English
French
19:50 hrs: Men’s triple jump *
Hugues-Fabrice Zango from Burkina Faso is a well-known figure across France, as he lives and trains in the country for years. The 2023 world champion is entering his final season in top-level sport. This certainly won’t be a farewell tour though since the world indoor record holder has every intention of bringing his A’ game right to the last. Cuban Lazaro Martinez, Jamaican Donald Scott, German Max Hess and Algerian Yasser Triki will also want to have their say. Keep an eye on the Frenchmen Melvin Raffin, Jonathan Seremes and Thomas Gogois as well.
20:05 hrs: Women’s pole vault **
The new darling of French athletics, Marie-Julie Bonnin is counting on the support of an energetic home crowd to help her return to performing at her best. The world indoor champion will really have her work cut out trying to secure victory against some stiff opposition. Indeed, the two-time Olympic champion Katie Moon and her compatriot Sandi Morris, back on form jumping over 4.80 m, are a formidable force. Swiss athlete Angelica Moser and Slovenian Tina Sutej are also capable of reaching new heights. Featuring a jumping pit conducive to high performance, together with a backdrop of optimal weather conditions, the event has all the makings of a showstopping spectacle. Rejoining the fray after months of hassle related to her fractured foot in March 2024, Margot Chevrier will be rekindling her ties with the Paris crowd, which everyone will be thrilled about.
20:10 hrs: Women’s discus throw ***
A line-up worthy of a world final awaits the Parisian audience as the top eight in the global ranking prepare to perform. Leading lady Valarie Allman, two-time Olympic champion, is a familiar face as this will be the fifth time she’s competed here. Moreover, she pocketed the win in both her last appearances, in 2022 and 2023. Putting up their own challenges will be her compatriot Laulauga Tausaga, reigning world champion, alongside fellow global stars Sandra Elkasevic (four-time champion at the Meeting de Paris), Yaime Perez and Bin Feng. The suspense will likely send a shiver around the stadium and victory may well be decided beyond the 70 m mark. French throwers Mélina Robert-Michon and Amanda Ngandu-Ntumba will also be hoping to put in some big throws in their quest for the top spot.
21:04 hrs: Men’s 400 m hurdles **
dates way back to 23 August 2023, when he secured bronze in the world championships in Budapest. Since then, the elegant runner from Mount Vernon, an inner suburb of New York City, has racked up a string of successes and some brilliant times. As recently as last Sunday, he took the win in Stockholm in 46’’54. Over the course of his career, he has already run sub-48’’ times on thirty occasions. As a result, the Olympic champion is the firm favourite, though the Qatari Abderrahman Samba should not be underestimated, he too with a sub-47’’ record. Frenchman Hugo Menin will try to slipstream his way to an improved time.
21:06 hrs: Women’s high jump ***
Remember last summer? For a few split seconds, time stood still as Yaroslava Mahuchikh soared to 2.10 m and set the whole stadium alight. A few weeks after bagging the world record, which she’d been coveting for a couple of years, the Ukrainian also won Olympic glory at the Stade de France. Bent on revenge, she’ll return to the scene of her past exploits on Friday. Beaten by Nicola Olyslagers on Sunday in Stockholm, Mahuchikh is keen to regain control. However, the Australian loves Paris, where she previously triumphed (2021 and 2023) and is feeling confident after retaining her world indoor crown over the winter. Her compatriot Eleanor Patterson will attempt to referee this high-flying duel, whilst French jumper Solène Gicquel will want to make the most of the competitive atmosphere to improve on her record.
21:15 hrs: Men’s 800 m **
It was one of the high points of 2024 and it should be another great year in 2025. Last year, three runners ran a sub-1’42’’ time, including Gabriel Tual, who set a new French record of 1’41’’61, after a breathtaking home straight. The native of the Gironde will be returning with a number of fellow competitors ready to do battle for victory. As such, the double Olympic finalist will be up against America’s Bryce Hoppel, Botswana’s Tshepiso Masal and Spain’s Mohamed Attaoui, all ranking among the international elite. Yanis Meziane will be another force to be reckoned with now that he’s match fit again and is eager to step things up a gear after setting a new personal best of 1’43’’93.
21:23 hrs: Women’s 3,000 m steeplechase **
Alice Finot has been saying for years that there’s nothing she likes better than running in front of a home crowd. Preferably at a fast pace, spurred on by her loved ones and the crowd. The European record holder in the 3,000 m steeplechase will have another opportunity to enjoy herself on Friday night in a packed Charléty Stadium. Indeed, the European champion of the discipline will be running her favourite distance against two sizeable adversaries: Ugandan Peruth Chemutai, Olympic champion in Tokyo and second in Paris, and Kazakhe Norah Jeruto, world champion in 2022. Kenyan Faith Cherotich also boasts a sub-9’ record. Another French athlete will be on the start line: Flavie Renouard is looking to gain her ticket to the world championships in Tokyo.
