2024 Paris: World Records in Women’s HJ & 1500 + A CRAZILY GREAT Men’s 800

After a month long break, the 2024 Wanda Diamond League season resumed on Sunday afternoon at the Meeting De Paris. While the meet was held at Stade Charléty — not the Stade de France, which will host next month’s Olympics — the competition was Olympic quality in several events, highlighted by world records in the women’s 1500 by Faith Kipyegon (3:49.04) and women’s high jump by Yaroslava Mahuchikh (2.10m). We have separate articles on both of those records (1500m WR article will be published at 2 pm ET).

Outside of the world records, the highlight was the men’s 800, which saw Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati win in 1:41.56 to move to #3 on the all-time list in a race that featured three men break 1:42 for the first time ever.

Here are our biggest takeaways from the meet.

Full results can be found here.

Faith Kipyegon World Record!

In a fitting end to a world-class meet, Faith Kipyegon broke her own world record in the 1500m by running 3:49.04. Australia’s Jess Hull also ran amazing, sticking with Kipyegon until the final 200 and holding on to run 3:50.83, a 5+ second pb that moves her to #5 on the all-time list. We have a separate article on the 1500 world record.

The men’s 800 just went crazy

One week ago, world indoor champ Bryce Hoppel ran a personal best of 1:42.77 to win the US Olympic Trials in Eugene. That time made him the 4th fastest man in the world for 2024. That time would only have placed him 7th in Paris this afternoon in one of the deepest 800s ever run.

Hoppel did not have the benefit of being towed along by 1:41 man Emmanuel Wanyonyi, but today’s field did and took full advantage of it, with Wanyonyi hitting 400 in 49.1 behind Polish rabbit Patryk Sieradzki (48.79). Wanyonyi held on to run a personal best of 1:41.58 — even faster than the 1:41.70 he ran to win the Kenyan Trials last month. But a time that would have ranked #3 on the all-time list before today was only barely enough for second in Paris on Sunday as Algeria’s Djamel Sedjati went by him in the home stretch to remain undefeated on the year and win in 1:41.56, fending off a late resurgence from Wanyonyi. France’s European champion Gabriel Tual was also fighting tooth and nail in the final meters and PR’d by more than two seconds to finish a close third in 1:41.61.

Sedjati, Wanyonyi, and Tual now rank #3, #4, and #5 on the all-time 800m list.

Check out the updated all-time men’s 800 list — five of the top 11 ran their pbs in today’s race:

Before today, the gold standard for deepest 800 of all time was the 2012 Olympic final in London, where five men broke 1:43 and all eight finishers broke 1:44. Today’s winning time was not as fast as David Rudisha‘s 1:40.91 world record — which still stands nearly 12 years later — but the Paris race broke records for the most men sub-1:42 (3) and sub-1:43 (6) in the same race. Here is a side-by-side comparison through the first 8 places:

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Some of the breakthroughs in this race were ridiculous. Tual (1:43.99 to 1:41.61) PR’d by more than two full seconds while Sedjati (1:43.23 to 1:41.56), Crestan (1:44.28 to 1:42.43), and Cheminingwa (1:43.55 to 1:42.08) all PR’d by well over a second.

Entering this race, there looked to be a Big 3 in the men’s 800 of Wanyonyi, Sedjati, and reigning world champ Marco Arop of Canada. Now that Big 3 may be a Big 4 with Tual, but there are now a bunch of 1:42 guys who should also be in the medal mix in Paris (though the fourth placer today, Cheminingwa, will not as he did not make the Kenyan team).

It’s incredible how quickly the men’s 800 has changed. In 2022, no one broke 1:43 all year and in 2023 no one did it until the last race of the year at the Diamond League final. Now in 2024, eight men have done it — the most ever in a single year.

