Laura Muir set a new British 1500m record while Kenyan Faith Kipyegon shattered the world record at the Paris Diamond League. Kipyegon clocked a remarkable 3:49.04 to claim victory, while Muir, 31, finished third in 3:53.79, improving her national record set during her Olympic silver run in Tokyo. Australian Jessica Hull took second place, and British champion Georgia Bell recorded a personal best of 3:56.54, finishing fifth. Katie Snowden was ninth with a time of 3:58.13.
Ukraine’s world high jump champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh broke a 37-year record in the women’s high jump, clearing 2.10m. The previous record of 2.09m was held by Belarusian Stefka Kostadinova since 1987. Briton Morgan Lake finished ninth with a leap of 1.92m.
In the women’s 3,000m steeplechase, Elizabeth Bird ran a season’s best 9:09.07 to take third place, with Bahrain’s world champion Winfred Yavi winning in 9:03.68. Laviai Nielsen clocked a personal best of 50.76 seconds for fifth place in the women’s 400m, won by Dominican Republic’s Marileidy Paulino in 49.20 seconds.
The Paris Diamond League marks significant performances as athletes prepare for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Monaco will host the next event on Friday, followed by the final opportunity in London on July 20.
Elsewhere, Keely Hodgkinson won the women’s 800m at the FBK Games in the Netherlands with a time of 1:57.36, while Melissa Courtney-Bryant triumphed in the 1500m, finishing in 4:03.58.
Faith Kipyegon, following a stellar 2023 season, remains the favorite for the upcoming Olympics, despite having only recently raced this year. Laura Muir expressed her excitement and confidence following her record-breaking performance, looking forward to the Games in Paris.
Yaroslava Mahuchikh, who won bronze in her Olympic debut in Tokyo, will be a strong contender in Paris after her historic jump. She celebrated with her coach after her world record-breaking performance, having previously fled her war-torn home country of Ukraine.
Armand Duplantis won the men’s pole vault with a clearance of 6.00m, though he did not break the world record in Paris. Duplantis, the Olympic champion and holder of the current world record of 6.24m, continues to be a dominant force in the sport.