Alfred Storms to Historic World-Leading 21.51 as Monaco Diamond League Delivers Records

Posted : 11 July 2026

Julien Alfred underlined her status as one of the world's most dominant sprinters with a sensational world-leading time of 21.51 seconds to win the women's 200 metres at the Monaco Diamond League, climbing to third on the all-time list.

The Saint Lucian Olympic 100m champion recovered from a slow start before producing a blistering finish over the closing stages to beat Adaejah Hodge of the British Virgin Islands by 0.25 seconds. American Gabby Thomas, the Olympic 200m champion in Paris, finished third in 21.84 seconds.

"It's not about the reaction time; it's about how you finish," Alfred said after the race. "I didn't realise how fast it was until I crossed the line."

The meeting also produced a world record, with Kenya's Olympic 800m champion Emmanuel Wanyonyi clocking 2:11.83 in the men's 1,000 metres to erase compatriot Noah Ngeny's 27-year-old record by 0.13 seconds.

Making his debut over the distance, Wanyonyi finished comfortably ahead of Britain's Jake Wightman, while Algeria's Djamel Sedjati placed third.

"This was the first time I ran the 1,000m, and breaking the world record on my debut makes me so happy. I want to thank the other athletes for pushing me to my limit," Wanyonyi said.

Jamaica's world champion Oblique Seville continued his impressive form by winning the men's 100 metres in 9.88 seconds, finishing ahead of American Jordan Anthony (9.92) and Cameroon's Emmanuel Eseme (10.00).

Botswana's Busang Collen Kebinatshipi maintained his unbeaten run in the Diamond League men's 400 metres with a fifth consecutive victory, clocking 43.44 seconds. Americans Jacory Patterson (43.96) and Rai Benjamin (44.13) completed the podium.

"I did not expect to be this fast. We are just playing around and seeing how fast we can go towards the end of the season," Kebinatshipi said.

In the women's 400 metres, Dominican Republic's Marileidy Paulino extended her unbeaten streak this season with victory in 48.67 seconds, finishing ahead of American Aaliyah Butler (48.84) and Czech athlete Lurdes Gloria Manuel (49.44).

Olympic champion Masai Russell also impressed in the women's 100m hurdles, winning in 12.20 seconds ahead of fellow American Alaysha Johnson (12.38), while the Netherlands' Nadine Visser finished third in 12.49.

Switzerland's Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu claimed the men's 5,000 metres in dramatic fashion, edging American Graham Blanks by just 0.06 seconds after both athletes were timed at 12:52, with Bahrain's Birhanu Balew taking third.

In the field events, Australia's Nina Kennedy cleared a world-leading 4.95m to win the women's pole vault, becoming only the sixth woman to clear that height. The Paris Olympic champion later made three unsuccessful attempts at five metres.

Swedish pole vault star Armand "Mondo" Duplantis secured another victory with a clearance of 6.07m before failing in three attempts to improve his own world record at 6.15m.

China's Yan Ziyi won the women's javelin with a throw of 68.75m, Cuba's Leyanis Perez captured the women's triple jump title with 15.06m, Greece's Miltiadis Tentoglou won the men's long jump with 8.61m, while Ukraine's Oleh Doroshchuk claimed the men's high jump after clearing 2.32m.

Alfred Storms to Historic World-Leading 21.51 as Monaco Diamond League Delivers Records

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