A Close up On… Monaco

One of the great things about the IAAF Diamond League series of meetings is the diversity on offer. From Scandinavia to China, Southern Europe to the USA, every meeting has developed a rich history, in some cases stretching back decades.

The Lowdown

Taking place in arguably the most glamorous location of any IAAF Diamond League meeting, the Meeting Herculis in Monaco has a history dating back to the 1980s when the Stade Louis II was first built in the principality.

Following the founding of the Monegasque Athletics Federation in 1984, international meetings were held in each of the subsequent two years before the Meeting Herculis was established in 1987. Since then, world-class athletics has returned to Monaco on an annual basis and since 2010 the meeting has been part of the IAAF Diamond League,

Hometown Heroes

With a population of fewer than 40,000 it is no surprise that no Monegasque athletes have competed in the IAAF Diamond League. Nevertheless, with France bordering the principality on three sides, French athletes are always due a warm welcome in Monaco.

2014 will be no different and Olympic medalist Christophe Lemaitre, who races over 200m, will be sure of home support, as will the in-form Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, the Frenchman who has set 110m hurdles personal bests in each of his last two races.

Two-time IAAF Diamond League meeting winner Myriam Soumare and European Junior Champion Stella Akakpo both compete over 100m and there are French athletes in most of the events that make up a high-class programme.

Iconic Performances

Since its inception in 1987 the Meeting Herculis has developed a reputation as a middle distance runner’s paradise. As far back as 1994, the great Noureddine Morceli set the 3000m world record at Stade Louis II, clocking 7:25.11 and beating Haile Gebrselassie convincingly in the process.

In the IAAF Diamond League era the success in the endurance events has continued, with eight of the top nine all-time best Diamond League times over 1500m having been set at Meeting Herculis.

The best of those was produced by Kenya’s Asbel Kiprop just last year, as he followed a scorching pace in the 1500m and maintained to the line to record 3:27.72, with Great Britain’s Mo Farah, experimenting over a shorter than usual distance, being towed to a European record (and second quickest in the IAAF Diamond League) 3:28.81.

The outright IAAF Diamond League record in the 3000m steeplechase was also set at Stade Louis II back in 2011 by Brimin Kipruto, who produced an astonishing performance to clock 7:53.64, the second quickest steeplechase in history and just 1/100th away from the world record.

Yet the Monaco Diamond League meeting isn’t just about endurance, as it has been witness to two other current IAAF Diamond League all-time bests in the past four years.

The first of these came in 2010, as Cuba’s Yargelis Savigne leapt 15.09 in the triple jump, which is the only occasion that a woman has broken the 15m barrier in an IAAF Diamond League meeting.

Botswana’s 2011 World Champion Amantle Montsho ran a swift 49.33 over 400m in 2013 as she defeated Stephanie Ann McPherson of Jamaica, which is the other outright Diamond League record.

Other meeting records of note are Aries Merritt’s 12.93 110m hurdles set in 2012, one of three occasions on which he clocked that exact time that year, and Barbora Spotakova’s 69.45 javelin throw, which is the second furthest ever thrown in the IAAF Diamond League and is among the top twenty throws ever.

Kipruto, Merritt, Spotakova and Kiprop all return in 2014, hoping that fond memories will inspire them to further iconic performances.




Dean Hardman for the IAAF Diamond League