-barrier for the first time this year, finishing fourth in the 400m in 49.72.