FONTVIEILLE, MONACO, July 21 — If this is how Karsten Warholm is setting himself up for a championship meet, one can only wonder what Budapest has in store for us. His fastest time leading up to his brilliant Tokyo World Record was a 46.70 in Oslo, then a WR at the time. His world-leading 46.51 for a resounding win on a hot night here represents the fastest any human has gone outside of the Olympics or Worlds.
Billed as a matchup between the Norwegian and defending world champion Alison dos Santos, the race was anything but. Starting in his favored lane 7, Warholm tore out as per usual, leaving the Brazilian still markedly behind at hurdle 5. Yet rather than eating into Warholm’s margin, dos Santos could only watch as Warholm pulled farther and farther away, sailing down the homestretch with an 8-meter margin.
The No. 4 performance ever, Warholm’s 46.51 beat dos Santos’s 47.66 — the Brazilian’s first hurdles race this season after knee surgery in February — by more than a second. Consistent American CJ Allen claimed 3rd at 47.84, while France’s Ludvy Vaillant scored a PR 47.85 in 4th.
Said Warholm, “I had a very good warmup so I was ready to do what I do and to play hard. Conditions were very good, a little wind and warm. So I was just going out hard and my goal is always to fight until the end. With this heat, the difficult part is the warmup.”
Another big favorite for Budapest had a markedly different experience. After announcing that this would be his final competition before Worlds, Mondo Duplantis cleared 18-9¼ (5.72) looking fine, and then ran into problems at his next height, 19-5 (5.92). Two misses and neither of them close, so with one more attempt he passed to 19-9 (6.02), as did Ernest John Obiena. When both failed in their one shot, that clinched the win for Chris Nilsen, the only one to clear the previous bar.
“Today did not go as planned,” admitted Duplantis. “I will try to be careful, rest well and try to work on my left side but I think it was just a bad day and I will be back in full shape in Budapest.”
Said Nilsen, “My main goal is to stay in the same shape I have right now. Last year during the World Championships in Eugene I had a kind of physical and mental drop because I wanted to gain some medals and I was like, ‘Mission accomplished.’ I have to make sure that just because I won a Diamond League doesn’t mean I can rest on my laurels. I have to stay mentally focused and maintain my physical condition.”
A stirring non-DL 800 saw Canada’s Marco Arop follow the rabbit through a very fast 49.06 opener. By the time he got to the last curve, a crowd vied for position and Wycliffe Kinyamal finished fastest. His 1:43.22 world leader was just outside his 5-year-old PR of 1:43.18. Slimane Moula of Algeria ran 2nd in 1:43.40, while Arop held on in 1:43.51 in 3rd. Bryce Hoppel ran a season best 1:43.95 for 6th and Clayton Murphy faded to 10th and last in 1:45.83.
Jaydon Hibbert, wearing all Puma, made his Diamond League debut and found out the going will be a little tougher in the big leagues than it was in the NCAA. He led from round 2 with his 56-6½ (17.23), with Hugues Fabrice Zango in 2nd at 56-3¼ (17.15).
In round 4, the 18-year-old phenom went even farther, reaching the No. 3 Junior mark ever, 57-11¼ (17.66). On his last attempt he hit 57-6¼ (17.53). That left the final jump to the 30-year-old Burundian, who showed that experience helps. The Oregon22 silver medalist spanned 58-1 (17.70) to take the win.
“I’m really happy with my progression during the competition,” he said.
Hibbert mentioned he was bothered somewhat by cramps. “It was a rough competition. I was OK. I was 2nd but super grateful at the same time.”
The 5000 featured a pack of 7 passing through 3K in 7:38.74, a pace that could threaten the World Record. The remarkable string of steady 61-second laps fizzled out shortly after when Kenya’s Jacob Krop took over and slowed the proceedings. Not that it helped him any. With 500 to go it was Ethiopia’s Hagos Gebrhiwet who kicked first.
At the bell, and again on the backstretch, the 30-year-old Rio bronze medalist shifted into even higher gears. By the final stretch, he had successfully convinced his chasers to forget him and start looking over their shoulders.
MONACO MEN’S RESULTS
100(0.6): 1. Ferdinand Omanyala (Ken) 9.92; 2. Letsile Tebogo (Bot) 9.93; 3. Ackeem Blake (Jam) 10.00; 4. Yohan Blake (Jam) 10.01; 5. Kishane Thompson (Jam) 10.04; 6. Joshua Hartmann (Ger) 10.15; 7. Courtney Lindsey (US) 10.16; 8. Arthur Gue Cissé (CI) 10.21.
Non-DL 800: 1. Wycliffe Kinyamal (Ken) 1:43.22 (WL) (24.4, 25.9 [50.3], 26.6 [1:16.9], 26.3) (50.3/52.9);
2. Slimane Moula (Alg) 1:43.40; 3. Marco Arop (Can) 1:43.51; 4. Djamel Sedjati (Alg) 1:43.88; 5. Daniel Rowden (GB) 1:43.95 PR;
6. Bryce Hoppel (US) 1:43.95 (AL) (24.4, 26.4 [50.8], 26.4 [1:17.2], 26.8) (50.8/53.2);
7. Yanis Meziane (Fra) 1:44.30 PR; 8. Emmanuel Wanyonyi (Ken) 1:44.35; 9. Joseph Deng (Aus) 1:44.93; 10. Clayton Murphy (US) 1:45.83;… rabbit—Ludovic le Meur (Fra) (49.06).
