Emmanuel Wanyonyi breaks men's 1,000m world record ahead of Jake Wightman in Monaco, Julien Alfred dazzles in women's 200m
Published 11/07/2026 at 12:56 GMT+1
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Emmanuel Wanyonyi set a new world record in the men's 1,000m at the Diamond League meet in Monaco on Friday, taking 0.13 seconds off the previous mark in his first time running the distance. Great Britain's Jake Wightman came second with a personal-best time.
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Wanyonyi clocked a time of 2:11.83 to comfortably beat the previous record of 2:11.96 set by Kenyan compatriot Noah Ngeny in 1999.
Wanyonyi, the reigning Olympic and world 800m champion, was chased hard towards the finish line by 2022 world 1,500m champion Wightman.
Wightman could not get the better of Wanyonyi, but still clocked a time of 2:12.77 to move into fifth place on the all-time standings.
"This was the first time I ran the 1,000m, and breaking the world record makes me so happy," said Wanyonyi.
"I want to thank the other athletes for pushing me to my limits."
Wanyonyi played down talk that he would next target the 800m world record, which was set by fellow Kenyan David Rudisha at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
"I don't want to talk about the world record in the 800m. I first want to run fast and improve my personal best. Let me keep quiet, actions speak louder than words," the 21-year-old said.
"My next competition is in London. I have decided not to run too much this season because I want to run very fast at the end of the season."
Wightman's impressive time put him behind only Sebastian Coe (2:12.18) in the UK all-time standings at the 1,000m distance.
"I was nearly there," said Wightman. "This was just a long 800 so I wanted to go through quickly and try and hang on for as long as I could.
"I wish I could have surprised Wanyonyi, but it is probably the best 1,000m you have ever had, so it was hard."
Elsewhere at the event, St Lucia's Julien Alfred became the third-fastest woman in 200m history with a meet-record time of 21.51 seconds.
Only Florence Griffith Joyner (21.34s) and Shericka Jackson (21.41s) have ever gone quicker.
"I have been preparing for this for such a long time, to finally see it pay off, I am just happy," she said.
"I didn't realise how fast it was until I crossed the line. I looked at the clock and saw my time and that's why I was screaming like at the Olympics.
"There are no limits right now. Today, I was actually hoping to see 21.6, I got 21.5, so I am happy nonetheless."
Jamaica's Oblique Seville won the men’s 100m in a time of 9.88s ahead of USA's Jordan Anthony (9.92), while Sweden’s Armand Duplantis won the pole vault but did not come close to threatening his own world record.
Duplantis bettered the meet record by 2cm to 6.07m, but could not clear 6.15m with three attempts.
"The competition fulfilled my expectations, the crowd over-exceeded my expectations," said Duplantis, who holds the world record of 6.31m.
"It was maybe a little bit underwhelming in my own mind, in my own eyes, but I am trying to stay positive and trying to take only the positives away from it - that I still came with the win and the meeting record.
"I think there was some more to give."
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