Women’s 800m: Keely vs. Femke at last!

The women’s 800m at this meet was originally perhaps the most anticipated race of 2026. On paper, it was intended to be Keely Hodgkinson’s assault on the 800m world record of 1:53.28 in front of 60,000 home fans. Recent events have perhaps dampened expectations, with both the emergence of Audrey Werro as potentially an even greater threat to that record, and a few hiccups in Hodgkinson’s build up to this race. Although she ran a personal best of 1:54.33 in her outdoor 800m season opener in Stockholm, the loss to Werro came as a surprise. Subsequently, a late scratch from the final of the UK Athletics Championships and a fall in the buildup to the Pre Classic may have contributed to Hodgkinson losing to Tokyo World Champion Lilian Odira. Although Werro is not in this race, she casts a long shadow. All that said, Hodgkinson is clearly in the best shape of her life, and if she has recovered from the travails of the past few weeks, she still goes into this race as the favorite, and likely to run a very quick time. The world record may no longer be on the cards, but a new British record and perhaps a time under 1:54 is the likely target.

Georgia Hunter Bell was billed to be her main competition but has now scratched due to illness. This leaves Hodgkinson’s main competition as Femke Broeders-Bol and Tsige Duguma. Duguma has a PB of 1:56.64, and for someone so accomplished (a World Indoor champion and Olympic silver medalist), she hasn’t actually run that fast yet in the grand scheme of things. She’s worked on her strength this season, running a 3:55.71 1500m. Her last outing in Budapest on Tuesday this week in the buildup to this race was not quite as impressive, however, as she ran 4:03.52 for 5th place.

Broeders-Bol, however, has been improving with every race. From the half-joking attempts to set up a match up with Hodgkinson over 600m in 2025, we have mind-bogglingly quickly reached a point where Broeders-Bol could challenge Hodgkinson for the win over 800m. Just four races into her 800m career she has become the 17th fastest woman in history with a PB of 1:55.60. She stayed with Audrey Werro for over 700m of the race in Paris and the improvement trajectory suggests she could even be there challenging Hodgkinson for the win if Hodgkinson is even slightly off her game.

Other intriguing storylines include the Diamond League debut of 2024 phenom Phoebe Gill, who burst on to the world stage by running 1:57.64 at age 17 back in 2024 and making the Olympic semi-finals. She has been building back from injury that prevented her from having a 2025 season, and will be looking for a new personal best before she travels to Eugene as favorite for the World U20 title in early August.

Men’s 800m: Will Wanyonyi maintain world-record form?

Of the two 800m races at this meet, it now appears that the men’s 800m is the one where we are more likely to see a world record with Emmanuel Wanyonyi coming off the back of the breaking Ngeny’s 1999 1000m world record in Monaco only a week ago. It would be a documentary filmmaker’s dream to see Wanyonyi set the record in the same stadium where David Rudisha set the current mark of 1:40.91 14 years ago. There was a brief period when it looked even more likely, as Marco Arop also made a short-lived appearance on the start list after running the world lead of 1:41.86 in Paris and a solo 1:42.13 in Canada, but he has now scratched. Jake Wightman was another late scratch while needing more time to recover from pushing Wanyonyi in Monaco

Wanyonyi’s main competition is Brit Max Burgin, who beat Wanyonyi in Rabat earlier in the season, but has scratched from both British Champs and the Pre Classic in recent weeks so there are question marks over his fitness. Burgin does have a reputation for returning from injury and delivering excellent performances, and with his front-running reputation, he could help push Wanyonyi. The third fastest man in the field is Norway’s Tobias Grønstad who has levelled up in 2026, running 1:43.61 in Oslo and 1:43.63 in Paris over the last few weeks. 2023 World bronze medalist Ben Pattison is also getting back to his best while USA’s Brandon Miller looks to build on his impressive season to date. Bryce Hoppel looks to kick start what has to date been an underwhelming season. Last year’s Tokyo fourth placer, Irishman Cian McPhillips, is building back from injury so don’t expect too much from him just yet, while compatriot Mark English has been having another great season and will be looking to surprise with his impressive close.

