Jessica Schilder produced the best shot put mark in the world for 14 years, throwing a Diamond League record of 21.09m at the season-opening Wanda Diamond League meeting in Shanghai on Saturday (16).
The world champion’s huge fifth-round effort improved her own Dutch record by 40cm, broke Valerie Adams’ Diamond League record from 2012, and moved Schilder to 29th on the world all-time list. It also made her the newest member of the 21-metre club since 2009.
Before the fifth round, no one in the field had gone beyond 20 metres. But the competition then burst into life as Schilder launched her record-breaking throw, while world indoor champion Chase Jackson reached 20.46m and two-time world indoor champion Sarah Mitton threw 20.42m. All three surpassed 20 metres again in the final round, but the positions remained unchanged.
Schilder’s previous PB of 20.69m had been set at the 2025 European Indoor Championships and equalled earlier this year indoors, while her previous outdoor best was the 20.47m she threw in Xiamen last year. Shanghai was her first competition since finishing fourth at the World Indoor Championships in March.
“I can’t comprehend it,” said Schilder. “It is such a huge thing, it is crazy. My first outdoor competition is a big deal for me; it is always something I find quite hard. During my first throws, my coach and I were not happy, so we tried a few different things and eventually it worked.”
Meeting records fall on the track and in the field
Mohamed Abdilaahi led a race of historic depth in the men’s 3000m, smashing the German record by five seconds to win in a meeting record of 7:25.77.
After being paced through 2000m in 5:00.4, Abdilaahi took up the running and opened up a gap on the rest of the field. Kenya’s Reynold Cheruiyot and Sweden’s Andreas Almgren closed on the German down the home straight, but couldn’t catch him in time.
The previous German record had stood since 1998, but Abdilaahi – who already holds national records at 5000m and 10,000m – took it into new territory as he held off Cheruiyot, who clocked a PB of 7:26.11, and Almgren, who set a national record of 7:26.48.
Fourteen men dipped inside 7:30 – comfortably the greatest depth ever achieved in a single 3000m race. The previous record was seven men under 7:30 in one race. Before Shanghai, there had been 99 sub-7:30 outdoor performances in history; this one race added 14 more.
Eduardo Herrera set a Mexican record of 7:27.63, while Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew clocked an Asian record of 7:29.60 and Uruguay’s Santiago Catrofe set a South American record of 7:29.72.
Mondo Duplantis also delivered a meeting record, clearing 6.12m at the first time of asking in the men’s pole vault, adding a centimetre to the mark he set last year. The Swedish superstar then attempted a would-be world record height of 6.32m but was unsuccessful.
Australia’s Kurtis Marschall was second with 5.80m. Greece’s Emmanouil Karalis achieved some great height with his attempts at 5.90m but brought the bar down each time.
Olympic champion Masai Russell produced another meeting record and world lead in the women’s 100m hurdles, coming through to defeat a high-quality field in 12.25 (0.4m/s). World indoor champion Devynne Charlton was second in a Bahamian record of 12.38, with world record-holder Tobi Amusan third in 12.41. World champion Ditaji Kambundji was fifth in 12.82, while two-time world champion Danielle Williams did not finish.
In the men’s discus, Kristjan Ceh broke a meeting record that had stood since 2010, the first year of the Diamond League. The Slovenian threw 70.31m in round two to improve the previous mark of 69.69m, then backed it up with 70.25m in round three before going farther still with 70.58m in the fourth round. Matthew Denny was second with 67.54m.
Uganda’s 2021 Olympic champion Peruth Chemutai edged a thrilling women’s 3000m steeplechase, winning in 8:51.47 as world champion Faith Cherotich finished just 0.01 behind in 8:51.48.
Behind them, Tunisia’s Marwa Bouzayani set a national record of 8:58.09 and Ethiopia’s Kena Tufa improved her PB by more than 30 seconds to 8:59.66. Bouzayani and Tufa became the 16th and 17th women to break nine minutes, while the race marked just the third time four women have bettered 9:00 in the same steeplechase.
Birke Haylom led an Ethiopian one-two in the women’s 1500m, winning in 3:55.56 to break the meeting record set by Faith Kipyegon 10 years ago. Olympic 800m silver medallist Tsige Duguma was second in 3:55.71 in just her second ever 1500m race – and her first outdoors – while Australia’s Abbey Caldwell finished strongly to take third in a PB of 3:56.12. Eleven women, five of them from Australia, finished inside four minutes.
Mark English timed his finish to perfection to win a tightly packed men’s 800m in 1:43.85, the second-fastest time of his career, breaking the meeting record that had stood since 2018. Botswana’s Kethobogile Haingura was second in 1:43.89, and the top six were separated by just a third of a second.
Furlani, Dos Santos and Kipyegon set world leads
World champion Mattia Furlani added to the strong early-season standard in the men’s long jump, producing an outdoor world lead and PB of 8.43m in the second round. The Italian won comfortably from Bozhidar Saraboyukov, who jumped 8.07m.
There was another world lead in the men’s 300m hurdles, where 2022 world champion Alison dos Santos held off a fast-finishing Karsten Warholm to win in 33.01. That makes the Brazilian the second-fastest man in history at the distance, behind Warholm’s world best of 32.67. Warholm was close behind in 33.05.
Faith Kipyegon, contesting her first track race of the year, won the women’s 5000m in a world-leading 14:24.14, edging a race in which Ethiopian athletes filled the next seven places. Likina Amebaw was second in a PB of 14:24.21 and Senayet Getachew third in 14:24.71.
Jackson, Pryce, Britt and Leotlela among other winners
Two-time world champion Shericka Jackson came within 0.01 of the meeting record in the women’s 200m, winning in 22.07 – her fastest time since the 2023 Diamond League Final. Shaunae Miller-Uibo was second in 22.26, her fastest since the semifinals of the 2021 Olympic Games, while Sha’Carri Richardson finished fourth in 22.42.
Jackson’s Jamaican compatriot Nickisha Pryce won a close women’s 400m in 49.75, just ahead of USA’s Aaliyah Butler, who clocked 49.78.
In the men’s 110m hurdles, USA’s Jamal Britt came through strongly at the end to win in an equal PB of 13.07, with world champion Cordell Tinch second in 13.10.
South Africa’s Gift Leotlela took the men’s 100m from lane one, winning in 9.97 as he held off Ferdinand Omanyala and Kenny Bednarek, who both clocked 9.98. Just 0.04 separated the first five men. Elsewhere, Monae’ Nichols won the women’s long jump with 6.89m.
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics
