Fast track for fast people!

Berlin champions gather for Herculis Monaco – Samsung Diamond League

24 June 2010 – Monaco – In the latest additions to its already prestigious entry list, the organisers of Herculis 2010 - Samsung Diamond League have confirmed 4 more reigning outdoor World champions, Mbulaeni Mulaudzi (800m), Yusuf Saad Kamel (1500m), Kerron Clement (400m Hurdles) and Dwight Phillips (Long Jump) for the meeting on 22 July. In the men’s 800m, last year’s Berlin gold medal winner Mbulaeni Mulaudzi from South Africa will meet some very serious opposition led by Sudan’s Abubaker Kaki, the double World Indoor champion who has already run a memorable 1:42.23 personal best in Oslo this season. Also in the field is European number one Marcin Lewandowski from Poland who has run 1:44.56 this season, also in Oslo, and will be aiming for the continental title in Barcelona, a few days after he runs in Monaco. The 1500m will offer a clash of titles which brings together the entire World Championships medal podium from Berlin 2009. World champion Yusuf Saad Kamel of Bahrain will be running against Ethiopian Deresse Mekonnen, the double World Indoor champion, and USA’s 2007 World champion Bernard Lagat. These three finished in that order in Berlin last summer, and so the winner in Monaco has the chance of laying down a good marker a year ahead of the next World Championships in Daegu. USA’s Kerron Clement is the reigning double World champion in the 400m Hurdles. Second in Doha and the victor in Oslo and New York, Clement currently leads the Diamond Race standings and will come to Herculis with the ambition of setting a new stadium record and improving his personal best of 47.24sec. His best so far this season is 47.86 thanks to his win in New York, and he will have to be at his very best to defeat South African LJ Van Zyl, the storming winner in Monaco last year after an incredible comeback over the last barriers. With a second place in Shanghai and a win in Rome, USA’s reigning World Long Jump champion Dwight Phillips is another of Monaco’s latest entrants who leads his discipline’s respective Diamond Race. Phillips, who before 2009 had already won two outdoor and one indoor World title as well as the 2004 Olympic crown, made an amazing return to the top last season which allowed him to set up a new personal best of 8.74m, and then in Berlin to win his third World outdoor title. The current world season leader thanks to his 8.42m victory in Rome, Phillips will use this year which is without any global championships as a chance to concentrate on the Samsung Diamond League, and just maybe improving the World record of 8.95m set by Mike Powell in 1991. All these champions are expecting a large crowd at Louis II stadium in Monaco on 22 July to help inspire them to produce another wonderful night of athletics. Herculis Monaco – Samsung Diamond League

Jones and Rybakov join Herculis fields - Samsung Diamond League

Monte Carlo - Lolo Jones and Yaroslav Rybakov are the latest stars confirmed for the Herculis Monaco – Samsung Diamond League – meeting on 22 July. Jones, the two-time World indoor 60m Hurdles champion, will headline the field in the 100m Hurdles after compiling an undefeated streak in the event in Samsung Diamond League competition this season. Most recently, the 28-year-old American clocked a world leading 12.55 against a high calibre field in New York. In March, Jones defended her World indoor 60 Hurdles title in style, breaking the US and Area record with a 7.72 run to become history’s third fastest in the event. Rybakov, one of the most consistent high jumpers in the world over much of the past decade, will arrive in the Principality as the reigning World champion. The 29-year-old Russian took World gold in a rainy competition in Berlin last summer, jumping 2.32m to defeat Kyriakos Ioannou of Cyprus and Sylwester Bednarek of Poland on countback. Both Ioannou, who took silver in Berlin, and Bednarek, who shared the bronze, will also be in the field aiming to get a measure of revenge against the Russian.

Ambassadors Fraser and Vili join Herculis line-up

Ambassadors Fraser and Vili join Herculis line-up – Samsung Diamond League 15 June 2010 - Monaco - Only a few athletes in their careers ever can claim World Championship titles and even fewer gold medals at the Olympic Games. Holding both honours is a distinction reached by only the greatest. This is why Herculis Monaco – IAAF Diamond League is especially proud to announce that two more Samsung Diamond League Ambassadors, World and Olympic champions Shelly-Ann Fraser (JAM) and Valerie Vili (NZL) will be competing at Louis II stadium in Monaco on 22 July. After her winning race in Herculis last year, Shelly-Ann Fraser went onto take the World Championship 100m crown in Berlin in a time of 10.73sec, which makes her the 5th fastest athlete on the all-time list for this event. The Jamaican’s Berlin triumph, which was augmented with 4x100m relay gold, was confirmation of her splendid Olympic Games victory in Beijing the previous summer, where she revealed her refreshing smile to the world for the first time stood at the top of a global medal podium. Valerie Vili also owns both global titles. The shot putting ace took the Berlin title last year with a release of 20.44m which was the continuation of a long winning streak highlighted along the way by the Olympic laurels in Beijing which had in turn followed on from her victories at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka and at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. New Zealand’s best athlete will be competing for the second time in Monaco following on from the 2005 World Athletics Final when she finished second in the Louis II stadium. Find more about Monaco’s array of Diamond League Ambassadors and the many others stars who will be competing at Herculis Monaco 2010 on www.herculis.com

Spotakova back in Monaco!

Špotáková is back in Monaco: Herculis announces its second Ambassador – IAAF Diamond League 21 May 2010 – Monaco – Herculis is proud to announce that last year’s women’s Javelin Throw winner Barbora Špotáková of the Czech Republic will be back at Louis II Stadium on Thursday 22 July for this year’s event which is part of the 14 meeting IAAF Diamond League. Barbora Špotáková, who is one of the 14 athletes who are IAAF Diamond League Ambassadors, took the 2009 IAAF World Championships silver medal in Berlin last summer. Špotáková has already won almost everything in the world of athletics with her Olympic title from Beijing in 2008, her World title from Osaka in 2007, and she is currently the World record holder thanks to her 72.28m set in 2008. The only title missing to make this collection complete is the continental one, and no doubt the Herculis IAAF Diamond League which is the last meet before the start of the 2010 European Championships in Barcelona will be the best preparation for her. Špotáková will have in her mind the aim of breaking the meeting record of 67.20m set by Tatyana Shikolenko back in 2000, such an achievement would be the ideal way to conclude her preparations as she aims to complete her set of championship golds.

Herculis Monaco announces Tyson Gay!

Monaco announces Tyson Gay as its first Ambassador of meeting Herculis - IAAF Diamond League 3 May 2010 – Monaco – 2007 World 100m and 200m champion Tyson Gay has today been confirmed by the organisers of the meeting Herculis Monaco - IAAF Diamond League - as one of the stars of its meeting which will take place on Thursday 22 July. Herculis Monaco, held in Stadium Louis II, is the 10th leg of the 14 meeting IAAF Diamond League season in 2010. Tyson Gay, who is one of the 14 athletes who are IAAF Diamond League Ambassadors, took the 2009 IAAF World Championships 100m silver medal in Berlin last summer. Gay respectively stands on the all-time list as the second quickest sprinter ever at 100m and third fastest at 200m, thanks to his 9.69 sec (2.0m/s) performance in Shanghai (20/09/09) and his 19.58 sec (1.3m/s) run in New York (30/05/2009). With his 44.89 run for 400m on April 17th in Gainesville Florida, Gay also became the first man in history to dip under 10.00 in the 100m, under 20.00 in the 200m, and under 45.00 in the 400!! “I have great memories from Monaco,” commented Gay. “In 2005, I had my first major victory on the international athletics circuit there. In 2007, I was honored to receive the World Athlete-of-the-Year award at the Gala and just this December I was included as part of the exciting launch of the new IAAF Diamond League circuit. Herculis always has some of the top performances of the season and my goal is place my name on the list of stadium records at Stade Louis II.” Meeting Director Jean-Pierre Schoebel: “We are glad to have Tyson back in Monaco, because everyone here has still in mind Tyson’s fantastic run during the 2005 World Athletics Final, where his victory in 19.96 revealed him to the face of the world. This time, the 19.92 stadium record set by Maurice Greene in 1999 might even be threatened.. Also, we are currently redoing the track, and this new surface Conica should be a substantial help for great performances.”

The Website is Launched !

It's official, now Herculis has its own Diamond League website !<br />Find all the information about the meeting, its athletes, its stadium, and a lot more through the 2010 season !