Women’s 200m: Alfred and Thomas reunite after wins in Budapest

Julien Alfred and Gabby Thomas face off once again after Alfred’s incredible third all-time 21.51 performance in Monaco last week. Thomas is showing incredible consistency running 21.83 in Budapest on Tuesday after the 21.84 for third in Monaco but will be looking to up her game to challenge Alfred. Her win in London in 2024 in the run up to the Olympics was hugely memorable as she ran down Dina Asher-Smith who had a lightning start but it looks like it will take an all time performance to challenge Alfred. World silver medalist Amy Hunt will be looking to significantly improve her 22.48 season’s best after niggles prevented her from doing 200m training earlier in the year. Her countrywoman Dina Asher-Smith continues to hunt for form. Also watch out for rising star Success Eduan, who beat Hunt over 200m at the UK Championships and famously ran down Shericka Jackson at World Relays in 2025.

Men’s 110mH and 100m: NCAA champs Tharp and Ajayi look for another huge win

Situated in back-to-back time slots in Saturday’s schedule, these races will feature collegiate superstars and former Auburn teammates Ja’Kobe Tharp and Kanyinsola Ajayi hunting for another pair of significant victories. London will be the third race of Tharp’s pro career, with his first two coming in a 12.91 runner-up finish—just 0.01 seconds off the fastest losing time ever—at the Pre Classic, and then a 12.85 in Budapest on Tuesday despite celebrating early. If the world record holder wants to earn his first win on the Diamond League circuit, he’ll need to once again beat five of the same men he handled in Budapest, including world traveler Jamal Britt and World champion Cordell Tinch.

Ajayi has yet to turn pro, running under his Adidas NIL deal while maintaining collegiate eligibility, but that didn’t stop him from equalling the Nigerian record with a 9.84 win at Pre. World champion Oblique Seville will get another shot at his younger rival in London, with a solid 9.88 win over the weekend in Monaco now on his resume to build some confidence into this rematch. Ajayi will also do battle with the NCAA 100m champion who preceded him, racing Jordan Anthony for the first time since the national final last June where Anthony won and Ajayi placed fourth. Much has changed for both men since they last met, and Anthony’s runner-up finish to Seville in Monaco was a much needed data point after finishing fourth, fifth, and fifth in his previous three races on the circuit. The home crowd will also be keeping an eye on Romell Glave, who ran a PB of 9.98 to win the British title last month and has run 9.90 or faster in windy conditions four times in the last two months.

Women’s 400m: Paulino poised to deliver another thrashing

Marileidy Paulino has looked like a woman on a mission in each of her recent appearances, breaking the 49-second barrier in her last three outings. Although she is unlikely to be challenged for the win, the race for second is intriguing, with an in-form Henriete Jæger making a return to the circuit after her win in Oslo in early June. Natalia Bukowiecka will be looking to see how she stacks up against Jæger as she gets ready to defend her European title in a few weeks, and Nickisha Pryce returns to the venue where she set her national record of 48.57 in 2024.

Men’s 400m: Another Benjamin v. Patterson duel for too American honors

Jacory Patterson goes in as favorite over 400m as the only runner in the field to have broken 44 this season. Meanwhile Rai Benjamin will be looking to break the same barrier and challenge Patterson as he comes in with a season’s best of 44.11. Benjamin has been consistent in the 44.1-44.3 range and is clearly hungry to level up over the flat 400m. Matt Hudson-Smith will be looking to rediscover his 2024 form, which made him the sixth fastest man in history, ahead of the European Championships in his home town of Birmingham. Against regional competitions, he holds the European lead in 2026 by a significant margin.

Women’s 3000m: Top Brits and Australians battle for pre-Comm Games bragging rights

Jess Hull headlines this field after her impressive pacing efforts in Monaco, and will be looking to get a win on the board, having only won three races of thirteen on the track so far in 2026 (with two of those wins coming at the Australian championships, if you include a 1500m heat win). Fellow Aussies Rose Davies, Georgia Griffith, Lauren Ryan, and Linden Hall will be looking to battle Hull for top Australian honors. The Brits on the start line predominantly skipped the national 1500m champs, including Megan Keith, teen phenom Innes Fitzgerald, Tokyo 5000m eighth placer Hannah Nuttall, up-and-comer Eloise Walker and Laura Muir, so most of them face off for the first time before Commonwealth Games. European Indoor 3000m champion Sarah Healy and the ever-present Nozomi Tanaka are also in the field, as well as five Ethiopians headlined by Medina Eisa and Hirut Meshesha. Eisa will likely be the biggest threat to Hull for the win as she’s run 14:22 over 5000m this season.

