400m hurdles world champion Alison Dos Santos, 200m world champion Shericka Jackson and 3000m steeplechase world champion Soufiane El Bakkali will be among the reigning Wanda Diamond League champions competing at Herculis EBS Monaco on July 21st.
The ninth leg of the Wanda Diamond League will be a crucial opportunity for several title holders to pick up points and secure their place in the series final in Eugene on September 16th and 17th.
Brazil's Dos Santos is yet to compete in this year's Diamond League and will want to pick up as many points as possible when he takes on Norwegian rival Karsten Warholm in Monaco. Dos Santos secured the world and Diamond League titles with Warholm out injured for much of last season, but will have his work cut out against the resurgent Norwegian this month.
Jamaican star Jackson began her Diamond League campaign with a meeting record in the 200m in Rabat in May, and will have one foot in the final with another win at Herculis. Jackson won the Diamond Trophy for the first time last year and remains the woman to beat over half a lap in 2023.
Moroccan steeplechaser El Bakkali is also defending the Diamond Trophy this year, but he will have more than just qualification on his mind when he heads to the Stade Louis II. El Bakkali has made little secret of his desire to break the new world record set by Ethiopian rival Lamecha Girma at the Paris Diamond League last month.
Monaco will also see Grenada's Anderson Peters return to action in the men's javelin, while Australia's Eleanor Patterson and Belgian heptathlete Nafissatou Thiam join a star-studded line-up in the women's high jump.
The Wanda Diamond League is the premier one-day meeting series in athletics. It comprises 14 of the most prestigious events in global track and field. Athletes compete for points at the 13 series meetings in a bid to qualify for the two-day Wanda Diamond League Final in Eugene on 16th-17th September.
Click here to see the 2023 calendar in full.
