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There will be something for everyone in every corner of the Charléty Stadium throughout the competition this June. In fact, given the abundance of champions per square metre of the tartan track, the 19,000 spectators at the Wanda Diamond League Meeting de Paris will have to make some tough decisions unless they have mastered the art of being in two places at once. Take the example of the women’s 800 m for instance. The Parisian crowd will get the chance to see Dutch athlete Femke Broeders-Bol in action no less. The two-time world 400 m hurdles champion, who has this year made the switch to the 800 m, will compete against the amazing new Swiss talent, Audrey Werro, who posted an extraordinary 1’53’’98 a few days ago in Stockholm to complement the silver medal she won during the winter’s World Indoor Championships in Torun (Poland). Sparks are set to fly between the pair, who will both be chasing a record time. The men’s competition boasts an equally thrilling line-up since it includes Canadian Marco Arop, who has secured podiums in the last three world championships and was silver medallist at the Olympic Games two years ago, as well as Algerian Djamel Sedjati, victorious in an electrifying 800 m at the Meeting de Paris 2024, in 1’41’’56.
In the middle-distance events, Soufiane El Bakkali will be a very welcome addition to the steeplechase. The Moroccan has racked up one of the finest track records on the circuit with five world medals, including two titles, two Olympic triumphs and 21 victories in Diamond League. Out of three participations at the Meeting de Paris, his only win dates back to 2019. Pitted against German Frederik Ruppert, who was the first European to run a sub-8’ time (7’57’’80) in Rabat, he’ll be keen to show spectators in Paris what he can do. In the 5,000 m, Frenchman Jimmy Gressier will compete against no fewer than eight runners who have recorded sub-12’50’’ times, including American Grant Fisher, and a cohort of sturdy runners from the East African Highlands.
Paulino comes back for more, Yan comes into her own
Charléty’s stalwarts will recognise a familiar face in the women’s 400 m as Dominican Marileidy Paulino, Olympic champion in 2024, has already taken four wins at Charléty: in 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025. Hoping to add a fifth victory to her prize haul, she’ll have to get the better of indoor world champion Lurdes Manuel from Czechia and Polish sprinter Natalia Bukowiecka, among others. Meantime, the men’s race will see American Quincy Hall, Olympic champion in Paris 2024, face off in a formidable duel against the 2025 world champion from Botswana, Collen Kebinatshipi. Sprint fans will also be treated to a very special 100 m with the brilliant Noah Lyles vying against the man who held the previous Olympic title, Italian Marcell Jacobs, as well as Kenyan Ferdinand Omanyala and South African Akani Simbine, who can really send it down the home straight.
Away from the spotlight on occasion, the throwing competitions will be well worth watching in Paris with two key highlights over the course of the evening. Indeed, the Meeting de Paris will mark the European debut for the young Chinese athlete Ziyi Yan. She landed the second-best women’s javelin throw in history of 71.74 m in Xiamen on 23 May at just 18 years of age! Barbora Spotakova’s world record (72.28 m in 2008), which we believed to be safe for a while longer, has really been under threat for the past month. Finally, the women’s shot put competition will host four athletes who have already thrown in excess of 20 m, including Dutch world champion Jessica Schilder, who recently threw a monster 21.09 m in Keqiao (China), the farthest throw in the world since 2012.