21:42 hrs: Men’s javelin throw **
Fortunate are those who have tickets for Friday’s big show in Paris. Indeed, the meetings which feature five javelin throwers capable of performances in excess of 90 m are few and far between. Leading the way is the Olympic champion in Tokyo and silver medallist in Paris, Neeraj Chopra from India, who is as powerful as he is consistent. The world number 1 from Grenada, Anderson Peters, two-time world champion and third at Paris 2024, has already sampled the delights of victory in Paris, in 2021. However, there is a third man, German Julian Weber, who has posted the best performance in the world this year with a winning throw of 91.06 m in Doha. Keshorn Walcott from Trinidad, Olympic champion in 2012, and Kenyan Julius Yego are sure to add even more spice to the competition.
21:43 hrs: Men’s 110 m hurdles ***
The Boss is back. Victorious at the Meeting de Paris 2023, Grant Holloway is sure to attack the Parisian hurdles with his inimitable stride. The strapping Olympic champion and three-time world champion from Chesapeake will be the man to beat, a status that he is very used to. On paper, compatriots Trey Cunningham (13’’00 this year) and Freddie Crittenden (13’’09 in 2025), as well as Japanese hurdler Rashid Muratake, seem most likely to trip him up. Frenchmen Wilhem Belocian and Just Kwaou-Mathey, both medalled indoors this winter, as did Erwann Cinna and Aurel Manga. Once the heats begin then, the reference time will likely fall.
21:51 hrs: Women’s 400 m ***
The Olympic champion is pitted against her closest rival. The world number 1 against the athlete who posted the world’s best performance of the year so far. Dominican athlete Marileidy Paulino, winner of last year’s Paris Games and the 2023 Worlds in Budapest, has been the star of the show for the past two years. She won the 400 m at the Meeting de Paris in 2023 and 2024. However, it is the Bahraini Salwa Eid Naser, world champion in 2019 and victor at the Meeting de Paris in 2018, who presently holds the reference thanks to a time of 48’’67 in Kingston. Their clash in the lap of the track promises to be truly sensational and will likely go right to the wire. Dutch athlete Lieke Klaver, two-time world finalist, and France’s best hope, Amandine Brossier, are also set to be in the starting blocks.
22:08 hrs: Women’s 200 m *
The revelation of 2024, Hélène Parisot will have to take a unique English test during this exam period. The bronze medallist at the European championships will be vying with the Briton Dina Asher-Smith, world champion in Doha in 2019, and two Americans with flattering reference times keen to make a name for themselves on the international stage: world number 2 Brittany Brown and Anavia Battle. All three have already run a sub-22’’ time in the half-lap of the track, which may well be a gamechanger on a global platform.
22:20 hrs: Women’s 100 m hurdles **
The world record holder will grace the arena, as will the owner of the previous title, in a race which may well see the sparks fly. Nigerian Tobi Amusan will no doubt remember how she triumphed during her previous performance at the Charléty Stadium, back in June 2022. It proved to be the start of a glorious summer since she won the world championships in Eugene a month later, setting a new world record (12’’12) in the process. American Kendra Harrison, who had previously held the planet’s reference time at 12’’20, will be running in one of the neighbouring lanes for an epic battle down the home straight. Her compatriot Grace Stark, victorious last Sunday in Stockholm in 12’’33, and Jamaican Ackera Nugent, second that day, will also be performing.
22:27: Men’s 5,000 m **
A chance to dream big over the twelve and a half laps of the track. Jimmy Gressier and Yann Schrub, France’s two standard bearers in middle-distance running, will be trying to keep pace with Africa’s best high-plateau runners and maybe even get ahead of them. European Road Running champions from northern and eastern France (half-marathon for Gressier, 10 km for Schrub in April), they will likely need to run sub-13’ times if they are to outmanoeuvre Ethiopian Yomif Kejelcha, fourth fastest in the world (12’38’’95 last year), with ten Diamond League victories to his credit, or Kenyan Jacob Krop, who made the podium during the last two editions of the world championships. Moroccan Soufiane el Bakkali, two-time Olympic champion in the 3,000 m steeplechase, has switched direction slightly to test his legs and is sure to be formidable. Valentin Gondouin and Etienne Daguinos will have to dig deep to avoid losing contact with the peloton.
22:50 hrs: Women’s 1,500 m *
It is nigh on impossible to predict the top trio in the women’s 1,500 m given the packed line-up. Thirteen athletes have already run sub-4’ times. The fastest of the crop is Briton Georgia Hunter Bell, third at last year’s Paris Olympics as well as the world indoor championships over the winter. Spectators are sure to cheer Agathe Guillemot on as she tries to manoeuvre herself into a favourable position to do battle at the front of the pack. As night falls in Paris, self-confidence and ingenuity will be called for as she lines herself up for the home straight and a crack at her French record (3’56’’69). Sarah Madeleine, a native of the region, will also be trying to improve on her past performance.