MONACO: Rai Benjamin claimed the spoils in a clash of the hurdling titans at Friday's Monaco Diamond League as Djamel Sedjati and Quincy Hall both set world leads in perfect fine-tuning for the Paris Olympics.
Another stunning night of track and field in perfect conditions at the Stade Louis II saw Norway's Jakob Ingebrigtsen set a European record of 3min 26.73sec in the 1500m.
In the absence of double world sprint champion Noah Lyles, in-form Botswanan Letsile Tebogo claimed an impressive victory in the men's 200m in 19.87 seconds while St Lucia's Julien Alfred won the women's 100m in 10.85sec.
And Australian Jessica Hull backed up the recent good form she showed in last week's Paris Diamond League meet with a world record in the rarely-raced 2000m.
The 400m hurdles featured a battle between the three fastest men in history, as Benjamin, Karsten Warholm and Brazilian Alison Dos Santos met for just the second time since the Norwegian won Olympic gold in Tokyo.
Benjamin overhauled Warholm in the closing metres to win in 46.67sec, Dos Santos rounding out the podium.
"Paris is going to be madness," said Benjamin. I have to win there. I believe I can do it."
Warholm added: "Coming from training I am feeling fast, but other guys run fast, too."
There was victory for Warholm's teammate Ingebrigtsen, however, perfectly led out by two pace-setters for a dominant win that sets him up nicely for his bid at an Olympic double in the 1500 and 5,000m.
"I am excited about Paris. I feel strong, I will do my best and hopefully bring home the gold medals," said Ingebrigtsen.
Algeria's world silver medallist Sedjati followed up on his stunning win in Paris last week by going even faster for victory in the 800m.
Sedjati clocked a personal best of 1:41.46 for victory, a Diamond League record and new world leading time, and immediately set his sights on Kenyan David Rudisha's world record of 1:40.91 set when he won Olympic gold in London in 2012.
The Algerian bade his time on the shoulder of Canada's world champion Marco Arop and produced a devastating kick coming into the home straight.
"It's the fourth time I've run a world lead and the second time an Algerian record, I have worked really hard for that," said Sedjati.
"Now I am thinking of the world record, I hope to run it at the Olympic Games. I have two more weeks to prepare it. I will focus on that and put in the necessary work so that I can achieve my goal."
Sedjati's performance was swiftly followed by American Quincy Hall's stunning 43.80sec in the men's 400m, also the fastest time of the year.
Hall became just the 23rd athlete to dip under the 44sec-barrier, installing himself as the 13th fastest of all time over the one-lap race.
"I knew I could run fast," insisted Hall. "After the US trials I knew I needed to step up my game a little bit and that it would be enough to run this fast.
"I feel like I have a lot more in my tank. I just need to start strong and then I can finish strong as well. Going to Paris, I do not feel like I have a target on my back."
Hall's teammate Grant Holloway was another to underline his Olympic credentials, the three-time world champion winning the 110m hurdles in 13.01sec ahead of Italian European champion Lorenzo Ndele Simonelli.
Having bagged silver in the Covid-delayed Tokyo Games, Holloway will head to Paris as red-hot favourite for an upgrade to gold.
Then came Hull's world record, the 27-year-old clocking 5:19.70 in the 2000m. It smashed by 1.86sec the previous best set by Burundi's Francine Niyonsaba in 2021.
The feat came after Hull obliterated her personal best in the 1500m by more than five seconds as she finished second to Kenya's Faith Kipyegon in her own world record-setting run in Paris on Sunday.
"I definitely felt Paris's race all week in the legs!" said Hull. "It is amazing to be called a world record holder now." — AFP