St: 1. Simon Koech (Ken) 8:04.19 PR (5:22.82); 2. Abraham Kibiwot (Ken) 8:09.54; 3. Abraham Seme (Eth) 8:10.56 PR; 4. Samuel Firewu (Eth) 8:10.57 PR; 5. George Beamish (NZ) 8:13.26 NR; 6. Anthony Rotich (US) 8:13.74 PR (WC Q); 7. Víctor Ruiz (Spa) 8:14.41; 8. Mason Ferlic (US) 8:16.03 PR; 9. Djilali Bedrani (Fra) 8:16.81; 10. Nicolas Daru (Fra) 8:18.45 PR;… 15. Benard Keter (US) 8:29.61;… rabbit—El Mehdi Aboujanah (Spa) 2:40.09.
5000: 1. Hagos Gebrhiwet (Eth) 12:42.18 PR (8, 11 W) (14.3, 28.4, 56.7); 2. Berihu Aregawi (Eth) 12:42.58 (x, 12 W) (14.2, 28.4, 56.6); 3. Telahun Haile (Eth) 12:42.70 PR (9, 13 W) (13.8, 27.6, 56.3); 4. Mohamed Katir (Spa) 12:45.01 NR (11, x W);
5. Jacob Krop (Ken) 12:46.02 (7:38.74, 10:13.60); 6. Jacob Kiplimo (Uga) 12:48.78; 7. Nicholas Kipkorir (Ken) 12:55.46; 8. Thierry Ndikumwenayo (Spa) 12:55.47 PR; 9. Jimmy Gressier (Fra) 12:56.09 NR; 10. Moh Ahmed (Can) 13:01.58; 11. Cornelius Kemboi (Ken) 13:01.78; 12. Yann Schrub (Fra) 13:17.95; 13. Cooper Teare (US) 13:19.44; 14. Samuel Tefera (Eth) 13:22.22;… rabbits—Mounir Akbache (Fra) (2:32.62), Justin Kipkoech (Ken) (5:05.77).
(best-ever mark-for place: 3–6)
400H: 1. Karsten Warholm (Nor) 46.51 (WL) (x, 4 W);
2. Alison dos Santos (Bra) 47.66; 3. CJ Allen (US) 47.84; 4. Ludvy Vaillant (Fra) 47.85 PR; 5. Wilfried Happio (Fra) 48.25; 6. Nick Smidt (Neth) 48.57; 7. Khallifah Rosser (US) 48.71.
Field Events
PV: 1. Chris Nilsen (US) 19-5 (5.92) (17-9¼, 18-5¼, 18-9¼ [2], 19-1 [2], 19-5, 19-9 [xxx]) (5.42, 5.62, 5.72 [2], 5.82 [2], 5.92, 6.02 [xxx]); 2. Ernest John Obiena (Phi) 19-1 (5.82); 3. Kurtis Marschall (Aus) 19-1; 4. tie, Bo Kanda Lita Baehre (Ger), Sam Kendricks (US) & Mondo Duplantis (Swe) 18-9¼ (5.72); 7. Pål Haugen Lillefosse (Nor) 18-9¼; 8. tie, Zach McWhorter (US) & Thibaut Collet (Fra) 18-5¼ (5.62); 10. tie, Renaud Lavillenie (Fra), Sondre Guttormsen (Nor) & Ben Broeders (Bel) 17-9¼ (5.42).
TJ: 1. Hugues Fabrice Zango (Bur) 58-1 (17.70) (56-3¼, f, 54-11¼, 56-1¾, 56-2, 58-1) (17.15, f, 16.74, 17.11, 17.12, 17.70);
2. Jaydon Hibbert (Jam) 57-11¼ (17.66) (x, 3 WJ) (56-0, 56-6½, 55-10¼, 57-11¼, p, 57-6¼ [x, 6 WJ]) (17.07, 17.23, 17.02, 17.66, p, 17.53);
3. Yasser Triki (Alg) 56-10 (17.32); 4. Lázaro Martínez (Cub) 55-2 (16.81); 5. Jean-Marc Pontvianne (Fra) 54-10 (16.71); 6. Praveen Chithravel (Ind) 54-5¼ (16.59); 7. Will Claye (US) 53-2¼ (16.21); 8. Christian Taylor (US) 53-1¾ (16.20).
JT: 1. Jakub Vadlejch (CzR) 282-0 (85.95) (282-0, f, 280-1, f, 271-2, f) (85.95, f, 85.37, f, 82.67, f); 2. Julian Weber (Ger) 276-4; 3. Keshorn Walcott (Tri) 266-9 (81.31); 4. Anderson Peters (Grn) 261-6 (79.70); 5. Curtis Thompson (US) 258-6 (78.79); 6. Felise Vahai Sosaia (Fra) 255-3 (77.80).