Looking ahead to the Olympics, it’s hard to pick a favorite. Sedjati, who destroyed Bryce Hoppel in Stockholm a month ago and beat Wanyonyi today, certainly can make the case he’s #1. Wanyony, still only 19, looks like one of the all-time greatest phenoms in the event. He nearly came back on Sedjati and he’s now run back to back 1:41s. And reigning world champ Marco Arop is undefeated on the year.

This result hurts Hoppel’s Olympic medal hopes as suddenly he has a bunch more 1:41 and 1:42 guys to deal with — particularly Tual, who reached an entirely new level today. The silver lining for US fans is that Hoppel looked incredible in running his 1:42.77 at the Olympic Trials and it’s not hard to imagine him running low-1:42s or even high 1:41s if he was in today’s race.

Two (Three?) Steeplechase Medal Threats Emerge in Paris

The men’s steeple featured a great race to the line between Ethiopia’s unheralded Abrham Sime and Amos Serem, the Kenyan champ and 2022 world junior champ. Both ran 8:02.36 with the win ultimately being credited to Sime. Sime has never ran under 8:10 before in his life and looks like a potential medal thread but may not be at the Olympics as he was named as Ethiopia’s alternate earlier this week.

Sime had given zero indication of this form coming in as he was terrible the first three races this season , failing to go under 8:23 including a dismal 8:39.39 performance in Doha. This race looks more like something from Sime’s last season where he was much more consistent, running 8:10 three times.

Sime’s steeples before tonight

Feb 2 – 8:54.1 – 3rd at Ethiopian Nationals
March 18 – 8:27.30 – 4th at African Games
May 10- 8:39.39 – 10th in Doha
May 19 – 8:23 – 15th in Marrakech
June 18 – 8:17.22 – 1st in Turku

Serem, who has a personal best of 8:09.93 before today, looks to be gaining momentum after winning the Kenyan trials and will have a chance to snag a medal at the Olympics next month.

Behind the top two, there was a slew of personal bests and national records as Amin Jhinaoui ran a Tunisian record of 8:09.41 for 4th (previous pb of 8:10.41), Geordie Beamish ran a New Zealand record of 8:09.64 for 5th (previous pb of 8:13.26), and Avinash Sable ran an Indian record of 8:09.91 (previous pb of 8:11.20).

Surprise World Record in Women’s High Jump from Yaroslava Mahuchikh

World champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh put on a show for jumping fans today as she broke Stefka Kostadinova‘s high jump world record of 2.09 which has stood since 1987 thanks to a first-attempt clearance of 2.10.

Read about it in its own article here:

LRC Ukraine’s Yaroslava Mahuchikh (2.10m) breaks 37-year-old high jump world record in Paris 

Winfred Yavi Shines in Women’s Steeplechase as Beatrice Chepkoech Bombs

World champion Winfred Yavi showed the world that she shouldn’t be discounted at the Olympics. After running just 9:21 for 9th at Pre, she picked up the win today in 9:03.68, the #4 time in the world this year.

As one star shined in Paris another one exploded as world record holder Beatrice Chepkoech, who was leading the race through 2k, bombed the last k, running 3:19.79 en route to a 9:27.21. It is a fair question to ask if Chepkoech has cooked herself too early this year, as she started off the year with four straight steeplechase wins and has now finished second at Pre Classic, second at the Kenyan championships and ninth here.

The pacing in this race was horrific as Yavi and Chepkoech went out crazy fast in the first lap opening the race in 66 and slowing down from there.

Full results can be found here.

Talk about the meet on our messageboard.

• Official 2024 Paris DL Live Discussion Thread (10-12 am ET Sunday) + Live Reaction Show at 12 noon ET
• Holy shi*: Bryce Hoppel we have a problem. Sedjati 1:41.56 leads three under 1:42 in Paris DL 800!!
• Why has the 800m suddenly improved? 
•  JESSICA MF HULL 3:50.83
• Jess Hull progression – nothing to see here 
•  Faith kipyegon is more vulnerable in 2024 Olympics than in 2021…