British in Monaco
In Monaco there were several British athletes in action. Jake Wightman broke his own Scottish record in the 1,000m, finishing second in 2:12.77 Emmanuel Wanyonyi.
Wightman said afterwards: “I wanted to go very, very fast and I knew Wanyonyi would be tough in the 1K, but I didn’t know what it would be like in the last 200 meters. I was hoping I could get my strong finish. I was almost there, almost there. I’m in a good place, probably one of my best races I’ve had this year. So I’m happy. This was just a long 800, so I wanted to go through fast and try to hold on as long as I could. I wish I could have surprised Wanyonyi, but I probably “It’s the best 1,000 meters you’ve ever had, so it was difficult.”
Here you have Stuart Weir’s interview, on YouTube, for Scottish Athletics, with Jake Wightman after his superb 1,000 meters: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/UdE1Rts_TuA?feature=share
Ben Pattison (2:14.11) was fifth in the same race, recording a PR. He described the race as “a big step in the right direction.” I asked him, “How do you approach 1000?” He replied with a big smile that he really didn’t know! He said other athletes had told him “it’s not like an 800 where you just last longer, which wasn’t what I wanted to hear!” He said he ran 1000 in training but a little slower than Wanyonyi! Overall he was happy with where he was, with the Commonwealth Games and European Championships coming up this summer.
Jack Kimani Second at the GB High Jump Championships last month, he was second in Monaco in 2:30, a centimeter off his PR. It was his first Diamond League and he beat Barshim, Tamberi and Harrison! His enthusiasm is evident in his post-race comments:
“It was my Diamond League debut and, honestly, it was the best meet I’ve ever been to in my entire life. I mean, it’s just a debut. I’m not going to worry too much about it, but I hope I can do a lot more. This is definitely something I want to do; I want to continue growing in the sport and getting better. It was a good start. Honestly, I expected to jump that high, because I felt so good before the meet. It didn’t start the way I planned, but sometimes that happens, and that’s how you respond. I don’t know yet. If I’m going to stay in the NCAA system; my family and I are going to make the decision after my season is over. The crowd is a lot bigger, but I’m a type of person who likes that stuff, and I just want to have fun, because that’s what sports is about, so we’ll see how things go.
Alex Yee, 2024 Olympic triathlon champion, He competed in the 5000 m, finishing 12th in 13:27.79. My first question to him was “What are you going to do here?” and his response was “Good question!” I am here to experience the unknown, put myself in the uncomfortable zone, outside my comfort zone. I found out very quickly, probably around 2K. I struggled to move. Yes, that’s the level here. The way I’ve been running, I thought I might have been pretty close to 30 minutes, but today wasn’t that day. It’s okay, but it’s a long way home at 2.5K.
He assured me that he had no plans to transition from triathlon to track. “No, no, it’s about learning. It’s about doing something different. It’s just about experimenting.”
Here’s Stuart Weir’s interview with Alex Yee from Monaco’s mixed zone, for our friends at Athletics Weekly!
“It’s learning the hard way and that’s how I like to be.”
Olympic individual triathlon champion Alex Yee talks about his first Diamond League race since London in 2019 🗣️
He clocked 13:27.29 in the 5000 m in Monaco 🇲🇨
🎙️ @stuartweir pic.twitter.com/Zwodqx4oUT
– AW (@AthleticsWeekly) July 10, 2026
Matt Hudson Smith He was fourth in the 400 with 44.22.