Men’s 400H: Will Warholm take advantage of a dos Santos-less field?

Last year’s Diamond League champion is winless through his first three races on the circuit in 2026, but all three of Karsten Warholm’s runner-up finishes have come at the hands of Alison dos Santos. With dos Santos opting not to make the trip to London, the door is wide open for the world record holder to get back on track. Warholm has the fastest SB in the field by over half a second, making him a heavy favorite to pick up the 25th DL victory of his career.

Nine men have broken 48 seconds this year, and seven of them will be rocking up to the blocks on Saturday. Ezekiel Nathaniel, Trevor Bassitt, and Matheus Lima are in a three-way tie for the third-fastest man in the world this year with SBs of 47.37. The race in Texas where Nathaniel outleaned Bassitt in each of their best times of the season is also Ezekiel’s only time over the hurdles this year, so the Nigerian record holder could very well have something special up his sleeve. Keep an eye on Emil Agyekum, who also outleaned Bassitt earlier this week in Budapest when he ran 47.58, coming just a tenth shy of Harald Schmid’s 43-year-old German record.

Field Event Highlights:

London this year is a little light on the field front with only four field events.

Mondo Duplantis will be looking to return to his best form following his wedding and a few performances relatively below par, but only by his own extremely high standards. Mondo is the king of the big stage, though, and 60,000 fans in London may just give him the boost he needs to return to his highest heights. Emmanouil Karalis will look to assert himself as the world’s second best pole vaulter, fighting off a resurgent Kurtis Marschall currently looking to usurp him in that role.

In the women’s high jump, 2022 World champion Eleanor Patterson has finally returned to the 2-meter club in recent weeks for the first time since her victory in Eugene four years ago, and so will be looking to challenge reigning World champion Nicola Olyslagers and Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh.

Valarie Sion will look to continue her domination of the women’s discus, but as always, all her main rivals line up against her. Larissa Iapichino will be looking to build consistency in the long jump after her 7.12m personal best at the Pre Classic as she faces off against her main rivals for the European title in World Indoor Champion Agate De Sousa and Germany’s Malaika Mihambo.

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Women’s 200m: Alfred and Thomas reunite after wins in Budapest

Julien Alfred and Gabby Thomas face off once again after Alfred’s incredible third all-time 21.51 performance in Monaco last week. Thomas is showing incredible consistency running 21.83 in Budapest on Tuesday after the 21.84 for third in Monaco but will be looking to up her game to challenge Alfred. Her win in London in 2024 in the run up to the Olympics was hugely memorable as she ran down Dina Asher-Smith who had a lightning start but it looks like it will take an all time performance to challenge Alfred. World silver medalist Amy Hunt will be looking to significantly improve her 22.48 season’s best after niggles prevented her from doing 200m training earlier in the year. Her countrywoman Dina Asher-Smith continues to hunt for form. Also watch out for rising star Success Eduan, who beat Hunt over 200m at the UK Championships and famously ran down Shericka Jackson at World Relays in 2025.

Men’s 110mH and 100m: NCAA champs Tharp and Ajayi look for another huge win

Situated in back-to-back time slots in Saturday’s schedule, these races will feature collegiate superstars and former Auburn teammates Ja’Kobe Tharp and Kanyinsola Ajayi hunting for another pair of significant victories. London will be the third race of Tharp’s pro career, with his first two coming in a 12.91 runner-up finish—just 0.01 seconds off the fastest losing time ever—at the Pre Classic, and then a 12.85 in Budapest on Tuesday despite celebrating early. If the world record holder wants to earn his first win on the Diamond League circuit, he’ll need to once again beat five of the same men he handled in Budapest, including world traveler Jamal Britt and World champion Cordell Tinch.

Ajayi has yet to turn pro, running under his Adidas NIL deal while maintaining collegiate eligibility, but that didn’t stop him from equalling the Nigerian record with a 9.84 win at Pre. World champion Oblique Seville will get another shot at his younger rival in London, with a solid 9.88 win over the weekend in Monaco now on his resume to build some confidence into this rematch. Ajayi will also do battle with the NCAA 100m champion who preceded him, racing Jordan Anthony for the first time since the national final last June where Anthony won and Ajayi placed fourth. Much has changed for both men since they last met, and Anthony’s runner-up finish to Seville in Monaco was a much needed data point after finishing fourth, fifth, and fifth in his previous three races on the circuit. The home crowd will also be keeping an eye on Romell Glave, who ran a PB of 9.98 to win the British title last month and has run 9.90 or faster in windy conditions four times in the last two months.

Women’s 400m: Paulino poised to deliver another thrashing

Marileidy Paulino has looked like a woman on a mission in each of her recent appearances, breaking the 49-second barrier in her last three outings. Although she is unlikely to be challenged for the win, the race for second is intriguing, with an in-form Henriete Jæger making a return to the circuit after her win in Oslo in early June. Natalia Bukowiecka will be looking to see how she stacks up against Jæger as she gets ready to defend her European title in a few weeks, and Nickisha Pryce returns to the venue where she set her national record of 48.57 in 2024.

Men’s 400m: Another Benjamin v. Patterson duel for too American honors

Jacory Patterson goes in as favorite over 400m as the only runner in the field to have broken 44 this season. Meanwhile Rai Benjamin will be looking to break the same barrier and challenge Patterson as he comes in with a season’s best of 44.11. Benjamin has been consistent in the 44.1-44.3 range and is clearly hungry to level up over the flat 400m. Matt Hudson-Smith will be looking to rediscover his 2024 form, which made him the sixth fastest man in history, ahead of the European Championships in his home town of Birmingham. Against regional competitions, he holds the European lead in 2026 by a significant margin.

Women’s 3000m: Top Brits and Australians battle for pre-Comm Games bragging rights

Jess Hull headlines this field after her impressive pacing efforts in Monaco, and will be looking to get a win on the board, having only won three races of thirteen on the track so far in 2026 (with two of those wins coming at the Australian championships, if you include a 1500m heat win). Fellow Aussies Rose Davies, Georgia Griffith, Lauren Ryan, and Linden Hall will be looking to battle Hull for top Australian honors. The Brits on the start line predominantly skipped the national 1500m champs, including Megan Keith, teen phenom Innes Fitzgerald, Tokyo 5000m eighth placer Hannah Nuttall, up-and-comer Eloise Walker and Laura Muir, so most of them face off for the first time before Commonwealth Games. European Indoor 3000m champion Sarah Healy and the ever-present Nozomi Tanaka are also in the field, as well as five Ethiopians headlined by Medina Eisa and Hirut Meshesha. Eisa will likely be the biggest threat to Hull for the win as she’s run 14:22 over 5000m this season.

Men’s 400H: Will Warholm take advantage of a dos Santos-less field?

Last year’s Diamond League champion is winless through his first three races on the circuit in 2026, but all three of Karsten Warholm’s runner-up finishes have come at the hands of Alison dos Santos. With dos Santos opting not to make the trip to London, the door is wide open for the world record holder to get back on track. Warholm has the fastest SB in the field by over half a second, making him a heavy favorite to pick up the 25th DL victory of his career.

Nine men have broken 48 seconds this year, and seven of them will be rocking up to the blocks on Saturday. Ezekiel Nathaniel, Trevor Bassitt, and Matheus Lima are in a three-way tie for the third-fastest man in the world this year with SBs of 47.37. The race in Texas where Nathaniel outleaned Bassitt in each of their best times of the season is also Ezekiel’s only time over the hurdles this year, so the Nigerian record holder could very well have something special up his sleeve. Keep an eye on Emil Agyekum, who also outleaned Bassitt earlier this week in Budapest when he ran 47.58, coming just a tenth shy of Harald Schmid’s 43-year-old German record.

Field Event Highlights:

London this year is a little light on the field front with only four field events.

Mondo Duplantis will be looking to return to his best form following his wedding and a few performances relatively below par, but only by his own extremely high standards. Mondo is the king of the big stage, though, and 60,000 fans in London may just give him the boost he needs to return to his highest heights. Emmanouil Karalis will look to assert himself as the world’s second best pole vaulter, fighting off a resurgent Kurtis Marschall currently looking to usurp him in that role.

In the women’s high jump, 2022 World champion Eleanor Patterson has finally returned to the 2-meter club in recent weeks for the first time since her victory in Eugene four years ago, and so will be looking to challenge reigning World champion Nicola Olyslagers and Olympic champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh.